Sustainability Accounting

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

Approximately 2.5 hours of personal study per hour of class time is required to achieve a satisfactory level of performance

FNCE90055 Financial Decision Making OR ACCT90004 Accounting for Decision Making or equivalent

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Companies in diverse industries globally are facing greater challenges to understand the environmental implications of their operations. Against this setting, managers have become more acutely aware of the need for greater transparency and environmental accountability when seeking to create organisational value. This subject seeks to enhance a general understanding of the complex ways in which such issues impact the core functions performed by professionals in accounting and business. This includes a consideration of the various reporting frameworks that can be used to report the environmental implications of entity operations, as well the ways in which such information might be incorporated into decisions made within the entity. The implications of such information for the assurance function are also considered.

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to :

• Critically evaluate the diverse reporting frameworks which may be used by organisations to report the environmental impacts of their operations;
• Critically examine the implications of present and potential future government policy relating to the reporting of the environmental implications of organisational operations;
• Identify the factors affecting the environmental information reported by diverse organisations. This includes a consideration of the relevance of such information to diverse stakeholder groups including lenders, investors, governments and the community generally as well as the complex factors which may affect the incentives for organisations to report such information on a voluntary basis;
• Examine ways in which environmental information may be incorporated in assessments of accountability and performance in diverse organisational settings;
• Demonstrate an understanding of how environmental information can be used to inform resource allocation decisions made by organisational management; and
• Evaluate the implications of environmental information for the conduct of the assurance function.

• 3000 word assignment due mid-semester (40%)
• 2-hour end of semester examination (60%)

Note: The examination for this subject will be a hurdle, whereby a minimum result of 50% for the exam is required in order to pass this subject.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On successful completion of this subject, students should have improved the following generic skills in relation to accounting:

• Thinking critically about the core functions of financial and managerial accounting and assurance in the context of environmental information;
• Evaluating, analysing and interpreting relevant environmental information for informing assessments of organisational accountability and performance;
• Evaluating the implications of present and potential future government policy relating to the environmental implications of organisational operations;
• Utilising problem-solving skills to identify relevant environmental information and to use that information to inform a range of decisions made by management;
• Critically analyse the implications of a range of environmental issues for the conduct of the assurance function; and
• Articulating responses, either orally or in written form.