Value Accounting Network founded

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Jul 15, 2021

A group of nine initiatives has founded the Value Accounting Network. They share the ambition that the value provided by and experienced by people and nature must be included in all decision-making.

The network defines value accounting as: "The col­lec­tion, cal­i­bra­tion, and use of in­for­ma­tion about the relative value that an or­ga­ni­za­tion creates, preserves, or erodes for its stake­hold­ers, using common units. This in­for­ma­tion is used when making decisions for a variety of purposes."

The group has published agreed state­ments of com­mon­al­ity:

  1. We firmly believe it is vital for busi­nesses, finance, and gov­ern­ments to base decisions on value accounting.
  2. We aim to modernize accounting to transform gov­er­nance practices, decision making, and reporting.
  3. We believe that we need generally accepted prin­ci­ples to account for value.
  4. We believe that in­te­grated thinking, and a holistic sys­tems-based approach is essential.
  5. We embrace and support the concept of ‘capital’ re­flect­ing stocks that can change over time and that underpin in­creas­ing or de­creas­ing flows of benefits to people, com­mu­ni­ties, the en­vi­ron­ment, and the economy.
  6. We recognize the im­por­tance of accounting for holistic value creation, the value of impacts and de­pen­den­cies on different capitals.
  7. We recognize that the value to society (in­side-out) and value to the entity (out­side-in) are both essential to assess and report value.
  8. We believe that the trade-offs between capitals and between stake­hold­ers must be specified and addressed in decision making.
  9. We recognize the im­por­tance of existing efforts, and we are building on the standards, frame­works and de­f­i­n­i­tions that have already been agreed.

The Value Balancing Alliance, one of the founding members of the Value Accounting Network, makes the following in­for­ma­tion available on its website:

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