Review of Sustainability Accounting Terms

Abstract

Sustainability accounting is considered a subcategory of financial accounting that focuses on the disclosure of non-financial information about a company’s performance to external parties. Various definitions of sustainability accounting by different authors raise two research questions: RQ1: What is understood by sustainability accounting, as well as which terms are used in relation to sustainability accounting by different authors and organisations? RQ2: What is the relationship between sustainability accounting and the different names used for this term? The aim of this paper is to describe sustainability accounting, identify the terms that are used in relation to sustainability accounting by different authors and organisations, and identify the relationship between sustainability accounting and the different names used for this term. This study is based on information that was gathered through an extensive literature review (research publications and research studies (documents), using the Internet and research databases, and the author’s own experience. Methods of analysis, comparison, selection, abstraction, induction, deduction, determination, and statistics were used. This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis in the field of accounting terms. As a result of this study, the term sustainability accounting is defined, as well as its different interpretations and their synonyms, including identification of the relationship between sustainability accounting and the different names used for this term. Sustainability accounting is an essential part of the future of accounting; it includes the TBL quantification of the company’s activities, products, and services and integrates sustainability metrics into financial reporting.