As a social science, Accounting has been questioned about the ecological performance of companies in society, which reveals a new perspective on its role. Among the questions asked, certain values stand out which had not been considered in company results until then and whose effects are absorbed by society in a dispersed way. These effects, called external facts, reveal peculiarities that demand for knowledge of various subjects, considering the identification, measurement and recognition difficulties.With a view to establishing a proposal to account for and disclose ecological external facts, a bibliographic review of the theme was realized, which presented the academic discussions. Through a questionnaire sent to those Brazilian companies certified by the ISO, a study was realized of the criteria used by companies in which the ecological facts are already part of the operational routine.The conclusions demonstrate that there still does not exist any consensus on the most adequate technique, in function of the inexistence of objective accounting criteria and the intangible nature of the values of the external facts, among other factors.This article contributes to the development of measurement and recognition criteria ruled by the Basic Accounting Principles, to offer more reliable information on companies' ecological performance.
knowledge of various disciplines; ecology; disclosure; external facts; intangible
