Sourcing Sustainable Finance in a Globally Competitive Market: An Instructional Case

Abstract

ABSTRACT The role of accountants in business has been extended recently with a strong need to incorporate a broader public interest of sustainable, social, and environmental business practices into its projects, financial planning, and decision-making. In order for this to occur, a real integration of such perceptions and skills development into the accounting curriculum needs to take place. This instructional project aims to achieve this by providing students with an opportunity to apply theoretical and social accounting concepts to the practical design and creation of a business loan application intended to procure finance for an investment that benefits society or the environment. The primary objective of the project is to expand students' awareness of the broader societal demands of and business responsibility for sustainable practices. A secondary objective is to expose students to a complex business activity requiring high-order analysis and communication skills; the learning task involves writing a business loan application. This paper describes the design of the project that incorporates group-processing skills, peer review, written and oral communication, and accounting-related content within an introductory accounting decision-making course.