The Accounting Revolution: Redefining Standards, Sustainability and Accountability

Dear Colleagues,

Accounting is undergoing a profound transformation as it adapts to sustainability imperatives, regulatory reforms, and evolving stakeholder expectations. For this Special Issue, titled “The Accounting Revolution: Redefining Standards, Sustainability and Accountability”, we invite you to contribute research exploring how reporting, assurance, and education are redefining the scope and purpose of accounting in a complex, risk-driven global economy.

The profession is now facing simultaneous shifts, from the introduction of IFRS S1 and S2 to the IASB’s Dynamic Risk Management (DRM) Model, which seeks to better reflect and communicate entities’ exposure to financial risks. Together, these initiatives represent a move towards more integrated, transparent, and forward-looking reporting, ensuring that accounting remains relevant in an environment shaped by climate risk, digital finance, and governance challenges.

Recent contributions in leading accounting journals highlight how accountability and sustainability are being reshaped in practice (Carniege et al., 2024; Chopra et al., 2024; De Villiers & Maroun, 2021). Complementary research underlines the human and governance aspects of reporting, such as board interpersonal diversity and financial misreporting (Mamatzakis, Neri & Russo, 2025), as well as innovations in accounting education that enhance employability and professional identity (Russo et al., 2021).

At the same time, accounting practice is evolving beyond traditional compliance frameworks. The emergence of integrated sustainability assurance, enhanced risk disclosure, and data-driven management accounting (Pedroso & Gomes, 2024; Lemma et al., 2024) is reshaping the boundaries between financial and non-financial reporting. These developments highlight accounting’s growing responsibility not only to measure but to interpret and guide sustainable performance.

This Special Issue aims to bridge these perspectives, advancing theoretical and practical understanding of how accounting can lead the transition towards responsible, resilient, and risk-aware financial systems.

Topics of Interest

We welcome original research, conceptual papers, reviews, and case-based studies addressing (but not limited to) the following themes:

• Evolving Financial Reporting and Risk Communication
• IFRS developments, dynamic risk management, and the future of international standards;
• The impact of sustainability and ESG disclosures on corporate accountability;
• Comparability, market liquidity, and the real effects of IFRS adoption.
• Sustainability, Assurance, and Ethics
• Integration of sustainability assurance and governance;
• The role of accountants in promoting corporate environmental accountability;
• Stakeholder trust, transparency, and non-financial reporting frameworks.
• The Changing Role of Management Accounting
• Paradigm shifts in decision-making, performance measurement, and strategic control;
• New responsibilities for management accountants in a sustainability-driven context.
• Accounting Education and the Profession’s Future
• Skills, ethics, and curriculum development for the next generation of accountants;
• Digital transformation and pedagogical innovation in accounting education.
• Interpersonal, Governance, and Board-Level Dynamics
• Diversity, leadership, and interpersonal factors shaping ethical decision-making;
• The intersection between governance, accountability, and organizational risk.

Objective

This Special Issue seeks to promote interdisciplinary debate at the intersection of risk, sustainability, financial reporting, and education. We welcome conceptual and empirical papers that provide fresh perspectives on how accounting can better reflect dynamic business realities, foster transparency, and contribute to societal trust.

Reference

Ballantine, J., Boyce, G., & Stoner, G. (2023). A critical review of AI in accounting education: Threat and opportunity. AAAJ.

Carnegie, G. D., et al. (2024). How accounting can shape a better world: Framework, analysis and research agenda. Meditari Accountancy Research, 32(5), 1529–1555.

Chopra, S. S., et al. (2024). Navigating the challenges of ESG reporting: The path to broader sustainable development. Sustainability, 16(2), 606.

IFRS Foundation. (2025). Dynamic Risk Management Project: Accounting Model for Risk and Hedging Activities.

Kim, J.-B., Wang, C., & Wu, F. (2023). The real effects of risk disclosures: Evidence from climate change reporting in 10-Ks. Review of Accounting Studies, 28(4), 2271–2318.

Lemma, T. T., et al. (2024). Sustainability assurance and corporate environmental accountability. Business Strategy and the Environment, 33(4), 3167–3183.

Opare, S., Houqe, M. N., & Van Zijl, T. (2021). Meta-analysis of IFRS adoption effects on comparability and cost of capital. Abacus, 57(3), 502–556.

Pedroso, E., & Gomes, C. F. (2024). The current role of management accounting: Paradigm shift and future challenges. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 20(2), 307–333.

Russo, A., Warren, E., Neri, L., Herdan, A., & Brickman, K. (2021). Enhancing accounting and finance students’ awareness of transferable skills. Accounting Education.

Troshani, I., & Rowbottom, N. (2024). Corporate sustainability reporting and information infrastructure. AAAJ, 37(4), 1209–1237.

Dr. Antonella Russo
Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Stojanovic
Dr. Lorenzo Neri
Dr. Teresa Izzo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Risk and Financial Management is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• accounting
• sustainability reporting
• esg disclosure
• ifrs standards
• integrated reporting
• non-financial reporting
• corporate accountability
• governance transparency
• management accounting
• data-driven accounting
• ethical accounting
• accounting education