In order to overcome the parochialism in view which takes economic value as the core,this paper studies the relationship between accounting and sustainable development and reinterprets the nature of accounting,This paper argues that accounting taking sustainable value as the intermediary builds a close relationship with sustainable development by improving the use efficiency and allocation of resources. Accounting in essence is a tool for subject who adopts a specific method to determine the sustainability value by measuring the invested economic,environmental and social capital and the value they created respectively. The basic function of accounting is to determine the sustainable value,its content is to measure the input and output of various types of capital,and its core goal is to report to the stakeholders the sustainable value of the subject and optimize the allocation of resources. The subject of accounting should take multiple measurement scales and attributes from the economic,social and environmental aspects and highlights the objective fairness and comprehensiveness of information. This paper deepens the understanding of the nature of accounting from the economic management system to more sustainable system,which contributes to the development of accounting theory.