Teaching Sustainability in an Accounting Classroom

Abstract

Sustainability has become an important issue in the world today for both business and society. As accounting faculty members, it is important that we add aspects of sustainability into accounting classrooms to help prepare students for what they will see in the workplace. The article aims to discuss areas for faculty to share with students the importance of sustainability. The methods of discussing sustainability in the classroom come from the teaching experiences of the authors. Cost, managerial, and intermediate accounting courses, as well as auditing at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, serve as conduits for sustainability concepts. Examples include discussing the triple bottom line, examining CSR reports and assurance services for them, talking about required environmental reporting and integrated reporting, and examining green balanced scorecards. The hope is that faculty can help students learn not only accounting but how to be better citizens with a global perspective on sustainability.