ACM008: Accounting for Sustainability

Module code: ACM008

Module provider: Finance and Accounting; Henley Business School

Credits: 20

ECTS credits: 10

Level: 7

When you’ll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Maggie Cooper, email: maggie.cooper@henley.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2026/7

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 25 March 2026

Overview

Module aims and purpose

1. Critically evaluate the principles and frameworks of sustainability, including environmental, economic and social dimensions and assess their relevance to contemporary accounting practices 
2. Analyse the roles and interactions of key international bodies involved in sustainability reporting and appraise the implications of emerging global standards for corporate accountability transparency 
3. Assess the ways in which organisations implement sustainability strategies  and reporting practices including materiality assessment, stakeholder engagement, performance measurement and assurance , while identifying challenges such as greenwashing and data quality.
4. Evaluate the sustainability performance and reporting by companies and identify areas for improvement 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module it is expected that the students will be able to:

1. Critically appraise the content of key frameworks and reporting standards.
2. Discuss accounting for sustainability as a complex social practice.
3. Critically appraise academic and professional arguments relating to the content of sustainability frameworks, standards and the standard setting process.
4. Analyse, summarise and synthesise selected relevant academic and professional literature.

Additional outcomes:
The module also aims to encourage the development of oral communication skills, and the students’ effectiveness in group situations. Structured activities are designed to develop independent learning skills. Students are encouraged to develop additional IT skills by use of relevant web resources and communication techniques, including Blackboard.

Module content

1. A range of theoretical and practical perspectives related to accounting for sustainability
2. Range of theories and frameworks that are used to evaluate and report on companies’ environmental and social reporting and performance
3. Social and institutional practices including the nature of, and case for and against the regulation of corporate financial reporting.
4. How academic literature has contributed to understanding and evaluation of practices
5. Specific content on carbon accounting, sustainable management accounting and social dimensions of sustainability reporting. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures will be used for the exposition of the major concepts, principles and techniques under consideration. Workshops will be used for to discuss relevant articles, case studies, practical applications and student-led presentations or discussions. A reading list will be provided that covers key academic and professional papers and other writings in the accounting for sustainability literature.

Study hours

At least 30 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 50% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each calendar day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three calendar days;
• where the piece of work is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in you Individual Learning Plan), the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three calendar days of the deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

Where a piece of work is submitted late after a deadline which has been revised owing to an extension granted through the Assessment Adjustments policy and process (self-certified or otherwise), it will be subject to the maximum penalty (i.e., considered to be more than three calendar days late). This will also apply when such an extension is used in conjunction with a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Quizzes in seminars will help students to evaluate their performance. Discussion of academic articles in seminars will enable them to assess their own work on their literature portfolio and their understanding of key issues.

Reassessment

Additional costs