Market Towns East BASE Programme Workshop

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Market Towns EastBASE Programme Workshop

• Triple Bottom Line
• 25th January 2007
• Philip Angier,
• Angier Griffin

Triple Bottom Line 25th January 2007
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Triple Bottom LineSocial Return on Investment

• Programme for the Day
• Background Basics
• Benefits and Pitfalls
• Social Return on Investments
• Activity Mapping and Measures
• Data Capture/Quantification Techniques
• Using Non-Financial Indicators
• External Audit

Triple Bottom Line 25th January 2007
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Triple Bottom Line

• What is it ?
• The process whereby an organisation measures and
  reports accounts for its social and environmental
  performance as well as its financial performance,
  and seeks to improve (and balance) its
  performance across all three indicators

Triple Bottom Line 25th January 2007
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Triple Bottom Line

• How is it measured?
• Financial performance is measured using
  management accounting techniques and statutory
  reporting formats
• Social performance is measured by gathering
  statistical information and opinions of
  stakeholders.
• Environmental performance is measured by using
  standard indicators such as CO2 emissions, energy
  efficiency and recycling indicators but may
  also look at supply chain indicators, staff
  attitudes, corporate policies, etc

Triple Bottom Line 25th January 2007
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Terminology

• Book-keeping
• The means by which information is routinely
  collected and recorded
• Accounting
• The process whereby recorded data is enterprise
  analysed and interpreted usually employing both
  quantitative and qualitative information
• Auditing
• The period end verification and preparation of an
  audit statement

Triple Bottom Line 25th January 2007
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Definition

• Triple bottom line accounting is best understood
  as a reaction against conventional accounting
  principles and practices. These centre on the
  financial viability and profitability of an
  enterprise. By contrast, a triple bottom line
  account proposes a broader perspective. It posits
  other goals as well as or instead of financial
  profitability. Moreover, triple bottom line
  attempts to embrace not only economic variables
  but also social and environmental ones, including
  some which may not be amenable to quantification
  in monetary terms.

Triple Bottom Line 25th January 2007
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Triple Bottom Line

• Put another way ...
• How else are you going to satisfy yourselves and
  others that your overall impact is positive if
  you dont have a way of measuring it?

Triple Bottom Line 25th January 2007
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Social Accounting

• Social Accounting is one of the three disciplines
  of triple bottom line reporting
• Look at how it is done
• Look at the pros and cons of
• Social Return on Investment

Triple Bottom Line 25th January 2007
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Principles of Social Accounting

• Multi Perspective - includes views of different
  stakeholders
• Comprehensive - covers all main activities and
  all main stakeholder groups
• Regular - annual or other regular cycle
• Comparative - year on year and benchmarked
• Verified - external auditor
• Disclosed - publish and be damned!

Triple Bottom Line 25th January 2007
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Social Account vs Evaluation
Social Account
Evaluation
Project Specific
Looks at the whole organisation
Regular - ongoing
Time Bound
Done by You
Done to you
Funders Aims
Your/ stakeholders aims
Triple Bottom Line 25th January 2007
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Social Accounting Tools
DTA tell your story
EMAS
Social/ Environmental Impact
Social Audit
AA 1000
SAN Framework
Balanced Scorecard
IRIS Toolkit
Logical Framework
Social Return on Investment
LM3
Economic Impact
Entry Level/ Less resource intensive
Comprehensive Account/ More resource intensive
Triple Bottom Line 25th January 2007