How should we report corporate social responsibility?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting is similar in traditional financial accounting in the sense that it gives an account of the doings of a company over a given period of time, traditionally a year. This report is usually available to the general public, however, it differs from traditional financial accounting in that even a publicly listed company is not obligated to produce such a report. Currently, CSR reporting is still based on voluntary service. This research has been conducted due to the rising importance – or trend – of Corporate Social Reporting in order to assess how to properly report a company's doings in order to produce the maximum value for both the company and its stakeholders. As a result of the research, the thesis comes to the conclusion that there is not a single way to properly report CSR, but rather a multitude of different ways in which companies can properly report such, and, thus, both create value for their stakeholders, and the company itself. As a conclusion, the paper explains that reporting depends on many different factors, such as time, strategy, audience, industry, etc.