Publicação
Complementary, not interchangeable: impact accounting and financial reporting
| dc.contributor.author | Cruz, Matilde Campos da | |
| dc.contributor.author | Lancastre, Filipa | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-06-24T11:47:02Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-06-24T11:47:02Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026-06-24 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This research note examines whether Impact Accounting (IA) can be incorporated into companies’ financial statements. Based on conceptual analysis and existing academic and practitioner literature, the study finds that although IA has gained increasing relevance as a tool to translate environmental, social, and economic impacts into monetary terms, its integration into financial reporting remains conceptually and practically unfeasible. IA is increasingly used to support internal decision-making, sustainability strategy, and stakeholder communication by making corporate impacts more visible and comparable. It is also positioned as a complementary approach to existing ESG reporting frameworks, including the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The study identifies three key barriers to the integration of IA into financial statements. First, impact measurement and valuation rely heavily on assumptions, proxies, and contextspecific judgments, limiting reliability and auditability. Second, the lack of standardized methodologies significantly reduces comparability across firms and reporting periods. Third, IA is fundamentally misaligned with financial accounting principles, particularly regarding recognition criteria, verifiability, and entity-specific reporting boundaries. To address these limitations, IA is currently evolving as a complementary reporting and decision-support tool rather than a financial reporting mechanism. Companies and standardsetting initiatives are working to improve methodological consistency and strengthen data infrastructure, while practical applications such as impact valuation pilots and internal management use cases are increasing familiarity with the approach. Despite this progress, adoption remains driven primarily by voluntary initiatives rather than regulatory requirements. The study argues that IA should not be understood as an extension of financial accounting, but rather as a complementary framework that enhances sustainability management and corporate transparency without being suitable for inclusion in formal financial statements. | eng |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.34632/sgjs-ag45 | |
| dc.identifier.other | ccf1130a-bd80-42f6-bd29-49c625ee4007 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/58270 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.peerreviewed | no | |
| dc.publisher | Universidade Católica Portuguesa | |
| dc.rights.uri | N/A | |
| dc.title | Complementary, not interchangeable: impact accounting and financial reporting | |
| dc.type | report | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| oaire.version | http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85 |
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