Accounting for forestry assets: The development of an Australian policy

Summary

Financial statements are an important communication tool, which can be used by forest managers to influence decisions made by resource providers such as investors, creditors, government agencies and the general public. Until recently, there have been no formal guidelines for forestry accounting which has resulted in a diverse range of reporting practices. The current paper contains a review of the current status of forestry reporting and provides an overview of recent initiatives that have been undertaken by accounting policy makers both in Australia and the international arena. In particular, the potential policy implications of these directions for the forestry sector in Australia are highlighted; and the impact of factors such as the forest industry's reaction to the proposals and the need for international competitiveness are discussed.