Sustainable Development Goals: Economic Stability.
Table of Contents
Cover page 1
Table of content 2
Introduction 3
book review 4
Discussion 10
Conclusion 12
References……………………….……………………………………………………………….14
Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………………14
The relevance of Accounting and Reporting In Economic Stability.
Introduction:
Sustainable development goals (SDGs) started at the UN sustainable development conference in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. The intention was to develop goals to solve the urgent need of the world in politics, environment, and economy. The SDGs was a replacement for the millennium development goals (MDG).
Sustainable development goals (SDGs) are actions by the United Nations member states to protect the nations by working for prosperity and peace and also ending poverty by the year 2030. The goals are interrelated as a change in one will result in a change in the other. All the approaches must be geared to the stability in economic, social, and environmental areas (Agri, Mailafia, & Umejiaku, 2017). The plan is not to leave any member lagging in development to help those nations that are already back to come to the same level as the others.
The goals are to eliminate discrimination against girls and women, eliminate hunger, reduce poverty, and eradicate AIDS. In doing this, the UN uses other developmental agencies. Agencies like the UNDP have worked in over 170 countries in the implementation of the UN work (Ziolo, Ghoul, & Aydın, 2018). The UN’s efforts to prevent and solve conflicts and disease control are geared towards helping people deal with problems that arise from the issues stated, which may delay the progress in the development plan.
Sustainable development must meet the needs of the people in all the United Nations member states to reduce the suffering of humanity.
Due to this, there has been a reduced rate of child mortality. The rate of children who were born dead and that died soon after birth was so high before the SDGs and MDGs programs started, with several women dying during childbirth. Since the introduction of the SDGs program, malaria infections, and infections from diseases like TB was reduced to almost half the number.
Finance needed to drive these projects must be monitored and used appropriately. The budgeting concept of the same also requires one to do the right budget that will meet the demand of the UN nations under the program (Nave, 2019). Thus, we need to look closely at the role of accounting in the SDGs program. Economic sustainability is central in the SDGs, and to make sure that sustainability works for all. The approaches in finance and accounting, reporting on the same, and business investment opportunities must be looked at carefully. This is what has informed the decision to look at economic sustainability in the SDGs in line with accounting, reporting, and business opportunities.
Book review.
Accounting and reporting in the SDGs as far as economic stability is concerned is so significant that it requires much insight into accounting and accounting concepts; that must be learned and implemented successfully. Accounting concepts like budgeting, expenditure, depreciation, money values, exchange rates, time value of money, and many others must be taken into consideration to ensure that the program’s targeted outcomes dodo not fail. To roll out free education, free maternal care, free malaria treatment, and many other projects that the UN are rolling, requires many accounting concepts that will not bring significant variables in the expected as compared to the actual outcome. The role of professional accounting in SDGs was analyses by (Nave 2019). (Agri, Mailafia, & Umejiaku, 2017) explores the use of accounting concepts in the SDGs to bring the right accountability in developing the right idea that will bring the realization of the SDGs agenda. The analysis shows that the achievement of these goals must be engraved in precise and proper accounting models that are easy to understand, interpret, and meet expectations.
There was a need for accounting research that involves academics and professional academic research to bring every concept of development on the tables, creating analysis and programs that will aid in the realization of the SDGs project that requires the right accounting concept.
Accountants believe that the right budget for everything leads to the right resource and the desired outcomes. Therefore, it is essential to use the right accounting approaches to come up with the right budget that will aid the SDGs program to completion (Nave, 2019). Accounting in any project is critical is management as it gives the management the right measure of capital to be used in any concept of development. Budget and budget estimates play an important role. The program is for a long time, and so the budget and budget estimates must be looked at to give the right perspective on the application.
Resource mobilization is based on the accounting that was done for any project; this means, therefore, the resources that SDGs need must come from the accountants who have done their accounting research to come up with the right support required for the project to succeed. SDGs are an important project by the United Nations that requires an excellent sense of accounting concept that must be adhered to. Resources are essential in any nation and person; failure to mobilize the right resources will mean the inability to get the right services. The necessary resources for the SDGs must come from somewhere; therefore, the availability of those resources must be looked at, how will they be found, and where will they go.
The time value of money is one concept that the accounting concept must look into. The amount of any funds will depreciate over time. Economic factors like inflation play a significant role in the value of money (Agri, Mailafia, & Umejiaku, 2017). The SDGs are a long-term project requiring an adjustment on the capital to be used over the implementation period. The value of a certain amount of money today is not the same as its value tomorrow. The change in value is because of the depreciation of the cost of money. The rate of reduction is in line with changes in the economic policies of different nations.
The population that is affected by the factors that the SDGs tries to solve must be known and the geographical landscape. The community will help in budgeting, and the scene will help in traveling logistics.
The prudence concept of accounting needs to be looked at and deeply analyzed. The realization of the purpose of the capital outlay is based on the idea that the anticipation should be very high such that when the results fall low, it will still be the desired outcome. This accounting concept helps in meeting the required expectation, even when the ceiling anticipation falls low. SDGs require an estimation of outcomes that will be desirable or acceptable. Thus this accounting concept is vital in ensuring that the results are satisfactory.
