Welcome to the Era of the Activist Accountant | FT Moral Money

Accountants turned activists? In an unexpected modern tale, activist accountants have become vital advocates towards standardizing 'ESG' risks

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[FriedNugget]

We audit to what degree the annual report represents reality. If the company's goals are vague, we can't do much with that. We won't go out of our way to demand more from our clients unless the stakeholders require that and the impact is material. The ball is in the park of both the companies and the regulators; we do as regulation requires and we audit the actions of our client.

[graemeholmes]

I'd add Integrated Reporting into this mix as well. This forces an organisation to look at a lot of differing non-financial factors, such as the impact on staff, suppliers, the environment, etc..

[bradbarts]

I say this all the time to our team. We need to be more than our spreadsheets.

[YuMUbLdIT]

Okay, the art really makes this video special! Bravo!

[GQ]

It's not activism if regulators are demanding it, is it?

[TheHumbleThinker]

"You ignore it at your peril" - welcome to the USSR, comrade!

[hammertime]

“The question now is not how much money you have…” No no it still is. Sorry.

[Nickle]

Accountants are going to go the same way as the bankers. After all, they have omitted the big debts off government balance sheets.

Where's the civil service pensions?
Where is the state pension?
Where is PFI?
Where are unpaid wages reported?
Where are outstanding invoices reported?
Where's the money promised to the EU reported?
Where's are the nuclear cleanup debts reported?
Where are the losses on insurance obligations?

"a present obligation of the entity as a result of past events arising from past events the settlement of which is expected to result in an outflow from the entity of resources embodying economic benefits"

Accounting 101, and hat is omitted from the books. So what do the accountants do? They say nothing. Accountants are not activists. They are covering up