Top 10 sustainability reporting software solutions

Written by esg.tech

What is sustainability reporting software?

 

Sustainability reporting software allows you to report on your sustainability practices using generally accepted industry standards. It is a comprehensive tool that helps you make sense of your sustainability initiatives.

Today, there are several types of sustainability reporting software available. Most solutions are designed to evolve with the needs of the company using the system, allowing them to adapt to the changing organizational structure in the years to come.

Companies often choose software that provides information to guide the board of directors. Depending on the sustainability software solution, these platforms are designed to help at every level of management.

Although there are still people who believe that sustainability issues are just a fad, the fact remains that they are real issues that have real impacts on the micro and macro environment. With sustainability reporting software, you can address these issues, make sense of the data collected, and implement an effective action plan to mitigate the negative impacts that could be caused by the company.

Why is sustainability reporting software so important?

 

Using sustainability reporting software offers the following benefits:

  1. Increases accuracy and minimizes the risk of errors.
  2. Enables easy monitoring of sustainability performance.
  3. Improves transparency and accountability.
  4. Saves time and resources for data collection and validation.
  5. Provides access to advanced analytics and reporting.

 

For example, you can use sustainability reporting software to track utility consumption and create action plans to help you save energy. The same goes for other resources. These platforms allow you to make a difference, minimize your carbon footprint, conserve resources, and even inspire other businesses whenever you can.

These platforms can help you monitor compliance and track performance against sustainability metrics and reports so the board can make informed decisions. These sustainability platforms streamline processes and leave more time for strategic tasks.

The automated processes enabled by sustainability software improve data accuracy and auditability. This enables a better understanding of sustainability impacts and leads to well-developed and effective action plans that benefit both the company and its shareholders.

What are the most common features of sustainability reporting software?

 

Sustainability reporting software should have features that allow you to report on environmental performance and greenhouse gas emissions. It should also be able to provide transparency to consumers, investors and other stakeholders.

Software solutions can also help you reduce your environmental impact, improve your social and community practices, and generally achieve your sustainability goals. You can also generate reports against reporting standards and frameworks, track and monitor performance against targets, and save costs by reducing administrative overhead compared to an offline-based process.

The sustainability reporting software is designed as a SaaS platform, i.e. a cloud-based solution. This allows an unlimited number of users to access the platform from any location.

The data management of the sustainability reporting software should allow for flexible data entry, including integrations, spreadsheet uploads, and easy online data entry.

A user-friendly interface is also an important factor in user adoption. This includes an intuitive workflow and an integrated support hub.

The platform should have a reliable analytics tool. Reports and dashboards should be customizable and exportable to third-party systems so you can visualize and analyze data the way you want.

Most platforms have good integration with third-party software and other internal systems, making real-time reporting, data collection and monitoring even easier.

The platform should be able to perform various operations, including tracking and monitoring consumption and performance against sustainability goals, initiatives and targets.

You can also use the sustainability reporting software to perform audits, including full data logging, audit trail, and insight into greenhouse gas calculations and environmental data.

Sustainability software should also have tools for validating sustainability data, such as deviation trackers, approval workflows, and threshold alerts.

Who are the most frequent buyers of sustainability reporting software?

 

Several types of sustainability reporting software have been developed, with different technologies and features to meet the various needs of companies. The common denominator is that these companies need to address sustainability issues and their goal is to improve their performance.

Companies using sustainability reporting include industries such as real estate, education, government, retail, hospitality, and non-profit. These companies use the platform as a means to manage sustainability, resource utilization, budgeting, building maintenance, data collection and tracking, reporting, compliance monitoring, employee well-being, emissions inventory, and more.

The way companies use sustainability reporting software depends on their needs. Real estate companies need a platform that provides solutions for property, space and workplace management, facilities and maintenance, soft services and sustainability. Education, government, retail and hospitality companies need a platform with tools for managing building maintenance, facilities and environmental sustainability. Companies in agriculture and mining use sustainability platforms to manage land resources, view high-resolution satellite imagery, and monitor geo-referenced soil/plant samples. Companies in the safety and health industry need a platform to manage inspections and compliance workflows, and to create safety policies.

 

2023 list of the top 10 sustainability reporting software solutions

 

  1. Datamaran
  2. Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability
  3. Workiva
  4. Sphera
  5. Enablon
  6. Persefoni
  7. Metrio, a Nasdaq company
  8. Accuvio by Diligent
  9. Diginex
  10. Salesforce Net Zero Cloud

 

For more software solutions that fit your needs, budget and location, see our dedicated Sustainability reporting software directory.