Acting in the public interest: accounting for the vulnerable

Abstract

This article seeks to initiate research around the potential roles of the accounting profession for tackling the challenges of the vulnerable. Its backdrop is the current consideration of the profession's public interest role. The importance of dialogue around the public interest role is evidenced by the increasing levels of vulnerability, even within developed countries. Accounting underpinned by broader values has potential to provide knowledge of issues relating to the vulnerable. However, the accounting profession has only engaged with such potential to a limited degree. The article overviews existing knowledge and areas within which more research is required. In order to illustrate the potential for such research, initial findings from two case studies of homelessness (an example of the vulnerable) provide evidence as to the importance, and challenges, of accounting for the vulnerable. This article highlights the need to: take a principles-based approach in defining the vulnerable, undertake an accounting that reflects the lives they value, acknowledge that there are different ways for addressing these issues, recognise that an absence of perfect numbers should not become a barrier to action, and that accounting for the vulnerable is one way that the accounting profession may discharge their public interest roles.

Social impact reporting in the public interest: the case of accounting standardisation

“…As charities increasingly deliver core public services, and as social impact reporting affects who is funded to deliver these services and how, standardisation agendas can also affect clients and their communities (Productivity Commission, 2010). In this respect, exploring to what extent standardisation serves the public interest is also consistent with recent calls for accounting scholarship to address practical social problems (Guthrie and Parker, 2017; Tweedie and Hazelton, 2019), especially the interests and needs of vulnerable groups (Burns and Jollands, 2020).…”

“…In addition, a significant function of accounting and accountants is to be advocates for organisations or stakeholders to bring the often heterogeneous and context-specific values and needs into public view. In this respect, common good narratives align with emerging arguments in other contexts that accounting has unique obligations to the vulnerable (Burns and Jollands, 2020).…”

Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: the technical, moral and facilitating role of management control

“…The analysis shows the centrality of management control in building trust and relationships (Lai et al , 2014) and monitoring the different results achieved (Walker, 2014). It also shows that management control “underpinned by broader values” (Burns and Jollands, 2020, p. 507) has the potential to provide knowledge and understanding of social issues while concurrently providing financial support to implement actions that respond to social needs. The study extends previous literature that has investigated the ex-post and recovery phases of an emergency (Lai et al , 2014; Sargiacomo et al , 2014; Walker, 2014), thereby addressing the pandemic crisis's real-time issues.…”

‘Acting in the public interest: accounting for the vulnerable’ – a practitioner view

“…'Acting in the public interest: accounting for the vulnerable' -a practitioner view NICKI DEESON * Amnesty International, London, UK Burns and Jollands (2020) cover so many topics in their study that I am going to start by focusing on what not to do. Shortly after I qualified as an accountant, I got a job working for a large international children's charity, and my job was to measure and maximise the impact of the work the charity did on the communities where it worked.…”

“…How did our Amnesty countries around the world use that report in their campaigns to help us achieve our aims faster? Amnesty is still on that journey and, going back to Burns and Jollands (2020), I think as accountants we definitely should care, and we need to continue on that journey, because if we have better information and can make better decisions, that means better campaigns and better outcomes.…”