Social accounting in Albania

Social accounting is the process of communicating the social and environmental effects of organizations economic actions to particular interest groups within society and to society at large. This research paper is focused on the concepts of social and environmental accounting, viewed as an important part of the Albanian policy preparation for European Union integration. Presently, however, the EU notion of corporate engagement and Social accounting is still a new concept in the region. The paper aims to reveal the Albanian reality, as a country with strong aspiration toward EU. For this purpose we have analysed the main initiatives and projects implemented in the region and in Albania aimed at developing corporate social responsibility (CSR). This paper examines the applicable and relevant paragraphs of the global financial reporting standards (IFRS). The relevant paragraphs for environmental accounting have been analyzed in relation to the environmental financial reporting. We believe that this research may serve as a starting point for further studies on this topic. This paper concludes that social and environmental reporting practices are increasing day by day in the region. In Albania the awareness of CSR and how it can be applied is still quite low, perceived mainly as an opportunity to adopt international standards and engage in environmental protection. Hence we believe that improvements in quality of environmental financial reporting are required.