Call for papers in English for the special issue of Zeszyty Teoretyczne Rachunkowości (ZTR – Theoretical Journal of Accounting) in 2020

Abstract

Since the end of the 20th century, discussion on the role that accounting plays in the provision of information necessary for decision making in the ever-changing environment has been continuing among practitioners, governmental and non-government organizations, and particularly among the academic community. The debate concerns both the issue of measuring the results of economic activity (relating to the economic, environmental and social spheres) and the scope of disclosures in reporting that would satisfy the stakeholders’ expectations. Currently, achievement of market success is associated not only with the desire to optimize the economic results, but also with the care for the natural environment and the social issues. Accounting, therefore, being the primary source of the information supporting the management processes in an organization, has to face the challenges posed by current economic practice. As E. Burzym (2008, pp. 73–76) states, “by providing a universal and a flexible information and control system, accounting can be used to enforce the socio-economic responsibility of enterprises. It is purposely oriented to the needs of managements that are focused on implementation of economic goals and on accounting for companies’ responsibility (economic, environmental and social) for the results of their activity”. What is more, in the times that are difficult due to the dynamic changes taking place in the environment, accounting is precisely the system that can ensure reliability of the information published in the reports constituting the basis for assessment of enterprise performance. R. Mattessich (1994, pp. 358, 366) stated that “accountability has been the major function of accounting discipline for some ten thousand years, while other functions, like aiding investment decisions, are of more recent origin. And this account-ability function may well endure long after other functions have been taken over by neighbouring areas. And if I am not totally mistaken, it appears that we are entering a phase where accountability gains in importance”. However, the use of accounting to hold companies accountable for the broadly understood responsibility is extremely dif-ficult nowadays. It is connected with the necessity to modify and create new solutions that are imperative to explain the increasingly complex economic processes. In order to get a full picture of the business conducted in a given company – regarding its situ-ation, results and directions for further development – both the financial and the non-financial information is required. Therefore, as S. K. Roy (2008, p. 37) indicates, “in a multilingual world with different ethical and social values, monolingualism does not simply suffice”. This situation necessitates accounting to use other measures, in addi-tion to economic measurement, that would reflect the complex processes taking place in the economy, in order to meet the challenges posed by new reality. By that, it will provide the information desired and necessary for assessment of the broadly understood effectiveness of enterprise activity.

Keywords

• call for papers