ESG Reporting

The abbreviation ‘ESG’ is primarily used in the (international) financial world and stands for ‘Environment, Social, and Governance’: environmental, social, and corporate governance. It covers matters such as carbon emissions, exploitation, tax evasion, and corruption. These are issues that impact the society in which you operate as a company, but which are not (directly or recognizably) reflected in the financial annual figures. An ESG report focuses primarily on ‘non-financial’ metrics. It provides insight into the long-term vision or management within the company and, consequently, its future-proofing. Reports on specific areas such as CO2, the circular economy, safety, or child labor may be part of it.

Legislation specifically focused on ESG reporting already exists. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requires all large companies to report on non-financial performance and undergo an independent audit starting from 2023. This applies to companies with 250 or more employees and a turnover of more than 40 million euros, or a balance sheet total of more than 20 million euros. It is expected that such legislation will also apply to smaller organizations within a few years.

Smartbooks already offers the possibility to collect and report relevant ESG data.