Introduction
As a result of the growing concern for the matters environment, the recent past has seen a growing need for companies and organizations to include their social and environmental impacts in their periodical reporting. While some companies already adopted and continue to report on their environmental and social impacts, the reporting remains voluntary making it somewhat ineffective and inconsistent. Essentially, environmental and social reporting entails revealing both the social and environmental impacts resulting from the economic actions of a particular organization to the society at large. Organizations have a conscientious obligation and responsibility to protect the environment not only for their benefit, but also for society. While at it, they should also ensure their economic actions have the minimal or no negative impacts on the society in which they operate. These concepts amalgamate into one primary area of organization reporting- social accounting. Social accounting focuses on the notions of corporate accountability, which highlights the particular duties that any corporate body has to the society, including preserving the environment for the greater good of everyone. However, it is to be noted that social and environmental reporting are not entirely beneficial to the society, it is also beneficial to the individual organizations in ways that affect the overall organizational outcome.
Needless to say, the environmental and social issues have always been around, and there is nothing new about the concept. The only new aspect of the concept and the surrounding issues is their place in the face of the incessantly changing business environment, which mandates newer ways of doing things. Notwithstanding the reason, the contemporary organizations find themselves faced with environmental and social issues, which calls for their critical input into the matter through profound assessment of the social and environmental impacts of the particular company. Business, for a large part, depends on the natural environment and society. However, it is completely unclear whether a business flourishes at the expense of the well-being of the environment and the society or it serves to make significant contributions to the environment in which it operates. Social and environmental issues vis-à-vis the organizations are hardly trivial issues. Arguably, the key areas that require action are the environment and the society. Thus, it is time for environmental and social reporting to be mandatory for businesses not only for the good of the society and the environment but also for the good of the businesses.