Social accounting is defined as identifying and recording a business's activities related to social responsibility. It is an important tool for measuring how well a company fulfills its social responsibilities. Some key objectives of social accounting are to effectively utilize natural resources, help employees through benefits like education, help society through initiatives like tree planting and hospitals, help customers by providing quality goods at low prices, and help investors by providing transparent information. While not mandatory, some countries like France, the UK and US commonly produce social responsibility statements alongside other financial statements.