Proper bookkeeping is also essential in making sure that the funds used in the projects are accounted for; projects have strict guidelines on the expenses that need to be checked. Proper bookkeeping is the SDGs that will prevent one from spending the funds for the SDGs projects in projects that are not meant. The SDGs program needs clear and appropriate bookkeeping processes that will stand the test of scrutiny and enhance the quality of accountability and transparency (Agri, Mailafia, & Umejiaku, 2017).
Accountability and transparency are factors that all accounting system should provide when dealing with any funds allocated for a specific project. This gives the organization good standing when it comes to auditing of accounts. The accounting system in SDGs needs to come up strongly as transparent. This is used to provide a future reference to the expenditure without any problem at all. Accounting procedures used should be indicated and revealed so that it makes it easy to follow and understand.
SDGs partners have their way of making sure that they keep track of the funds they give to the organizations. The accounting aspect should make it easy for the partners to get the right information on the way the funds given to the project have been used (Nave, 2019). This expenditure should be in line with the intended purpose. It should be in line with the anticipated spending in the area that it was to be used. Failing to adhere to the expenses as directed by the partners would mean impropriation.
Financial methods of evaluation are well defined in accounting, and so those economic methods must be followed strictly. Failure to do that will mean that accountability is not followed.
All the financial approaches must be reported at intervals for the managers and donors to make sure that the program is in the right stage (Ziolo, Ghoul, & Aydın, 2018). Communication of the program’s position and progress is always essential as it gives a clear picture of what is going on.
Not all donors are on the ground to witness what is going on. The reports obtained from the ground, particularly from the accountants and financial managers, will always reveal much about the program’s progress and its appropriation. Many partners rely on these same reports to make their position known, particularly if they are going to continue with the project’s funding. The World Bank, which is always the primary funding agency, is always looking for comprehensive reports that will give a clear position of how funds have been used and any deviation in the budget estimates.
Adjustments also are dependent on the reports that are written. Financial institutions will act on supplementary budgets to the program only when the reports written prove that more funds are needed (Agri, Mailafia, & Umejiaku, 2017). These budget estimates are always the ones that the organizations use to budget for any project in the SDGs. Partners also depend on financial reports to know whether there will be real outcomes on the work that they are doing.
Reports also need to be written and easy to understand. Any statement that will appear hard to read and understand might mean that there is something hidden (Golchinfar, Khosravi, & Karimi, 2016). All the reports have specific recommendations and explain the reasons why the story is written. Financial reports, therefore, should be on financial aspects that affect the business and should be made as clear as possible.
Financial reports give evidence of every activity that involved the financial aspect of the business or program. In case of any further need to analyze them, then the stories form a basis for reference. These reports are very crucial in the alignment of the project to the goals.
Every goal has an estimated budget in the SDGs that must be checked when executing that goal. The financial aspects give light in the right way the resources were used to meet a particular purpose. The right report will make it possible to compare the success of every goal in line with the budget. Any deviation in the performance of a goal is a point of concern and must be checked for one to know where the difference is coming from.
Poor financial reporting means that there is poor management of resources allocated for the SDGs program. Preventing the stoppage from the SDGs agenda, financial reporting must be up to date and in line with the international requirements (Madry, Martinez, & Laufer, 2018). When a financial report fails to meet the demand, many aspects of financial management and reporting will be put into question. Management of finances is vital in any project to succeed, and proper management of the investments is reflected in the way the investments are reported.
The accounting concept also recognizes the most critical aspect of the development process that must be started with. What is that that is needed and useful in a short time? When answering this question, the financial aspect of the most critical element of the project will be the one to be given priority (Nave, 2019). Finance and accounting respond to dire needs first. The SDGs goals have short term ones and long term ones and perpetual ones. Out of these, the most needful is the one that the account will allocate funds fist to ensure that it is worked out first.
Accountants should look at and analyze businesses that can bring growth to meet the required economic development in the SDGs. These businesses will have the ethical behavior that will provide information to decision-makers in line with sustainability concerns that will be used in planning and reporting.
Companies that would want to invest in any place due to the SDGs program will always look at the financial prospect the SDGs will have on the return on the capital of the company. Every company will invest in a place that has promising investment opportunities and space for growth and expansion. The accounting aspects thoroughly analyze these factors and appropriately reported (Golchinfar, Khosravi, & Karimi, 2016). Economic sustainability always requires investors who are willing to take risks associated with investing in areas that are new to them.
Companies always have what it takes to make sure that they invest in virgin places to get the first monopoly in an area. However, these companies must be ethical and not result in unethical practices that may cause diseases like typhoid through the dumping of waste in a careless manner (Madry, Martinez, & Laufer, 2018). If this happens then, the goals of the SDGs will not be met by the company. The creation of a working environment by the SDG is one factor that the SDG is dear to, and all companies that do not practice the desired standards are not allowed to get into the program.
