Efforts to engage stakeholders are sometimes ok, sometimes awful, says our columnist. Twelve failings to avoid – and how a focus on power and rights can make engagement matter.

Historic abuse of human rights is hardwired into our financial accounting systems, says our columnist – and so-called solutions to global inequality are merely wallpapering over the cracks.

GDP up, good; GDP down, bad? Not so simple, especially when assessing citizens’ wellbeing. Many alternative measures aim to fill that gap, but none can entirely replace GDP, writes our columnist – and in any case, the real issue lies deeper...

Our financial accounting systems were designed by white men, for white men – with disastrous implications for people and planet. Could a gender lens help us reshape an accounting system built on empathy and that works for the majority?

Are public sector accounts ‘materially misstated’? Our columnist gets anxious as he submerges himself in the alphabet soup of global public sector accounting standards – and proposes a simple addition to bring social value back to the surface.

Intangible assets have become a major consideration for investors, making up 90% of all enterprise value on the S&P 500. Yet our accounting system has failed to adapt, with real implications for sustainability. Our columnist suggests a simple fix.

In his latest Nicholls & Dimes column, Jeremy Nicholls applies Monty Python’s analysis of the Roman Empire to current challenges of reporting performance on ESG and corporate impact – and concludes that charities already have the answer.

In the latest in our Nicholls & Dimes column, social value expert Jeremy Nicholls explains why audit and assurance are the heroes we need on our quest if we are to understand what impact is and how to grow it.

We need ‘warrior accountants’ who must do more than help “standardise ESG”, warns Jeremy Nicholls. The risks of depending on declining environmental resources or below-standard working conditions must also be “managed and reported".