The CFO and the Sustainability Reporting Chain

Various risk topics, including compliance and sustainability issues, are increasingly on the minds of CFOs—especially as these topics are being used by investors as a means for evaluating the global financial crisis.    A recent white paper, The CFO and the Sustainability Reporting Chain: Why CFOs should care about sustainability reporting, explores the business imperatives surrounding the sustainability reporting chain, and the importance of data verification and materiality. Here are a few items to keep in mind:   1.  Increase the importance of non-financial data Companies that provide information on sustainability issues show stakeholders how business strategy and risk are being managed.   2. Communicate material information and metrics It's key for companies to ask, What do people want to know about our company, and why? After defining material items, companies must identify metrics to measure this information.    3. Capture value through cloud-based technology  Cloud-based systems help capture the business value of the chain. Enabling easy access by team members across the globe, these systems offer a controlled, collaborative environment in which to draft all documentation and collect information.    This is just the tip of the iceberg. For an overview of the sustainability reporting chain and to learn why sustainability should be a top priority for CFOs, read the whitepaper.