The demand for audited sustainability data is increasing. Everyone — regulators, investors and customers — wants data they can trust. Audited data inspires confidence from the external review, and from the recognition that no one gets sustainability data audited without months of preparation.
Most companies, however, have not had their sustainability reporting audited and have little experience in setting up an audit-ready system. To get started, take a look at our checklist below.
Key takeaways
- GHG Protocol requirements – Audit-ready sustainability data must satisfy all five GHG Protocol data quality principles: relevance, completeness, consistency, transparency, and accuracy. Testing accuracy alone is not sufficient.
- A dual system approach – It takes a system with both data-level and system-level tests to meet the GHG Protocol data quality standards. Data-level tests catch errors in individual figures; system-level tests catch flaws in how the data was collected, calculated, and aggregated.
- Check the standards – Beyond the GHG Protocol, audit-ready data should meet industry data-exchange standards — PACT, Catena-X, and Together for Sustainability — plus recognized assurance standards, including ISO 14064-3 and the IAASB’s ISSA 5000.
- GLYNT.AI was built for this – GLYNT.AI prepares sustainability data with the same rigor applied to financial data, using a purpose-built, complete data system that meets the GHG Protocol’s five principles and the standards above.
The ESG and sustainability audit checklist: 10 items auditors check
Dig into the details of audit preparation with the checklist below. You’ll find that most activities are about setting up a reliable system; testing data for accuracy is just the first step.| Item | Test & controls | Description | Prepare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting Standards | System | Which disclosure standards do you need to comply with? | Prepare a list of standards and requirements. |
| Data & Report Users | System | Who is reading your disclosures or using your data? | Make a list of what users need for accessible, useful data. |
| Boundaries | System | What is the boundary of your reportable data? What’s in and what’s out? | Define your boundaries clearly enough that anyone can test what’s in and what’s out. |
| Complete Data Sources | Data | How does the auditor verify that all data sources inside the boundary are being captured? | Make a list of your data sources, match each to a reporting requirement, and show that all requirements are met. |
| Avoidance of Duplicates | System | How does your system detect duplicate files and duplicate content? | Document how your system checks for and prevents duplicates. |
| Complete Data | System | How does your system identify incomplete data? What is done about it? | Document when data is complete and when estimates are used. |
| Reliable Data | System | Is your data preparation system consistent year over year? Can your results be reproduced? | Document your baseline year, and how your method and data have changed since then. |
| Verified Data | Data | Is your data tested? What are the process and test results? | Document how data is tested for accuracy and correct mapping to categories, external lists, and so on. |
| Approval Workflow | System | Has the data been reviewed, reconciled, and approved on a regular cadence? | Keep logs of reconciliations that explain outliers, and approvals of new data sources inside the boundary. |
| Record Keeping | System | Are your files organized for efficient audits, with sampling from the full population of evidence? | Build and maintain your audit archive throughout the year. |
A key lesson learned from financial data preparation: Once the SOX standards were set, the SOX requirements kept expanding each year. Companies that automated early on… Companies that didn’t automate saw compliance costs rise every year. ESG and sustainability audits are on the same path. Read The 5 Hidden Costs of Sustainability Data Preparation
THE FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is an ESG or sustainability audit checklist?
An ESG or sustainability audit checklist lists what auditors test before they sign off on sustainability data: reporting standards, boundaries, complete data sources, duplicates, consistency over time, testing, approvals, and record keeping. GLYNT.AI’s checklist covers the 10 items most audits check, so teams can prepare months before the review.
What do auditors check in sustainability data?
Auditors check both the numbers and the system behind them. They test whether the data meets the GHG Protocol’s five data quality principles (relevance, completeness, consistency, transparency, and accuracy) and whether each figure traces back to a source document. GLYNT.AI builds those tests and audit trails into its data preparation.
What's the difference between data-level and system-level tests?
Data-level tests catch errors in individual figures, such as a misread bill or a wrong unit. System-level tests catch flaws in how data is collected, calculated, and aggregated, such as missing sources or duplicate files. Audit-ready sustainability data needs both, and GLYNT.AI runs both automatically.
