ESG reporting gets painful when data lives everywhere: spreadsheets, email threads, shared drives, and individual departments. Finance teams can fix this by applying the same discipline used for financial reporting.
Start with a single source of truth
Choose one place where ESG datapoints live and are maintained. If multiple spreadsheets exist, inconsistency is guaranteed.
The goal is to make the ‘right answer’ easy to find.
Implement ownership and controls
Just like financial close, ESG needs owners per metric and a lightweight review cycle.
Controls prevent accidental changes and ensure answers stay consistent across customers.
- Metric owners (Finance/HR/Ops)
- Change tracking and approvals
- Evidence attached to each datapoint
Make exporting a button, not a project
When exports are standardized (PDF/Word + evidence package), you avoid last-minute formatting and reduce audit friction.
That’s what keeps ESG work from ballooning into a recurring fire drill.
Key takeaway
Finance teams win at ESG when they treat it like reporting: centralize data, assign ownership, keep evidence, and export consistently. The result is faster responses and smoother audits.