Financial analysis and reports of every firm willing to be part of the SDGs must be availed to all stakeholders to ascertain that they are worth being part of the program. Failure to submit the right reports to the SDG steering committee will mean failure to be part of the SDG. With this proper accounting in the SDG and investment partners is very vital in meeting the goals of the program failed to which will mean that the purposes of the initiative will not be realized (Nave, 2019). Accountability, transparency, and honesty are essential in the realization of the goals of the SDGs. Sustainability means being able to continue with the programs for the rest of the desired period.
Discussion.
Business, accounting, and reporting are indeed all vital in the fulfillment of the SDGs agenda of economic sustainability, and all these three things are correlated. The most important of them, though, is the accounting aspect that informs all the decisions made by the managers of the SDGs and the stakeholders. Every SDGs agenda is reliant on the accurate projection financially and the right placement of the amounts that can be used in line with the predictions (Agri, Mailafia, & Umejiaku, 2017). Failure of accountability will mean doom to the SDGs; therefore, it means that the right accurate measures should be taken in the accounting sector of the SDGs. All partners to this program are very much in respect of accountability, which might mean withdrawing from the program if not accepted into the right perspective. Some countries that the UN is carrying out these programs are corruption-prone zones that need transparency in accounting and reporting.
The funds allocated to the program might fail to meet the expected results if poorly managed. Therefore proper financial management approaches must be put in place to guard the entire project, being riddled with a lack of accountability and transparency.
The reporting aspect of accounting is also dear in the whole process. The reports are written the ones that will reveal the progress and the success or failure of the SDGs. Many investors and partners are so keen on the reporting aspect of the finances used that if the reports are poorly prepared, then it will mean that there will be a problem with the satisfaction of all stakeholders (Madry, Martinez, & Laufer, 2018).
Firms looking to invest in any nation are so particular with the kind of investment they would want to have. So the sound accounting system used by those companies will also help them to analyze whether they will get the right returns or not in line with their investment. These firms will look at the market available and use the proper accounting procedures to ensure that they get the right information that they can use in accounting to tabulate the expected returns on their capital employed.
It is from this that SDGs must have a sound accounting system. It must safeguard the members from traders that might want to trade unethically with the nations under SDG (Agri, Mailafia, & Umejiaku, 2017). The SDGs programs are funded by different institutions that always require accountability and transparency in the money that they have given out to be spent in the development agenda of the SDGs. This accountability and transparency must be in line with the global accounting systems. They must adhere to the laid down tenets.
Businesses are the ones that drive the economy of a nation; SDGs are highly dependent on companies to ensure that economic stability is achieved. Businesses usually result in employment and coming up of other sectors like towns that always end up increasing the money supply in a place and eventually improving the living standards of people and finally eliminating poverty (Agri, Mailafia, & Umejiaku, 2017).
It is, therefore, important for accounting systems and reporting to reveal the right information and for the information to be used by the businesses that are longing to invest in any sector to do so without any fear and with the correct information on the market trends of the place they want to spend.
Conclusion
Economic sustainability will be enhanced in the SDGs when there is a sound accounting system, proper reporting, and god business that are willing to invest in the nations. These three approaches are dear to any investor and financial partners who would want to invest in the SDGs (Ziolo, Ghoul, & Aydın, 2018). All donors, partners, and stakeholders are so interested in how their money is used in the right way. The evidence of the right use of finances is usually in the financial statements books that form a more significant part of reporting. Failure to report the correct business information always results in a lack of trust by the stakeholders. In general, the SDGs are so kind. They are geared towards making the world a better place to live in. However, the realization of this dream will mean that all the goals are given priority, starting with the most basic. In my opinion, economic stability is central to everything as nothing can work without money. Every factor in life has a money value on it.
The money value makes the economic stability goal as the most essential in all the goals. However, economic stability cannot be realized where there are no farms to invest and no qualified labor force to work on the firms (Golchinfar, Khosravi, & Karimi, 2016). Businesses cannot invest in an area where there is no potential of return on capital.
This means that all the SDGs are correlated and must go hand in hand to realize its dream. The sustainable development goals are exact in the implementation of the development programs that must be achieved. Economies of the UN nations must adhere to the required standards of the world. The factors that drive the economies of this world are factors that must meet the UN’s requirements. Businesses are needed to bring the right accounting processes on the board. The right reporting techniques should be employed to ensure that the economies do not fail in their quest to be sustainable. Ethics in businesses are those that must be adhered to as poor ethical standards may enslave the nations even further.
Apart from the UN’s sustainable development program, there needs to be other mechanisms that UN nations should adopt to ensure that they do not rely entirely on the other Nations for support and help.
Poverty eradication is not an easy task, and for the UN to achieve in it, many investments will need to be put in in the countries where poverty is on high alert. Child mortality is also a factor that has been in the rise that the united nations are trying to reduce, this also will not be easy as the united nations will need to improve the health care facilities in line with this. The death of children due to some factors should be reduced as these factors impact negatively on the development of an economy.
The core of this paper is to look at economic stability, which is not easy to attain but can still be attained when everyone pulls together, not leaving others behind. For the realization of economic stability, there needs to be proper education of the workforce to enable them to be qualified for specific jobs in the industries. This will also call for the empowerment of the education sector which gives the right knowledge and experience to the prospecting workers
References
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Appendix
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