More than Half of Public Companies Still Housing ESG Data in Spreadsheets: EY Survey
ESG data collection and reporting processes are still a “work in progress,” according to a new survey released by professional services firm EY
For the study, “How finance professionals are helping to advance ESG reporting,” 72 chief accounting officers and controllers from some of the largest US companies were surveyed, and interviews were also conducted with financial executives from eight public companies representing the surveyed group.
ESG data collection and management appears to remain a highly manual process, according to the study, with only 25% of respondents reporting that their companies’ ESG information currently resides in ESG-specific software or in software solutions used for financial reporting, and over half storing the information in spreadsheets. Asked to rank the level of automation of current ESG reporting processes, respondents gave an overall score of 3.5 out of 10.