Sustainability/ESG Basics  

There is a strong correlation between future financial results of companies and high scores on sustainability/ESG-oriented measurements of their business operations. Studies consistently show that companies having stronger environmental policies and practices than their competitors, and who are better stewards to their communities than their competitors, produce future stock prices that significantly outperform their competitors in the same sector. Accountants are in a unique position to assist clients as sustainability gains a more prominent role in their clients' operations. Ethics is the underpinning of the accounting profession, acting always in the public interest. By the same measure, accurate financial information is the hallmark of the accounting profession just as accurate sustainability-oriented information is the hallmark of the growing field of sustainability and sustainability and ESG reporting.