International Financial Accounting and Social and Environmental Theory Essay

International Financial Accounting and Social and Environmental Theory - Essay Example The primary issue concerning social and environmental theory is the way the society determines developments, goals, and innovations in accounting practice. It is generally agreeable that the society and environment in which accounting practices are applicable affects its development to some extent. However, the extent and the framework with which the social and environmental theory has influenced current accounting practices is a matter of dispute. Actors in this theory are the members of society being users, accountants, and generally stakeholders of accounting practices. Development of Accounting Practices Stakeholders in the society are considered to have control over accounting practices, their developments, and the directions in which such developments take place, to some extent within a given social setting. The influence of practices and developments is referred to as agency, where stakeholders in the society have the ability to influence accounting practices toward attaining some end. The level of accounting practices largely depends upon the kind of environment those stakeholders come from. Social and environmental structures are the interactions of stakeholders with societal cultures and norms that define them. The structures range from those of family setting, organizational and a country in general. It is agreeable that developments, innovations, and the general progress of accounting research varies from one country to another with respect to social, cultural and environmental differences. International financial accounting places its current practices on the heterogeneous aspect, despite globalization and efforts of researchers towards standardizing the practice (Humphrey, 2007, p.74). Institutional, family level and country structures are to some extent the result of stakeholders using and maintaining their use in accounting through a combination of purposive actions and their beliefs. Social and environmental efficacy is the ability of stakehold ers to cause changes in accounting practices, with respect to corporate social responsibilty. Although it is generally considered that people are to some extent products of the society and environments, this consideration does not imply that individuals will possibly decide to resist societal and environmental influences, either collectively or individually. Corporate social responsibility thus brings up treatment of accounting practices as activities of conventional accounting researched with universal preconceptions and assumptions to mainstream financial accounting. This approach assumes that the community is the main user of information and accounting practices in general. More to this approach, corporate social responsibility places environmental and social reporting at the epicenter of an examination of the purpose of information in agreement between the society and organization (Gray, Kouhy and Lavers, 1995, p.48). Accounting practice stakeholders in the social circle encompa ss researchers, teachers, practitioners, and academicians as influential thinkers who are concerned with social and environmental accounting. Current practices can be generally tied to high level of interactions and discussion