Accounting: the expanded

TABLE 5.9: Expanded Value Added Statement for Community Village

Financial Social and Environmental Combined

Productions for the period	435,991,373	Individuals	Society	435,991,373
Volunteer contributions Additional value added created by Community Policing Centre	0 0		1,912,500 5,691,753	1,912,500 5,691,753
Additional value added created by purchase decisions	0	676,519	88,890	765,409
Transit-oriented development	0	8,009,822	10,264,621	18,274,443
Active lifestyle	0		88,684	88,684
Value of outputs	435,991,373	8,686,341	19,156,919	462,724,162
Externally purchased G&S	210,818,087			210,818,087
Value added	225,173,286	8,686,341	18,046,448	251,906,075
	1.07			1.19
Employees	83,792,399			83,792,399
Unions	1,890,558			1,890,558
Condo owners/Renters	1,252,238	8,686,341		9,938,579
Society	16,000,000		18,046,448	34,046,448
Creditors	45,755,630			45,755,630
Investors	12,511,656			12,511,656
Organizations	20,915,176			20,915,176
Government	43,055,629			43,055,629
Value added	225,173,286	8,686,341	18,046,448	251,906,075

The strengths of the Expanded Value Added Statement lie in its ability to take a broader look at the organization and the role of stakeholders and to put this into a larger socio-economic perspective. It starts with existing financial information but presents it in such a way as to emphasize the contribution of labour and capital to production. It also includes non-monetary items, to present a more encompassing picture of an organization’s economic, social and environmental dimensions, and their interdependence. Putting a value on them is not the same as commodifying them for trade in private markets; rather, knowing their value is helpful for their effective management (Costanza, 2006). Although more work has to be done on coming up with acceptable valuation methods, and not everything can be monetized, the change of focus from a profit-oriented bottom line, to an integrated economic, social and environmental bottom line provides an opportunity for organizations and society to think about impacts in a much broader sense. Accounting is a driver of behaviour and can be conceived of as an explicit change agent in order to move organizations towards economic, social and environmental goals.
By synthesizing financial data with social and environmental data, the Expanded Value Added Statement is one mechanism for understanding the dynamics of an organization and the inter-related economic-social-environmental implications of various choices made in day-to-day operations. In making these relationships more visible, the Expanded Value Added Statement can help us look at the world differently and as a result act differently in a way that responds to the needs of workers, retirees, communities and the environment.

CHAPTER SIX COMPARATIVE CASE ANALYSIS,

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

This final chapter gives a brief summary of the three cases analyzed in this dissertation and addresses the two research questions posed in the first chapter. It compares the three cases and draws out their main commonalities and differences. Subsequently, I suggest some recommendations for accounting education, policy, and further research, and share preliminary observations about the implementation of the model in several non-profit organizations. The chapter ends with conclusions and limitations of the study.

Revisiting the Research Questions

This thesis was guided by two main questions:

1. 
   What are the contributions and limits of mainstream accounting, critical accounting and social accounting to the development of an accounting model that integrates economic, social and environmental impacts of an organization?
   
2. 
   Can an organization’s contribution to sustainability or detraction from unsustainability (quality of life and environmental health) be reflected in the Expanded Value Added Statement? If so, what can be learned from the application of the Expanded Value Added Statement as applied in different contexts?
   

The first question is more conceptual in nature and refers to the disciplinary and academic traditions that inform the Expanded Value Added Statement. The second question constitutes the bulk of this thesis. It is more empirical in nature, and refers to the insights arising from the three case studies undertaken in this research The rationale behind these two questions was to determine if economic, social and environmental impacts could be included in an accounting model with the concept of sustainability as its main guiding principle. In the following pages I address these two questions.