環境管理會計資訊主要是為組織內部核算和決策服務的，其為內部決策服務的程式既包括材料和能源消耗、流程及最終處置的實物程式，也包括與潛在環境影響活動相關的成本、節約和收益的貨幣計量程式。
環境管理會計的理論基礎
1.可持續發展理論
它強調人類應當通過發展與自然相和諧的`方式追求健康而富有生產成果的生活，而不是破壞和汙染生態環境來追求發展。可持續發展理論從為人類長遠利益的角度賦予了環境管理會計迫切發展的理論基礎。
2.經濟的外部性理論
外部不經濟內部化的主要辦法，就是對企業的排汙進行收費甚至罰款，這已經被許多國家的政府所採納並得到實施。外部性理論要求國家制定相應法規規範企業行為，使其承擔社會成本，督促其實行環境管理會計。
3.環境資源價值理論
作為國民財富的一部分，環境資源必然有其價值。此理論要求企業重視周圍環境的改善，將環境資源作為企業的一項資本對待，從而迫切要求環境管理會計對其價值進行核算。
EMA is the generation and analysis of both financial and non-financial information in order to support internal environmental management processes. It is complementary to the conventional financial management accounting approach, with the aim to develop appropriate mechanisms that assist in the identification and allocation of environment-related costs (Bennett and James (1998a), Frost and Wilmhurst (2000)). The major areas for the application for EMA are:
product pricing
budgeting
investment appraisal
calculating costs and
savings of environmental projects, or setting quantified performance targets.
EMA is as wide-ranging in its scope, techniques and focus as normal management accounting. Burritt et al (2001) stated: 'there is still no precision in the terminology associated with EMA'. They viewed EMA as being an application of conventional accounting that is concerned with the environmentally-induced impacts of companies, measured in monetary units, and company-related impacts on environmental systems, expressed in physical units. EMA can be viewed as a part of the environmental accounting framework and is defined as 'using monetary and physical information for internal management use'.
Burritt et al developed a multi-dimensional framework of EMA. Their framework considers the distinctions between five dimensions:
internal versus external
physical versus monetary classifications
past and future timeframes
short and long terms and
ad hoc versus routine information gathering in the proposed framework for the application of EMA.
Within this framework the different techniques of EMA - such as environmental lifecycle costing or environmental cost accounting - can be placed and assigned. The management of a company can choose appropriate tools on the basis of their information needs.
Similarly, in a series of publications (1997, 1998a, 1998b), Bennett and James describe the diverse range and scope of environmental management accounting. They provide a set of useful models, one of which is 'The Environment-Related Management Accounting Pyramid', to help evaluate environmental management accounting practices as well as to help in the design and implementation of new systems.
According to Bennett and James (1998a), EMA is concerned with gathering data related to the environment (lowest levels), which are converted through techniques and processes (middle level) into information which is useful for managers (top). Key data is both non-financial and financial in nature. Management accounting techniques such as performance measurement, operational budgeting, costing or pricing are used for the transformation.
