企业环境成本会计外文翻译.docx

企业环境成本会计外文翻译.docx

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企业环境成本会计外文翻译

企业环境成本会计外文翻译

ACCOUNTINGINSMALLANDMEDIUM-SIZED

COMPANIES

1．ENVIRONMENTALCOSTACCOUNTINGINSMES

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）informationforuseinforinstancedecisionsregardingresourceconsumptionsandinvestments.TheuseofECAinsmallandmedium-sizedenterprises（SME）isstillrelativelyrare,sopracticalexamplesavailableintheliteraturearefewandfarbetween.OneproblemisthatthedefinitionsofSMEsvarybetweencountries（seeKosmider,1993andReinemann,1999）.InourworkthecriteriashowninTable1areusedtodescribesmallandmedium-sizedenterprises.

Table1.Criteriaofsmallandmedium-sizedenterprises

NumberofemployeesTurnover

Upto500employeesTurnoveruptoEUR50m

ManagementOrganization

-Owner-cum-entrepreneur-Divisionalorganizationisrare

-Variesfromapatriarchalmanagement-Shortflowofinformationstyle

intraditionalcompaniesandteamwork-Strongpersonalcommitment

instart-upcompanies-Instructionandcontrollingwith

-Top-downplanninginoldcompaniesdirectpersonalcontact

-Delegationisrare

-Lowlevelofformality

-Highflexibility

FinancePersonnel

-familycompany-easytosurveynumberofemployees

-limitedpossibilitiesoffinancing-wideexpertise

-highsatisfactionofemployees

SupplychainInnovation

-closelyinvolvedinlocal-highpotentialofinnovation

economiccyclesinspecialfields

-intenserelationshipwithcustomers

andsuppliers

Keepingthesecharacteristicsinmind,thechosenECAapproachshouldbeeasytoapply,shouldfacilitatethehandlingofcomplexstructuresandatthesametimebesuitedtothespecialneedsofSMEs.

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

Atmanufacturingcompaniesparticipatingintheproject,computer-integratedmanufacturingsystemsallowamoreflexibleandscope-orientedproduction（eco-moniesofscope）,whereasbeforeonlyhomogenousquantities（ofproducts）couldbeproducedunderreasonableeconomicconditions（economiesofscale）.ECAinevitablypreventseffectsofallocation,complexityanddigressionandbecomesavaluablecontrollinginstrumentwhereclassical/conventionalaccountingarrangementssystematicallyfailtofacilitateproperdecisions.

Thus,individuallyadoptedprocess-basedaccountingproducespotentiallyvaluableinformationforanykindofdecisionaboutinternalprocessingorexternalsourcing（e.g.make-or-buydecisions）.

Phase3:

HarmonizationofCorporateData–CompilingandAcquisition

Phase4:

Databaseconcepts

Withintheconceptofatransparentaccountingsystem,process-basedaccountingcanprovidecomprehensiveandsystematicinformationbothoncorporatematerial/energyflowsandso-calledoverheadcosts.Todeliverreliablefiguresovertime,itisessentialtointegrateapermanentintegrationofthealgorithmsdiscussedaboveintothecorporateinformationsystem（s）.Suchpermanentintegrationanditspracticalusemaybeachievedbyapplyingoneofthreesoftwaresolutions（seeFigur