SOSIALE REKENINGKUNDE EN DIE TEORIE VAN FINANSIëLE REKENINGKUNDE

In Ihis article one o f the approaches to social accounting, namely that o f Ralph Estes (1976), is discussed briefly and elucidated by means o f an example, and its most important advantages and disadvantages are pointed out. The theoretical concepts which have already crystallised with regard to social accounting are dealt with and contrasted with the theoretical concepts emerging from the fram ework o f financia l accounting. A n attempt has been made to determine whether Estes’ approach is reconcilable with the theory o f financial accounting, but this does not appear to be the case. This conclusion would probably apply to other approaches to social accounting as well. It is concluded that this shortcoming should receive attention before the theoretical framework o f accounting w ould be able to lay claim to genera! acceptance. Furthermore, the quest fo r meaningful m ethods fo r the disclosure o f the social responsibility o f undertakings offers the accounting profession the opportunity to consider fully some o f the social problems o f the world as a whole in co-operation with other experts.

The theoretical concepts which have already crystallised with regard to social accounting are dealt with a n d contrasted with the theoretical concepts emerging from the fram ew ork o f fin a n c ia l accounting.
A n attempt has been m ade to determine whether Estes' approach is reconcilable with the theory o f fina n cia l accounting, but this does not appear to be the case.This conclusion would probably apply to other approaches to social accounting as well.
It is concluded that this shortcoming should receive attention before the theoretical framework o f accounting w ould be able to lay claim to genera!acceptance.Furthermore, the quest fo r m eaningful m e tho ds fo r the disclosure o f the social responsibility o f undertakings offers the accounting profession the opportunity to consider fully som e o f the social problems o f the world as a whole in co-operation with other experts.

ESTES SE BEN A DERING
Ralph Estes se comprehensive social accounting model is die m ees gevorderde van al die benaderings wat in hierdie reeks artikels toegelig word.Estes (1976:3) definieer sosiale rekeningkunde soos volg: The measurement and reporting internal or external, of information concerning the impact of an entity and its activities on society.
T er motivering van sy benadering maak Estes (1976:93) 'n vergelyking van die finansiele en sosiale rekeningkunde en meld hy die volgende: The Tmancial accounting m odel generally reflects the view o f the entity looking out tow ard society, benefits (products and services) provided to society are thus indicated by the surrogate o f revenues received, w hereas costs arc m easured only by the entity's expenditures.Improved resource allocations could result from a different viewpoint, that o f society looking toward the entity.Benefits to society would then be m easured by the values or utilities actually received by society (which may differ from the amount paid to the entity); while costs would refiect the full detrim ents to society, and not only those for which the entity pays.
Die groot verskil tussen Estes se benadering en die vorige benaderings is dat die ander benaderings na 'n pragm atiese m etode van sosiale rekeningkunde soek terwyl Estes 'n veel m eer filosofiese benadering aan die dag lê.Hy (1976:95) erken dan ook dat "(i)t should be emphasized that this model is somewhat idealistic and may not be presently practical for all firms".Estes stel hom ook op die koste-voordeelbenadering en hy (1976:92) definieer die twee term e soos volg: • Social benefit: any b en efit to society (or to any elem en t o f society), w h e th er econom ic or 'nonecononic', internal o r external.Thus social benefits include those benefits provided by an entity for which it is com pensated as well as those 'external econom ics' and bargains for which no compensation (or inadequate compensation) is received.

