Legacy accounting lecture highlights critical role of e-liability accounting
The Bill Birkett Memorial Lecture marked its 20th anniversary with a focus on e-liability accounting.
The Bill Birkett Memorial Lecture, hosted by the UNSW School of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation in partnership with CPA Australia, has just celebrated 20 years.
The lecture, held last week on 12 November, was hosted by Professor Robert Kaplan and Chevron Australia energy transition general manager, David Fallon.
The lecture explored business sustainability developments focused on e-liability accounting and was moderated by Elysse Morgan from Stafford Capital Partners.
CPA Australia said e-liability accounting was the perfect lecture topic to help celebrate 20 years.
“E-liability accounting is a technique that allows organisations to produce real-time, accurate and auditable data regarding their direct and supplier emissions, including that of their products and services,” CPA said.
“It’s designed to assist consumers in factoring environmental sustainability into their purchase decision-making, with the aim of reducing carbon outputs through dynamic competition.”
Kaplan, renowned for co-developing ‘activity-based costing’ and the ‘balanced scorecard’, presented his innovation for tackling the challenge of greenhouse gas reporting” e-liability accounting.
Fallon shared his company’s experience in piloting e-liability accounting and how it can contribute to advancing a lower carbon future.
CPA Australia president and chair, Professor Dale Pinto, said it was a pleasure to hear from Kaplan and Fallon, two global industry leaders on e-liability accounting and how it can be leveraged.
“The e-liability approach in accounting eliminates the issue of estimates in carbon accounting practices,” Pinto said.
“Innovations such as e-liability within the accounting field are positively transforming perceptions of the profession. I extend my gratitude to Professor Kaplan and David Fallon for their insightful and engaging presentations, which uphold the esteemed tradition of this landmark lecture.”
UNSW Business School senior deputy dean, Professor Paul Andon, said the faculty was dedicated to advancing big ideas that tackled major business challenges, such as e-liability accounting.
“The insights shared by Professor Kaplan and David Fallon show how accounting can play a pivotal role in driving sustainable outcomes across supply chains,” he said.
“Once again, the Birkett lecture has honoured Professor Birkett’s legacy by inspiring progress on a grand challenge for our profession and beyond.”
The Bill Birkett Memorial Lecture was established to celebrate the legacy of Professor Bill Birkett who passed away in 2004.
CPA Australia said Birkett was a renowned professor of management accounting at UNSW for many years, his most enduring feature being his ability to mobilise and energise an active community of management accounting researchers across the country.
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