Toward a common standard for measuring and reporting performance
What is Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Accounting?
In traditional accounting, there is a single “bottom line,” an economic or financial one. Triple Bottom Line accounting broadens the scope of accounting to include social and environmental impacts as well. TBL accounting assesses the performance of organizations in terms of their impacts on all vital resources, not just one of them.
The three “bottom lines” in TBL accounting are:
- Environmental — natural capitals
- Economic — economic capitals
- Social — human, social, relationship, and constructed capitals
For all the talk of accountability in business, few organizations actually measure, manage, or report their performance in ways that fully account for impacts beyond economic ones.
What is the Certified TBL Accounting Standard?
The world’s first and only certification for TBL accounting, Certified TBL is grounded in best practices and international standards. The Certified TBL credential recognizes and rewards organizations that systematically measure, manage, and report their performance in rigorous, context-based terms. It is a supplement to many existing reporting schemes and requirements, signifying that an organization is competently and completely measuring their impact across environmental, social, and economic capitals.
Certified TBL is based on the belief that while outcomes matter, authentic measurement must come first. The TBL Standard is being developed through a process of multi-stakeholder collaboration and feedback, incorporating the interests of key stakeholders. For organizations committed to measuring all of what matters with discipline and authenticity, Certified TBL offers both a method and a credential.
The Certified TBL Standard is still under development and is currently being pilot tested with an apparel manufacturer. To learn about opportunities to participate in a pilot program, please contact Hannah Crane, Senior Manager of Corporate Programs and Training at [email protected].
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Resources
Our partners at Center for Sustainable Organizations have assembled a collection of literature and resources related to Triple Bottom Line accounting and context-based reporting.
Certified TBL Resources
The MultiCapital Scorecard “Only the second revolution in accounting since double-entry bookkeeping began, [multiple capital accounting] is of seismic proportions … The changes it will wreak are profound and far-reaching and not only will transform the way the world does business but also will alter the nature of capitalism.”Jane Gleeson-White, Author, Six Capitals or Can…
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