TPB
Comments

Some TPB COMMENT on Linkedin feeds

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

TPB COMMENT on the ACCA Linkedin feed

Well YES ... but in some ways accounting is still stuck in the 19th century. In my opinion it is high time the accountancy profession was very clear about how the double entry of impact on society and environment should be numbered and how much stronger accountability for all the actors and activities in the socio-enviro-economic system should be achieved.

I was a 'manager' in the corporate world before I did any work in the development and humanitarian space. My first impression working with international relief and development was the complete lack of 'management' experience and understanding, even ... or perhaps especially ... among the experts with multiple PhDs. Once in a while a good 'manager' would be recruited to run a project, and it could work beautifully ... but mostly the M&E process (monitoring and evaluation) added more paper but not much more understanding. My first assignment for the World Bank was when Robert MacNamara was still President of the Bank. He worked with management numbers ever since his Ford days, but at Ford the numbers were pretty reliable, but at the Bank they were anything but. Fast forward, more and more data, but perhaps not more and more understanding! More money would flow if there was better management, accounting and accountability for all of the existing fund flows.

The killing did not come from 'socialism' but from 'totalitarianism' This is a very important difference.