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Sinceitsinceptionsome30yearsago,EnvironmentalCostAccounting（ECA）hasreachedastageofdevelopmentwhereindividualECAsystemsareseparatedfromthecoreaccountingsystembasedanassessmentofenvironmentalcostswith（seeFichteretal.,1997,LetmatheandWagner,2002）.

Asenvironmentalcostsarecommonlyassessedasoverheadcosts,neithertheolderconceptsoffullcostsaccountingnortherelativelyrecentoneofdirectcostingappeartorepresentanappropriatebasisfortheimplementationofECA.Similartodevelopmentsinconventionalaccounting,thetheoreticalandconceptualsphereofECAhasfocusedonprocess-basedaccountingsincethe1990s（seeHallayandPfriem,1992,FischerandBlasius,1995,BMU/UBA,1996,Helleretal.,1995,Letmathe,1998,SpenglerandH.hre,1998）.

TakingavailableconceptsofECAintoconsideration,process-basedconceptsseemthebestoptionregardingtheestablishmentofECA（seeHeupelandWendisch,2002）.Theseconcepts,however,havetobecontinuouslyrevisedtoensurethattheyworkwellwhenappliedinsmallandmedium-sizedcompanies.

BasedontheframeworkforEnvironmentalManagementAccountingpresentedinBurrittetal.（2002）,ourconceptofECAfocusesontwomaingroupsofenvironmentallyrelatedimpacts.Theseareenvironmentallyinducedfinancialeffectsandcompany-relatedeffectsonenvironmentalsystems（seeBurrittandSchaltegger,2000,p.58）.Eachoftheseimpactsrelatetospecificcategoriesoffinancialandenvironmentalinformation.Theenvironmentallyinducedfinancialeffectsarerepresentedbymonetaryenvironmentalinformationandtheeffectsonenvironmentalsystemsarerepresentedbyphysicalenvironmentalinformation.Conventionalaccountingdealswithboth—monetaryaswellasphysicalunits—butdoesnotfocusonenvironmentalimpactassuch.ToarriveatapracticalsolutiontotheimplementationofECAinacompany'

sexistingaccountingsystem,andtocomplywiththeproblemofdistinguishingbetweenmonetaryandphysicalaspects,anintegratedconceptisrequired.Asphysicalinformationisoftenthebasisforthemonetaryinformation（e.g.kilogramsofarawmaterialarethebasisforthemonetaryvaluationofrawmaterialconsumption）,theintegrationofthisinformationintotheaccountingsystemdatabaseisessential.Fromthere,thegenerationofphysicalenvironmentalandmonetary（environmental）informationwouldinmanycasesbefeasible.Formanycompanies,theprioritywouldbemonetary（environmental）informationforuseinforinstaneedecisionsregardingresourceconsumptionsandinvestments.TheuseofECAinsmallandmedium-sizedenterprises（SME）isstillrelativelyrare,sopracticalexamplesavailableintheliteraturearefewandfarbetween.OneproblemisthatthedefinitionsofSMEsvarybetweencountries（seeKosmider,1993andReinemann,1999）.InourworkthecriteriashowninTable1areusedtodescribesmallandmedium-sizedenterprises.

Table1.Criteriaofsmallandmedium-sizedenterprises

Numberofemployees

Upto500employees

Turnover

TurnoveruptoEUR50m

Management

-Owner-cum-entrepreneur

-Variesfromapatriarchalmanagement

intraditionalcompaniesandteamwork

instart-upcompanies

-Top-downplanninginoldcompanies

Organization

-Divisionalorganizationisrare-Shortflowofinformationstyle-Strongpersonalcommitment-Instructionandcontrollingwithdirectpersonalcontact

-Delegationisrare

-Lowlevelofformality

-Highflexibility

Finance

-familycompany

-limitedpossibilitiesoffinancing

Personnel

-easytosurveynumberofemployees

-wideexpertise

-highsatisfactionofemployees

Supplychain

-closelyinvoIvedinlocal

economiccycles

-intenserelationshipwithcustomers

andsuppliers

Innovation

-highpotentialofinnovation

inspecialfields

Keepingthesecharacteristicsinmind,thechosenECAapproachshouldbeeasytoapply,shouldfacilitatethehandlingofcomplexstructuresandatthesametimebesuitedtothespecialneedsofSMEs.

DespitetheirsizeSMEsareincreasinglyimplementingEnterpriseResourcePlanning（ERP）systemslikeSAPR/3,OracleandPeoplesoft.ERPsystemssupportbusinessprocessesacrossorganizational,temporalandgeographicalboundariesusingoneintegrateddatabase.TheprimaryuseofERPsystemsisforplanningandcontrollingproductionandadministrationprocessesofanenterprise.InSMEshowever,theyareoftenindividuallydesignedandthusnotstandardizedmakingtheintegrationofforinstancesoftwarethatsupportsECAimplementationproblematic.Examplescouldbetoolslikethe-efficiency“e”coapproachof

IMU（2003）orUmberto（2003）becausethesesolutionsworkwiththedatabaseofmorecomprehensivesoftwaresolutionslikeSAP,Oracle,Navisionorothers.Umbertosoftwareforexample（seeUmberto,2003）wouldrequirelargeinvestmentsandgreatbackgroundknowledgeofECA-whichisnotavailableinmostSMEs.

