This paper has its origins in a re-examination of the literature of socio-economic accounting which incorporates issues of financial, social and environmental measurement and reporting of enterprises. This issue incorporates the more recent reporting framework proposed for enterprises and described as Triple-Bottom-Line (TBL) reporting and recently, Sustainability Reporting as proposed by the Global Reporting Initiative.
This paper examines the theoretical basis of socio-economic accounting through a review of the literature of accounting and other disciplines which has flourished during the past 30 years. The literature demonstrates that the time for a broader reporting framework for the measurement of the performance of enterprises is overdue and that TBL provides an interesting and perhaps valuable framework within which the reporting of economic, social and environmental achievements of enterprises can be presented in a more balanced way.