ACCOUNTANTS AND ENVIRONMENTALACCOUNTINGAND REPORTING IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential role of accountants and their contribution towards a successfulimplementation ofenvironmental reportingpractice i.e. a reporting practice that add to the greater good of the country's sustainable development. The paper employs a mixed method approach through questionnaire surveys and personal interviews of corporate accountants in selected publicly listed companies in Malaysia. The main findings showed that there are two distinct roles ofaccountants in Malaysia pertaining to environmental accounting and reporting. Many ofthe accountants signal reactive role towards business-environmental accounting and reporting practices. The paper also found that accountants in Malaysia failed to recognise themselves as agents of sustainable development in their organizations. Accountants' role towards successful implementation of environmental reporting in Malaysia is still limited and unclear. This study contributes to the accounting research literature on two dimensions. First, it explores and gathers understanding about current attitudes ofaccountants from organizational perspective. Second, offers ideas and directions for greater involvement amongst the Malaysian accountants in environmental accounting and reporting, hence undertake the role as agents to intemalise corporate sustainable practices.