Goal and Scope. It has been highlighted in the paper that, due to their inherent limitations, standard or traditional accounting practices are incapable of capturing the fact that 'Pollution Prevention Pays', i.e. reducing the environmental impacts can also lower costs of a product while meeting all other critical requirements. As such, environmentally preferable design often may not be the lowest-cost option when measured by standard accounting systems and methods. Total Cost Assessment (TCA), which provides the foundation for life cycle accounting, is discussed. Full Cost Assessment (FCA), conducted by adding hidden, liability and less tangible costs to the usual costs, is also discussed. Benefits of the TCA and FCA models for accounting over their traditional counterpart, i.e. standard accounting, are also discussed.