The role of accounting and the accountant in the environmental management system

Abstract This paper explores the role of accounting and the accountant in the Environmental Management System (EMS). This study was founded on a postal survey of chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief financial officers (CFOs) from the top 500 listed Australian companies. From responses to the surveys, this paper firstly documents the adoption of environmental accounting processes by respondent companies and secondly management attitudes as to the role of environmental accounting in these companies. The senior executives responding to the survey suggest that they believe the environment is an important issue, and recognize the need for a business response. However, there appeared to be limited participation of the accountant in the EMS, which suggests there is a gap between the aggregate observations of this sample and literature support with respect to the role of environmental accounting. It is suggested that this might reflect a lack of understanding of the potential role accounting and the accountant could (and arguably should) play as a member of the EMS team. It is the intention of this paper to provide some input to enhance an understanding of the potential and important role accounting and the accountant could play in the EMS. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment