New Metrics
Tennaxia-SASB Partnership Simplifies Sustainability Data for Companies, Investors

A new partnership between data management company Tennaxia and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) may make it easier for companies to measure, manage and report on the sustainability data most essential for financial performance and value creation.

By integrating SASB standards into Tennaxia’s software platform, companies will be able to track industry-specific metrics material to financial performance, alongside a broad range of CSR data and reporting frameworks. C-suite management and investors can have access to a ‘total mix’ of information needed to make decisions.

“We are pleased to begin this path-breaking partnership with SASB,” said Tennaxia CEO Bernard Fort. “It keeps us as a leading-edge provider of solutions for CSR/Sustainability best practices in data management. Our commitment to service excellence, combined with SASB’s sophisticated and impactful metrics, will provide an unprecedented global resource.”

Tennaxia provides companies with a customized software platform to streamline their CSR data collection process, analysis and reporting. It also provides training and strategic guidance to companies’ key staff. Partnering with SASB will enable Tennaxia to expand its reach beyond the 200 European-based global corporations that already rely on its services.

“It's critical for companies to have the tools and resources necessary for accurately tracking SASB metrics. Right now, a lot of companies are still tracking sustainability on spreadsheets — some of them are on platforms that may or may not have the robust data tracking and accuracy inputs that are needed,” said Eli Reisman, Product Manager at SASB.

Indeed, a study published last fall finds that while a majority of the 50 U.S. organizations surveyed use Microsoft Excel to track CSR data, it costs more annually in staff time, inefficient workflows, and errors than the use of tailored software. But sustainability managers, especially in the US, have been slow to adopt CSR data management solutions that can help deliver reliable data, efficiently.

Apart from the question of how to track sustainability is the challenge of determining what to measure. SASB’s industry-specific standards are gaining credibility as a strategic framework to identify the sustainability issues critical to a company’s bottom line. Positive performance on SASB’s disclosure topics correlates with improved financial returns and shareholder value, found a recent working paper from Harvard Business School. SASB’s sustainability accounting standards are the first that enable comparison of peer performance and benchmarking within an industry.

Reisman says SASB’s partnership with CSR software providers will enable its standards to easily integrate into company SEC filings and internal management processes.

“Tennaxia has been a great partner and we're really excited to be working with them,” he said.

This article sponsored by Tennaxia.