Sustainability Reporting In Accounting Wesfarmers Limited

Question: Discuss about the Sustainability Reporting in Accounting for Wesfarmers Limited. Answer: Introduction Sustainability reporting mainly puts focus on an organizations financial condition and its ability to run its business in the competitive world. The sustainability report of a firm helps an investor to understand the condition of the firm (financial) easily and based on the situation, they invest for earning higher return. In this study, the sustainability report of an ASX listed firm named Wesfarmers Limited has been analyzed in detail for understanding the present situation of the organization and along with it to identify the contemporary issues related with the organization. Therefore, this report will help the stakeholders of the firm to understand whether their long-goals will be met by the corporation or not. Additionally, sustainability report helps to reveal significant phases towards attaining sustainable worldwide economy (Bebbington, Unerman and O'Dwyer, 2014). Moreover, this will help to explain the overall responsibility of the operations of the organization and its imp act on the society. This will enhance the trust and will assist the method for value sharing. However, the information of sustainability will be used by the particular nations government in order to appraise the sustainability report of a firm and its contribution (Ioannou and Serafeim, 2016). Thus, it will assist to manage the problems that are faced by Wesfarmers. Sustainability Reporting in Accounting It has been found that Wesfarmers Limited intends to create value for future and it remains committed to the management of society and its influence on the ecosystem. The particular corporations sustainability report can be characterized into the following types: People Wesfarmers Limited mainly highlights on maintaining a safe workplace for its workforces and also intends to create a widespread work environment. It has been found that this particular type of work environment is primarily concentrated by the gender diversity and the residents of Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2017). Sourcing Wesfarmers Limited has various values but one of the most important is the sourcing. This mainly undertakes the ethical sourcing and the suppliers of the firm. Moreover, it can be said that the suppliers of the particular organization are entrusted towards the development of pleasant and sturdy association (Junior, Best and Cotter, 2014). Thus, the ethical sourcing founds to strive hard to find the more responsible way and also to develop the practices of the society. Community The other intention of the particular firm Wesfarmers Limited is to provide service to the society or the community through providence of healthy and safe workplace environment to its staffs and its end consumers (Hahn and Khnen, 2013). Moreover, the firm promised to provide the products as well as the services safely. Environment This particular factor is also considered a vital aspect for the corporation Wesfarmers Limited and thus it intended to protect its environment form any harm. Particularly, the organization aimed to reduce its emission rate of pollution and wants to bring in development in the flexibility of the climatic change. As a result, water utilization and reduction of waste by landfill have been practiced by the organization. Governance This particular factor is also adopted by the firm Wesfarmers with the aim to maintain and control the vigorous policies of the corporate governance, especially in the operational activities of the organization (Buhr, Gray and Milne, 2014). It has been found that Wesfarmers Limited has intended to create values for the investors (potential), societies and employees on an overall manner. It can also be said that the corporation decided to maintain the creation of long-term and to serve to the societies. This implies for the specified firm, sustainability report is concerned as the conceptualization of the process of managing various ways to ensure the best possible actions in order to develop values for future (Cho et al., 2015). Additionally, Wesfarmers aimed to deduce its own carbon footprint to its potential clients. It has been found that Wesfarmers spontaneously improves its level of performance and public reports from the sustainability report on a yearly basis. Moreover, it has been found that Wesfarmers has brought in clearness to its regulations, particularly in its supply chain department. The firm provides audit program to more than 3200 factories. On the other way, the corporation is mainly concerned with the practices of ethical sourcing like transparency in the supply chain. Thus, Wesfarmers prepares various strategies for deducing emission of gases (greenhouse) by at least 2 % for bringing into environmentally viable actions (Milne and Gray, 2013). Language of Accounting According to Buhr, Gray and Milne (2014), the sustainability report mainly assists to bring in together the inclusive evaluation of the financial performance of the firm through the assessment of the weaknesses and strengths of the corporation. It is especially assessed after the engagement of the corporation with its investors as well as stakeholders. Moreover, it can also be said that this particular practice of preparing sustainability report would turn up the vision of progressing and the strategies of the organization. Based on this, it can be revealed that the practices of making sustainable report would mainly put emphasis on the procedure of reducing the expense of the organization. In other words, it can also be said that the sustainability reporting primarily puts spotlight on the making of particular policies that assists the particular fim to reduce its operational expenses and also assists in making compliance by the help of proper measurement. Thus, accurate dimension i s required for every firm to gauge the various levels of performance of sustainability. Depending on detailed study and analysis of the sustainability reporting of a firm, it can be said that this would aid the specified corporation to get satisfied with various authoritarian commitments in an effective way. In addition to these, the sustainability report of a business corporation help the particular organization to acquire aggressive advantages through the process of magnetizing more amount of asset. Furthermore, this reporting process also helps the corporation in taking essential actions in the method of penetration of the new market. It has been noted that in the year 2006, the code of ethics had been incorporated within the operation of the firm, especially for the Professional Accountants and had been amended for 2008 (Milne and Gray, 2013). This was declared at the period of presentation of the standards in accordance to the APESB (Accounting Professional and Ethical Standard s Board). However, all these standards have been represented and founded in the Initiative of the Global Reporting. Recent Social Issues in Accounting and its Effect on Several Stakeholders It has been noted that the firm Wesfarmers Limited has various accounting issues at present and thus these should be reduced by the management of the firm as far as possible. Wesfarmers face issues regarding material sustainability. The corporation aimed to retort all the problems that are related to material sustainability through the procedure of delivering various strategies in certain efficient ways. Moreover, Wesfarmers strives hard to manage its dependability towards the employees safety. Additionally, the corporation also required improvement in the total rate of injury; particularly those are recordable for identifying the negligible factors. It can be said that Wesfarmers should provide 1 % of its total profitability amount (pre-tax profits) to the programs of the society that occur locally and nationally (Ball, Grubnic and Birchall, 2014). Therefore, Wesfarmers should prepare various policies in order to deduce the emission quantity of greenhouse gases to the environment; h owever, it has been found that the corporation failed in the previous period. Moreover, Wesfarmers did not succeed to perform any kind of important environmental events in the last year. As a result, the firm should put emphasis on bringing benefit to the society and also to the environment and ecosystem as a whole. It has been found that the particular firm actively manages the society as an environment and follows ten key values that are associated with the reduction of sustainability issues, which have been detected from the material features of the firm (Martnez?Ferrero, Garcia?Sanchez and Cuadrado?Ballesteros, 2015). Wesfarmers intends to serve a healthy and safe workplace to its staffs and this addresses the conflicts in the firm by the formation of comprehensive environment. Based on detailed analysis, it can be said that there is a space for the development of the safety initiatives and performances. Moreover, it has been noted that the firm monitor its workplace well and use various strategies for identifying any kind of hazards. This implies the corporation incorporates checking of performance plane in the both Injury care programs and Safety Activity Book (Rinaldi, Unerman and Tilt, 2014). The sustainability report of the firm Wesfarmers clearly implies that various ways through which this particular firm strives in order to decrease the companys waste for landfill and water utilization. In addition, the sustainability reports help to illustrate the maintenance strategies of corporate governance (Lynch, Lynch and Casten, 2014). However, this particular report does not succeed in specifying the difference between the actual figures and the targeted figures of the firm. Conclusion: It can be concluded that Wesfarmers is greatly sustainable in character. Thus, its overall operations about the accounting concepts of the sustainability report have been highlighted in this study. Moreover, this study also highlights that value additions and sustainability reporting are mandatory for understanding the significance of sustainability. From the above analysis, it can be said that sustainability report of a firm helps it to detect the main issues of the business. 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