When I qualified as an accountant in 2001 I was already plotting my escape. The world of audit did nothing for me – it did not engage with the issues of social injustice and environmental limits that I am passionate about. But now I’ve come full circle.

I joined Forum for the Future, determined to leave plain old accounting behind me. But now, I’m excited by the minutiae of discount rates, net cash flow and Net Present Value.

Why? Because they are a means to an end. Senior business leaders and investors need financial information to make serious decisions: we have to talk their language if we want them to take sustainability seriously as a business issue, consider the environmental and social impacts of their plans, and articulate to investors how they are safeguarding the future of their business.

There’s a desperate shortage of financial information relating to how doing sustainability well actually leads to superior financial performance. Our Better Decisions, Real Value  project aims to fill this gap and transform decision-making by helping companies understand the business case for sustainability

Our experience is that CSR / sustainability professionals really struggle to communicate with the finance function or strategy department. Many avoid engaging the accountants until the decision has already been made, presenting the finance people with a fait accompli. But, such tactics can only get you so far. Senior business people demand good quality financial information when they are making big decisions – and truly acting on the risks and opportunities of sustainability is a big decision.

However, if getting good quality financial information together was easy then someone would be doing it already. But it is not easy. Fundamentally, the business case is different for every sector and company. The material sustainability issues are different. The drivers of shareholder value are different. What counts in the eyes of decision-makers is different.

This enormous variation was the biggest headache for us. Over the years we have chipped away at different parts: a Value at Risk tool here, a “cost of product boycotts” there, an environmental operation cost savings calculator here, an understanding of the strategic case there.

With BDRV we’ve pulled all of our past work – and all the other examples we can find – into a single, flexible guide. We want practically any company to be able to find a financial technique which helps them on practically any decision. We’ve done this by aligning the types of business case for sustainability with the drivers of shareholder value, so it is universally applicable.

Our Foundation Corporate Partners, who funded the development of the guide, are currently testing it on real, live decisions. Over the autumn, I will also be asking some key experts for their views (if you want to be one, drop me a line). The hope is that early next year we’ll be able to publish a revised guide with examples.

Why is this exciting? First, the pilot projects themselves cover a diverse terrain of sustainable business. Even at these early stages we’re getting key insights, and we can see our work helping some really exciting activities get the green light.

Second, I have been pleasantly surprised by the attitudes of most of the finance staff. Three years ago I think they would have ignored the project. Today, even in the midst of a recession, many are receptive and eager.

Third, good interim results give me confidence that other companies will be able to use the published guide in a similar way.

Finally, I can see the fit to other elements of our work on Rethinking Capital. We are trying to raise investors’ awareness that they need to demand better financial information on sustainability issues. If we can stimulate that demand with a better supply then it is a great start.