AccountAbility 1000

Origin. The Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability (ISEA) facilitated the development of AccountAbility1000 (AA1000) through work with individuals and organizations from business, government, and civil society. The standard first appeared in 1999.

Purpose. AA1000 is intended to improve the accountability and overall performance of business firms by enhancing the quality of social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting. The AA1000 standard can be used in two ways: (1) as a common currency to underpin the quality of existing and emerging specialized accountability standards, or (2) as a stand-alone system and process for managing and communicating social and ethical accountability and performance.

Contents. AA1000 specifies the process an organization should follow to account for its performance, rather than performance levels an organization should achieve. Under AA1000, corporations define and declare their governing values and ethical principles. The process standards contained within AA1000 link these values and principles to the development of performance targets and to the assessment and communication of organizational performance. An organization gradually enhances its performance by capitalizing on experience from previous improvement cycles.

Implementation. Utilization of AA1000 standard proceeds through five stages:

1) Planning: The organization commits to the process, and defines and reviews its values and social/ethical objectives and targets.

2) Accounting: The scope of the process is defined, information is collated and analyzed, and performance targets and improvement plans are developed.

3) Auditing and Reporting: A report on the organization’s systems and performance is prepared, the overall process is externally audited, reports are made accessible to stakeholders, and stakeholder feedback is obtained.

4) Embedding: Structures and systems are developed to strengthen the process and integrate it within the organization’s activities.

5) Stakeholder Engagement: Stakeholder participation is sought and engaged in stages (1) through (4).

To view this code in its entirety, please visit:

http://www.accountability.org.uk/uploadstore/cms/docs/AA1000%20Framework%201 or view the Executive Summary at: http://www.accountability.org.uk/uploadstore/cms/docs/AA%20ITP%20(exec).pdf

19. December 2002