There is an increasing trend and demand for organisations to demonstrate transparency and accountability beyond the domains of financial performance.
Triple bottom line (TBL) refers to the three elements of social, environmental and financial accountability.
Quadruple bottom line reporting embraces a further component governance. More broadly still is the emergence of sustainability reporting. This seeks to more closely align reporting, underlying management practices and measures of corporate performance with the notion of sustainable development.
Decision-making along TBL lines is becoming an accepted approach in implementing the intangible concept of sustainability. Reporting on TBL aims to extend decision-making and disclosure so that decisions explicitly take into consideration the impacts on natural and human capital, as well as financial capital.
Environmental includes impacts made through processes, products or services. These may include air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna and human health.
Social includes involvement in shaping local, national and international public policy, equality, treatment of minorities, employee issues and public concern.
Financial includes financial performance, activities relating to shaping demand for products and services, employee compensation, community contributions and local procurement policies.
This page is available online at:
http://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/cpa/hs.xsl/14131_8138_ENA_HTML.htm
