Even if you’re well-versed in the CSRD requirements, having expert back up when you need it is never a bad idea. Here at Cority, we have more than 70 sustainability reporting experts available to assist with every aspect of your submission. We’ve polled a few of them to get their best tips for preparing – and managing – your non-financial reports, ensuring successful CSRD compliance.
Based in Paris, Adèle Roncière and Marianne Courtalon are seeing first hand the impact the new directive will have on companies. As senior consultants, they work with Cority customers to ensure their sustainability reports meet all requirements, and help organizations set and achieve their ESG goals.
Below, they go into more detail about how CSRD is affecting the European landscape and how organizations can effectively prepare.
What are the biggest challenges you see organizations facing when it comes to preparing for CSRD?
Courtalon: Time. Companies must anticipate allocating resources and staff to conducting double materiality assesments and preparing the reports.
Roncière: It’s important to get all levels of your business on board to provide these internal resources. It’s more than just a reporting issue, it’s a strategic transformation issue. Many people are still unaware of the nuances and therefore reluctant to spend time on them, so it can be a real struggle to get everyone on board.
Courtalon: There is also a governance issue because it goes beyond the extra-financial, so CSRD departments must work with the strategic and financial departments, in addition to engaging top-level management.
Roncière: The vast amount of data requiring collected is on a different level. While the companies that are the first to be subject to the CSRD have staff with knowledge, data collection in the value chain is a common challenge. Smaller organizations with a less mature structure will face an extra obstacle if they lack this expertise.
Could you go into more detail about how can organizations equip their teams for the increased workload and complexity associated with CSRD?
Courtalon: Training will be needed, to build awareness and create internal processes for more reliable data monitoring. Advisory services from Cority can help with this.
Roncière: Start talking about your process and train internal teams as early as possible, to avoid being caught off guard.
It’s important to put the complexity into perspective: many of the required elements have already been put in place. CSRD is above all a question of transparency, not results.
Cority’s award-winning Sustainability Performance Management software integrates carbon management and global standards with pre-defined European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) data aligned with CSRD requirements.
The goal of our reporting software is about more than just data collection, we also ensure that the information necessary for reporting is accessible and trackable for all users.
Senior Sustainability Consultant Karina Alventosa and Director, Professional Services, Jake Yeoell have been working with Cority customers for more than 12 years, so we went to them for some tips on the importance of all things data and how software can help.
What strategies can companies use to prioritize their data management tasks to avoid feeling overwhelmed?
Alventosa: Unfortunately, the sustainability and ESG world is inherently overwhelming. It seems like every day there are new regulations, standards and frameworks and it can feel like they are all requesting different information. Inevitably though, there is some overlap.
Yeoell: There are a few ways to try and make the process easier.
- Take a materiality approach
- Focus on the required data and data categories
- Identify internal resources who can help, such as sustainability-minded employees or ‘green champions’
Alventosa: Don’t try to do everything all at once. Start with a reasonable amount of sites you are collecting data from, such as several high impact sites. As the data collection process is established in those locations, then move to the next and so on. Or start with all sites, but collect only high level data, say scope 1 and 2. Then create a scope 3 strategy and go from there.
Yeoell: Keep in mind that all companies are in the same position – everyone is facing challenges with the increasing volume of data requirements, requests for performance info, reporting obligations, etc. You are not alone.
Alventosa: It is important to sit down and look at all the reporting tasks required/desired for the year and map them. Cority’s in-house advisory team does this for clients, mitigating the stress of an overwhelming amount of questions.
Yeoell: Do not let perfection stand in the way of progress. It’s a journey, so keep working toward continual data improvements.
What role can technology play in all of this?
Courtalon: We do recommend have a reliable and auditable reporting tool in place, because of the increase in required data.
Roncière: Software tools can simplify data collection, tracking changes and audit preparation. It lessens the needs to consolidate data – Cority’s sustainability cloud is one platform, as compared to multiple spreadsheets or documents. Centralized data also allows for easier year-over-year data comparisons.
Courtalon: In addition, this data will be compared to other European organizations via ESAP, a dedicated platform using XBRL tagging. This is an XML-based language used for the exchange of financial and commercial data on various software and platforms.
Roncière: XBRL tagging is made possible with automated tools, allowing for that connection with the wider European platform.
One area companies may not have thought a lot about is the overview and auditing required for new directives. Understanding how the information will be reviewed is likely as important as the data itself.
How important is it to prepare for a CSRD audit?
Courtalon: Reporting is becoming more demanding because the data is audited, meaning that internal controls and accurate data collection provided reporting software is helpful.
Roncière: Your double materiality assessment and data must be auditable. Even if the regulatory guidelines are not always very clear, the implementation processes must be, because audits will be conducted. This means having intermediate validation stages, involving the auditors early in the process, which takes time and requires anticipation.
Courtalon: These external firms required for CSRD audit could be a financial burden for organizations, so that is another thing to keep in mind.
How can software help with audits like those required for CSRD submissions?
Alventosa: Software provides a smoother audit process, with Cority’s advisory services team available for audit prep and support throughout the process. Our sustainability cloud software is transparent and allows auditors access to all the information they need to verify and validate data.
Yeoell: It’s also easier to have confidence in your data, calculations and verifications with software doing the work behind the scenes.
Engagement with external auditors provides an outside viewpoint, so areas or opportunities for improvement will be identified.
Cority knows that embedding the right software requires subject-matter expertise to make sure time and resources are used most effectively. This software plus advisory approach to CSRD ensures you have everything your report needs to minimize the risk of potential penalties for inaccuracies.
Be prepared for 2025 and beyond, schedule a call with one of our experts today to learn how we can support you in your CSRD reporting journey.