E ST E S SE B E N
1. constancy of construction from one time period to the next, 2. consistently used from one time period to the next, 3. understandable to readers of the statements, 4. specific to the company's needs, and 5. objectively constructed.
R am an ath an (1976:520 -523) onderskei die voigende drie doeistellings vir sosiale rekeningkunde: Objective 1 An objective of corporate social accounting is to identify and m easure the periodic net social contribution o f an individual Tirm, which includes not only the costs and beneHts internalized to the firm, but also those arising from externalities affecting different social segments.
Objective 2 An objective of corporate social accounting is to help determ ine w hether an individual firm 's s tra te g ies an d p ra c tic es w hich directly affect th e relativ e re so u rc e s and pow er statu s of individuals, com m unities, social segm ents and generations are consistent with widely shared social priorities on the one hand, and individuals' legitimate aspirations, on the other.
Objective 3 A n objective o f co rp o rate so d a! accounting is to m ake available in an optim al m anner, to all social constituents, relevant information on a n rm 's goals, policies, program s, perform ance and c o n trib u tio n s to so cial g o a ls.R elev an t in fo rm a tio n is th a t w hich p ro v id e s for public accountability and also facilitates public decision malting regarding social choices and social resource allocation.O ptim ality implies a cost/benefit-effective reporting strategy which also optim ally b alances poten tial inform ation conflicts am ong the various social constituents of a fu-m.Uitgawes word beskryf as These should be companion fíeld s,... yet economics as it has come to dom inate the world today makes no biological o r ecological sense.The cost accounting in econom ics assum es that air, w ater and soil are infinite and free.They are w hat econom ists call 'e x te rn a litie s' to our calculation.
T o an ecologist ... a standing forest p erfo rm s num erous services: it prevents and retard s flooding, retains large am ounts o f w ater, affects corrosion, am eliorates earthquake damage, retards Tires, affects the w eather and climate by transpiring massive am ounts of w ater into the air, exchanges carbon dioxide for oxygen and supports a vast am ount of g enetic diversity in wildlife and plants.Yet the president of a m ajor multinational logging company said last year, 'A tree only has value once it's cut down'.
That is an expression of the way economists think.A standing forest, in term s of economics, has no w orth.It's only w hen you cut th e tre e down th at it begins to re tu rn som ething to the economy.D on't tell me that economics m akes sense if you don't account into it what forests do when they're still stan d in g ...
In all fairness, the rea.son we don't account for these things is because, quite frankly, we don't know how.But we should, and we can.
Social cost: any cost, sacrifice, or detrim ent to society (o r to any elem ent of society), whether eco n o m ic o r n on eco n o m ic, in te rn a l o r ex tern al. Social c o sts include sacrifices for which compensation is made (such as human services used and paid for) as well as detrim ents not paid for (su ch as air p o llu tio n ); any paym ents a re tre a te d s e p a ra te ly as a b e n efit to society.(T raditionally the term social cost has b een used to re fe r only to consum ption or dam age to society with no associated pecuniary cost to the offending or consum ing entity, and thus not internalized by it, i.e. external diseconom ies; the read er should b e careful to note the broader, more inclusive meaning assigned here.) aar tans geen universeel-aanvaarde konseptuele raam werk vir die rekeningkunde bestaan nie, het sekere fundam entele begrippe reeds 'n hoe m ate van aanvaarding verw erf, o n d e r m eer na aan le id in g van die S F A C -reeks van die F in an cial Accounting Standards Board, en die m eer onlangseREOOO (1990), wat op 'n publikasie van die International Accounting Standards C om m ittee gebaseer is.Ten opsigte van sosiale rekeningkunde in die besonder is d aar egter ook enkele teoretiese begrippe gevestig, hoewel nie naastenby so omvangryk as vir finansiële rekeningkunde nie.D aar word vervolgens kortliks ingegaan op die enkele begrippe en doelstellings wat reeds ten opsigte van sosiale rekeningkunde ontwikkel is, w aarna dit met verbandhoudende begrippe in finansiële rekeningkunde vergelyk word.Laastens word die benade-ring van Estes getoets aan sekere van die begrippe van die raam werk van finansiële rekeningkunde ten einde vas te stel in hoe 'n mate dit rekeningkundig-teoreties verantw oordbaar is.Sosiale rekeningkunde Mobley (1970:766) verkiaar dat daar veral in die beginstadium van die ontwikkeling van konsepte en doeistellings vir sosiale rekeningkunde vir 'n groot m ate van buigsaamheid (flexibility) voorsiening gemaak m oet word.

Concept 2
Social overheads (returns) rep resen t the sacrifice (b en efit) to society from those resources con su m ed (ad d ed ) by a firm as a result o f its social tran saction s.In o th e r w ords, social overheads are the m easured value of a firm 's negative externalities, and social returns is the m easured value of its positive externalities.Concept 3Social incom e represents the periodic net social contribution o f a firm.It is com puted as the algebraic sum o f the firm 's traditionally m easured net income, its aggregate social overheads and its aggregate social returns.Concept 4Social constituents are the different distinct social groups (im plied in the second objective and expressed in the third objective o f social accounting) with whom a firm is presum ed to have a social contract.Concept 5Social equity is a m easure of the aggregate changes in the claims which each social constituent is presumed to have in the firm.Concept 6Net social asset o f a firm is a m easure of its aggregate non-m arket contribution to the society's well being less its nonm arket depletion of the society's resources during the life of the firm.Die elem ente van finansiële state wat in finansiële rekeningicunde ericenning geniet, is die volgende; bates, laste, eicwiteit, inkom ste en uitgawes (REOOO:49 en RE000:70).Elk van hierdie elem ente word gedefinieer, en dit vorm wesenlik die inhoud van wat in die finansieel-rekeningkundige b alan sstaat en inkom stestaat opgeneem word.Die Social impact statement re fle k te e r a a n to o n b a a r geen item s w at as an alo g ies aan konvensionele bates of laste beskou kan word nie en gevolglik word hierdie elem ente, tesam e m et hulle residu , ek w iteit, nie h ie r b e h a n d e l nie.D ie a n d e r elem en te, inkomste en uitgawes, word egter in m eer besonderhede beskou.Inkomste word beskryf as ... to en am es in ekonom iese voordele g ed urend e die rekenpligtige lydperk, in die vorm van toevloei van of toenam e in bates, of afnam e in laste wat 'n toenam e in ekwiteit tot gevolg het, uitgesonderd dié wat betrekking het op bydraes deur ekwiteitsdeelnem ers (bv.aandeelhoucrs) (REO00:70).