One Word, Ben: 'Carbon'

An interesting item from Accountancy Age in the UK: Access Accounting has launched an accounting system that calculates the size of a business's carbon footprint.

The new technology has been developed with the help of DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and the Carbon Trust and will allow users to account for their carbon emissions on a transaction-by-transaction basis.

By inputting details such as miles traveled for distribution teams and the amount of watts used on electricity bills alongside standard accounting entries, users will be able to measure the amount of carbon a business uses.

This makes me wonder if a new specialty is on the horizon: Accounting focused on things like carbon emissions. (It seems to be happening in the investment world. See this article.)

Access launches emissions accounting package [Accountancy Age]