Modern slavery and the accounting profession

Abstract

This first paper in the Special Issue on “Modern slavery and the accounting profession” considers how various branches and functions of the accounting profession in business operations and supply chains are implicated by the move to end modern slavery. Accounting has always been involved with slavery practices. When slavery was legal, accounting focused on reporting slaves as assets and expenses in the accounts. In these more humane times, now that ownership of slaves is illegal, the accounting profession has different functional responsibilities towards modern slavery. These include external reporting in line with and above and beyond requirements of legislation; internal management accounting to build awareness and support planning, control and decision making to reduce modern slavery risk and look for opportunities from mitigation; and audit and assurance to ensure credibility of claims made by business. The papers presented in this Special Issue touch upon some of the key aspects of the connection between modern slavery and management control systems, corporate disclosures and the historical role of professional auditors/the accounting profession, but much remains to be achieved in the research agenda ahead.