IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bcp/journl/v9y2025issue-14p1072-1082.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Accounting and Sustainable Development Goals: Prospects and Implementation Challenges

Author

Listed:
  • Maryam Yahya Fagge

    (Department of Accounting, Bayero University, Kano)

  • Dr. Saleh Atiku Dambatta

    (Department of Accounting, Bayero University, Kano)

  • Prof. Kabiru Isa Dandago

    (Department of Accounting, Bayero University, Kano)

Abstract

Social accounting has emerged as a pivotal tool for promoting accountability, transparency, and sustainable development by measuring and reporting the social and environmental impacts of organizations. This paper explores the prospects and implementation challenges of social accounting as a mechanism for achieving the seventeen (17) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations Organization (UNO). It examines the conceptual underpinnings of social accounting, its role in advancing corporate accountability, and its integration into public governance and civil society engagement. The imperative methodology employed for the study is a critical analysis of secondary data. Thus, key prospects include fostering ethical practices, enhancing organizational transparency, and aligning stakeholder interests with global sustainability objectives. However, challenges such as the absence of standardized frameworks, inadequate capacity, and resistance to the adoption of ethical practices hinder its effective implementation. The study highlights the implications of social accounting for businesses, governments, and civil society organizations, emphasizing its potential to drive innovation, improve policymaking, and empower communities. Recommendations are provided to address these challenges, including harmonizing standards, leveraging technology, building capacity, and fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration. This study underscores the transformative potential of social accounting in achieving a more equitable and sustainable development goals in the global economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Maryam Yahya Fagge & Dr. Saleh Atiku Dambatta & Prof. Kabiru Isa Dandago, 2025. "Social Accounting and Sustainable Development Goals: Prospects and Implementation Challenges," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(14), pages 1072-1082, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:issue-14:p:1072-1082
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-9-issue-14/1072-1082.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/articles/social-accounting-and-sustainable-development-goals-prospects-and-implementation-challenges/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jan Bebbington & Jeffrey Unerman, 2020. "Advancing research into accounting and the UN Sustainable Development Goals," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 33(7), pages 1657-1670, July.
    2. Jeremy Andrew Nicholls, 2020. "Integrating financial, social and environmental accounting," Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(4), pages 745-769, February.
    3. repec:eme:aaaj00:aaaj-03-2021-5172 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:eme:aaaj00:09513571211263239 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Hess, David, 2007. "Social Reporting and New Governance Regulation: The Prospects of Achieving Corporate Accountability Through Transparency," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(3), pages 453-476, July.
    6. repec:eme:aaaj00:aaaj-07-2020-4667 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Larraitz Lazkano & Ana Beraza, 2019. "Social Accounting for Sustainability: A Study in the Social Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-12, December.
    8. David L. Owen & Tracey Swift & Karen Hunt, 2001. "Questioning the Role of Stakeholder Engagement in Social and Ethical Accounting, Auditing and Reporting," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 264-282, September.
    9. Adams, Carol A. & Potter, Brad & Singh, Prakash J. & York, Jodi, 2016. "Exploring the implications of integrated reporting for social investment (disclosures)," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 283-296.
    10. Christian Leuz, 2018. "Evidence-based policymaking: promise, challenges and opportunities for accounting and financial markets research," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(5), pages 582-608, July.
    11. Wei Qian & Carol Tilt & Ataur Belal, 2021. "Social and environmental accounting in developing countries: contextual challenges and insights," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 34(5), pages 1021-1050, April.
    12. Rania Kamla & Sonja Gallhofer & Jim Haslam, 2012. "Understanding Syrian accountants' perceptions of, and attitudes towards, social accounting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(7), pages 1170-1205, September.
    13. Roberts, Robin W. & Wallace, Dana M., 2015. "Sustaining diversity in social and environmental accounting research," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 78-87.
    14. Bowman, C. & Toms, S., 2010. "Accounting for competitive advantage: The resource-based view of the firm and the labour theory of value," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 183-194.
    15. Jeremy Andrew Nicholls, 2020. "Integrating financial, social and environmental accounting," Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(4), pages 745-769, February.
    16. Wang, Aimeng & Bi, Conghui & Zhang, Yiyuan, 2025. "Government accounting supervision and supply chain environmental investment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    17. Subhash Abhayawansa & Carol A. Adams & Cristina Neesham, 2021. "Accountability and governance in pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals: conceptualising how governments create value," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 34(4), pages 923-945, March.
    18. Rania Kamla & Sonja Gallhofer & Jim Haslam, 2012. "Understanding Syrian accountants' perceptions of, and attitudes towards, social accounting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(7), pages 1170-1205, September.