TheECAapproachsuggestedinthischapterisbasedonanintegrativesolution-meaningthatanindividuallydevelopeddatabaseisused,andtheECAsolutionadopteddrawsontheexistingcostaccountingproceduresinthecompany.IncontrasttootherECAapproaches,theaimwastocreateanaccountingsystemthatenablesthecompaniestoindividuallyobtaintherelevantcostinformation.Theaimoftheresearchwasthustofindoutwhatcostinformationisrelevantforthecompany'

sdecisiononenvironmentalissuesandhowtoobtainit.

2．METHODFORIMPLEMENTINGECA

SettingupanECAsystemrequiresasystematicprocedure.TheprojectthusdevelopedamethodforimplementingECAinthecompaniesthatparticipatedintheproject;

thisisshowninFigure1.Duringtheimplementationoftheprojectitprovedconvenienttoformacoreteamassignedwithcorrespondingtasksdrawingonemployeesinvariousdepartments.Suchateamshouldconsistofoneortwopersonsfromtheproductiondepartmentaswellastwofromaccountingandcorporateenvironmentalissues,ifavailable.Dependingonthestageoftheprojectandkindofinquirybeingconsidered,additionalcorporatemembersmaybeaddedtotheprojectteamtorespondtoissuessuchasIT,logistics,warehousingetc.

Phase1:

ProductionProcessVisualization

Atthebeginning,theprojectteammustbebriefedthoroughlyonthecurrentcorporatesituationandontheaccountingsituation.Tothisend,theexistingcorporateaccountingstructureandtherelatedcorporateinformationtransfershouldbeanalyzedthoroughly.Followingtheconceptofaninput/outputanalysis,howmaterialsfindtheirwaysintoandoutofthecompanyisassessed.Thenextstepistopresenttheflowofmaterialandgoodsdiscoveredandassessedinaflowmodel.Toensurethecompletenessandintegrityofsuchasystematicanalysis,anyinputandoutputistobetakenintoconsideration.Onlyadetailedanalysisofmaterialandenergyflowsfromthepointtheyenterthecompanyuntiltheyleaveitasproducts,waste,wastewateroremissionsenablesthecompanytodetectcost-savingpotentialsthatatlaterstagesoftheprojectmayinvolvemoreefficientmaterialuse,advancedprocessreliabilityandoverview,improvedcapacityloads,reducedwastedisposalcosts,bettertransparencyofcostsandmorereliableassessmentoflegalissues.Asafirstapproach,simplifiedcorporateflowmodels,standardizedstand-alonemodelsforsupplier（s）,warehouseandisolatedproductionsegmentswereestablishedandonlycombinedaftercompletion.Withsuchstandardelementsandprototypesdefined,acompanycanreadilydevelopanintegratedflowmodelwithproductionprocess（es）,productionlinesoraproductionprocessasawhole.FromtheviewoflateradoptionoftheexistingcorporateaccountingtoECA,suchvisualizationhelpsdetect,determine,assessandthenseparateprimaryfromsecondaryprocesses.

Phase2:

ModificationofAccounting

Inadditiontothevisualizationofmaterialandenergyflows,modelingprincipalandperipheralcorporateprocesseshelpspreventproblemsinvolvingtoohighsharesofoverheadcostsonthenetproductresult.Theflowmodelallowsprocessestobedetermineddirectlyoratleastpartiallyidentifiedascostdrivers.Thisallowsidentifyingandseparatingrepetitiveprocessingactivitywithcomparablyfewoptionsfromthosewithmorelikelyonesforpotentialimprovement.

Byfocusingonprincipalissuesofcorporatecostprioritiesandonthosecoststhathavebeenassessedandassignedtotheircausesleastappropriatelysofar,corporateproceduressuchaspreparingbids,settingupproductionmachinery,ordering（raw）materialandrelatedprocessparameterssuchasorderpositions,settingupcyclesofmachinery,andorderitemscanbedefinedaccurately.Puttingseveralpartialprocesseswiththeirisolatedcostsintocontextallowsprincipalprocessestoemerge;

theseformthebasisofprocess-orientedaccounting.Ultimately,thecostdriversoftheprocessesassessedaretheactualreferencepointsforassigningandaccountingoverheadcosts.Thepercentagesurchargesoncostssuchaslaborcostsarereplacedbyprocessparametersmeasuringefficiency（seeFosterandGupta,1990）.

Somecorporateprocessessuchasmanagement,controllingandpersonnelremaininadequatelyassessedwithcostdriversassignedtoproduct-relatedcostaccounting.Therefore,costsoftheprocessesmentioned,irrelevanttothemeasureofproductionactivity,havetobeassessedandsurchargedwithaconventionalpercentage.

Atmanufacturingcompaniesparticipatingintheproject,computer-integratedmanuf