The genesis of Social Accounting and Audit goes to the practice adopted in United Kingdom ten years back as an approach to help community based organizations to develop comprehensive accounting tools to measure its impact as well as report on its performance to its stakeholders.
The Social Audit Network (SAN) was started in UK informally about 10 years ago, and was formalized into a non-profit company which has dispersed membership across the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Germany. It has defined the broad approach to SAA and is actively engaged in positioning it as the framework of choice for development sector, social enterprise and communityorganizations.
Social Accounting and Audit was first used in India in the 2003. The concept was further taken forward by the Center for Social Initiative and Management (CSIM), a project under the MSDS Trust. It was piloted for two years across India from 2008-2010. Approximately 100+ organizations have till recently written their accounts and have been audited. The range of organizations include CSR, social enterprises, NBFC, NGOs and Corporates with strong social mission.
Social Audit Network, India is a project of the MSDS Trust and was launched in 2012. It shares its brand and affiliation to its parent organization, Social Audit Network, UK. SAN, UK is the technical and a knowledge partner for SAN, India