Report of the Committee on the Measurement of Social Costs: American Accounting Association.

Abstract The article presents the text of the 1972-73 report of the American Accounting Association Committee on the measurement of social costs. The design of the detection and measurement system in the social sphere must rely substantially on the expertise of social scientists other than accountants. Accountants do not, by customary background, have the needed expertise to deal with these problems. But considering the operation of the detection and measurement system and communication of the results to appropriate decision points in organizations and society, accountants have a great deal to offer. Accountants have the ear of management and can affect decisions, which is one obvious goal of social accounting. In the area of attestation of social performance information, the accountant should play the primary role, but the development of measurement technology should precede the development of verification audit and attestation technology. Accountants who involve themselves in social accounting are straying far from the area of their own skill and knowledge.