Sustainability reporting has become an important corporate necessity, and having the right software is crucial in helping you to follow the right process and generate correct reports. Managers are able to honestly understand the economic, social, and environmental impacts of their work, and more importantly, craft strategies for improvements. In this post, we take a closer look at the tips that you can use to identify the best sustainability management software.
Go for the Software that is Easy to Access by All Persons Allowed to Add Data
The most important component of ESG sustainability reporting is the data you gather. After outlining the key performance indicators to focus on, the software you select should make it easy for all responsible persons to enter data. So, suppose you have allowed team leaders such as departmental heads to gather data on raw material use, staff training, emission reduction, state of the machinery, and waste quantities. In that case, they should be able to key in the data from their stations. To help with this, you need to confirm that the software features the following:
- Data storage in one managed location.
- Streamlined reporting.
- Standardized unit and terminologies.
- Inbuilt workflows and notifications
Only Use the Software that Come with Quality Assurance
It is true that any decent software out there can help with data collection, but it will be a good idea to look for a model that offers quality assurance. This implies that the software has been tested and proven to generate the type of report that you want. The sustainability reporting software also needs to allow third-party reviewers that you can consider as testers to confirm that the tool will actually work.
Confirm that the software provides the correct calculations by checking the embedded queries and rules. For example, if you want to simulate emissions by keying in data on the rates for different weeks, the calculations should be easily traceable. Other quality assurance components that you need to check to include:
- Accessible data sources.
- Auditable final values.
- Complete audit trains.
- Honest reviews from past users. What was their feedback after using the software?
Ensure the Software Comes with Awesome Reporting Tools
As an organization, it is important to appreciate that it might be required to report to different regulatory and voluntary institutions, and it is crucial to pick the software that provides for different calculations. The commonest one is “enter one, report many times,” which allows you to report to multiple agencies using a single dataset. This means that you do not have to run the data in a separate tool to gather the anticipated reports.
Internally, you also need to ensure that the corporate sustainability software supports your needs. This requires you to understand your organization’s requirements, including corporate social responsibility reporting, Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI), and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
If you select the right sustainability reporting software, the process becomes pretty easy and fun. More importantly, it becomes possible to progressively achieve the targets for sustainability. The attributes we have listed above are only a few of what you should check. Make sure that the software is also secure, has good support for clients, and is compatible with your digital devices.