    19. Augusta Ferreira & Ana Maria Bandeira & Carlos Santos & Inês Ferreira & Brízida Tomé & Alberto J. Costa & Carla Joaquim & Cristina Góis & Denise Curi & Deolinda Meira & Graça Azevedo & Helena Inácio &, 2022. "Can Online Transparency Improve Accountability? The Case of Portuguese Private Social Solidarity Institutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-22, January.
    20. Rai, Shirin M. & Brown, Benjamin D. & Ruwanpura, Kanchana N., 2019. "SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth – A gendered analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 368-380.
    21. repec:eme:aaaj00:aaaj-05-2020-4556 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Huthaifa Al-Hazaima & Mary Low & Umesh Sharma, 2024. "The integration of education for sustainable development into accounting education: stakeholders’ salience perspectives," Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 37(2), pages 296-328, January.
    23. Jose Luis Retolaza & Leire San-Jose, 2021. "Understanding Social Accounting Based on Evidence," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, April.
    24. Elmassri, Moataz Moamen & Harris, Elaine Pamela & Carter, David Bernard, 2016. "Accounting for strategic investment decision-making under extreme uncertainty," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 151-168.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gianluca ZANELLATO, 2022. "Ï»¿Sustainable Development Goals And Accounting Profession: A Quantitative Review Of The Existent Literature," Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, Faculty of Sciences, "1 Decembrie 1918" University, Alba Iulia, vol. 2(24), pages 1-8.
    2. Charl de Villiers & Jing Jia & Zhongtian Li, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility: A review of empirical research using Thomson Reuters Asset4 data," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(4), pages 4523-4568, December.
    3. Michał Jurek, 2014. "The genesis and evolution of CSR self-regulation with special refer-ence to the case of financial institutions," Working papers wpaper70, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    4. Cho, Charles H. & Senn, Juliette & Sobkowiak, Madlen, 2022. "Sustainability at stake during COVID-19: Exploring the role of accounting in addressing environmental crises," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Sian, S., 2023. "Off-ramps and on-ramps: Career continuity and discontinuity in professional accountancy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. André Habisch & Lorenzo Patelli & Matteo Pedrini & Christoph Schwartz, 2011. "Different Talks with Different Folks: A Comparative Survey of Stakeholder Dialog in Germany, Italy, and the U.S," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 100(3), pages 381-404, May.
    7. Michelon, Giovanna, 2021. "Accounting research boundaries, multiple centers and academic empathy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    8. Rodolfo Damiano & Chiara Di Maria, 2024. "Exploring the role of companies and sustainability disclosure in achieving sustainable development goals: A focus on zero hunger and social inclusion," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 2715-2732, July.
    9. Mia Mahmudur Rahim, 2017. "Improving Social Responsibility in RMG Industries Through a New Governance Approach in Laws," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(4), pages 807-826, July.
    10. Maria-Gabriella Baldarelli & Antonietta Cosentino & Mara Del Baldo & Angela Magistro, 2024. "Feminist Approach to Integrated Reporting: Theory of the Firm and Practice in Dialogue," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 19(6), pages 1-26, December.
    11. Prince Gyimah & Kingsley Opoku Appiah & Kwadjo Appiagyei, 2025. "Unraveling contemporary trends on United Nations sustainable development goals: A new global bibliometric and literature review analysis," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 2579-2598, April.
    12. Osman, Mohamed & Gallhofer, Sonja & Haslam, Jim, 2021. "Contextualising and critically theorising corporate social responsibility reporting: Dynamics of the late Mubarak Era in Egypt," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    13. Thoradeniya, Prabanga & Lee, Janet & Tan, Rebecca & Ferreira, Aldónio, 2022. "From intention to action on sustainability reporting: The role of individual, organisational and institutional factors during war and post-war periods," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1).
    14. Imperiale, Francesca & Pizzi, Simone & Lippolis, Stella, 2023. "Sustainability reporting and ESG performance in the utilities sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    15. Bianca Alves Almeida Machado & Lívia Cristina Pinto Dias & Alberto Fonseca, 2021. "Transparency of materiality analysis in GRI‐based sustainability reports," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 570-580, March.
    16. Mohammed A. Hajar & Ammar Ahmed Alkahtani & Daing Nasir Ibrahim & Mohammed A. Al-Sharafi & Gamal Alkawsi & Noorminshah A. Iahad & Mohd Ridzuan Darun & Sieh Kiong Tiong, 2022. "The Effect of Value Innovation in the Superior Performance and Sustainable Growth of Telecommunications Sector: Mediation Effect of Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-20, May.
    17. Andreas Stoller, 2022. "The Anchoring Effect In The Context Of Strategic Investment Decision Making," Economy & Business Journal, International Scientific Publications, Bulgaria, vol. 16(1), pages 210-220.
    18. Teddy Ossei Kwakye & Emerald Edem Welbeck & Godfred Matthew Yaw Owusu & Fred Kwasi Anokye, 2018. "Determinants of intention to engage in Sustainability Accounting & Reporting (SAR): the perspective of professional accountants," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-13, December.
    19. Maryam Eghbal & Farzaneh Nassirzadeh & Davood Askarany, 2024. "The Relationship Between Non-additivity Valuations, Cash Flows and Sales Growth," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 64(1), pages 429-459, July.
    20. Amir Hossain & Sudipta Bose & Abul Shamsuddin, 2023. "Diffusion of integrated reporting, insights and potential avenues for future research," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2503-2555, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:issue-14:p:1072-1082. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Pawan Verma (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.