Sustainability Accounting Overview and Hands-On

Learning Objectives

• To explain the origins of Sustainability Accounting and the major actors today.
• To demonstrate how sustainability metrics can be presented in financial statements.
• To find the sector-specific metrics for a client.
• To integrate sustainability management into annual financial and public reporting.

Course Description

Sustainability Accounting is now a recognized professional skill of increasing importance in larger organizations. It is the process of finding, measuring, and managing the material metrics for sustainable performance and risk management. The goal is to bring these metrics into regular financial statements so leaders can act on them.  Over 90% of Fortune 500 corporations are using sustainability accounting now, and the Big 4 accounting firms have recently (Oct 2020) announced a joint program to develop uniform sustainability accounting standards. They are following the path of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) which has already published detailed metrics for 77 industry sectors. The AICPA has created a standard for Attestation Engagements for Sustainability Reporting.  The International Federation of Accountants has published detailed implementation guidance (IFAC 2015: Sustainability Framework 2.0: Professional Accountants as Integrators).   

This course covers the origins of Sustainability Accounting, the published guidance from accounting associations, the roles of the major actors, and a practical implementation approach. Upon completion, you will know how to help your organization and clients improve their performance, reduce risk, and be a sustainability leader. This course does not have any background requirements and is suitable for any professional. It was developed with the Washington Association of CPAs. Over 350 CPAs have taken this course with WSCPA and given it 5-star reviews.

Major Topics Covered:

• Origins and Insights on Sustainability Accounting (SA)
• SA today: Who and What
• Materiality – What is important
• Solutions – How to implement SA
• Accountants as Sustainability Leaders

Overview

• Who should Cares About Sustainability Accounting and Why

  6 mins
• Accountancy's relevance to the SDGs

  10 mins
• Origins of Sustainability Accounting

  19 mins
• New Drivers of Sustainability Accounting

  30 mins
• Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)

  46 mins
• GRI: How to use it?

  57 mins
• 30 years of solutions

  68 mins
• Sustainability accounting in a Quality Management

  74 mins
• Plan - Materiality list

  86 mins
• What you can do - step-by-step

  101 mins