Demo: CSRD Reporting with Pulsora

Introduction

Thanks for joining. We are so excited to have you here. I'm really excited to introduce you to Pulsora and share with you how our platform is built to help companies prepare for and disclose against regulations, today with a focus on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, also known as the CSRD.

First today, I will do quick introductions. Then we'll take a look at CSRD key requirements and compliance considerations. From there we'll move into the Pulsora solution. We'll address critical steps along the way to ensure CSRD compliance, and I will do a demo of Pulsora's CSRD solution. We will save time at the end for any questions. If you have those as we go along, please feel free to submit them using the chat. I would also like to note that we are recording this session, so you'll all receive the recording in a follow-up email.

My name is Brooke. I'm a product marketer here at Pulsora. I'm joined by my colleague Daryush Mistry, and I'll let him say hello as well.

Thanks, Brooke. Hi everyone. My name is Daryush Mistry and I head product here at Pulsora. Excited to be here and share with you information about CSRD and Pulsora, and looking forward to answering all your questions.

About Pulsora

Pulsora is the all-in-one platform for enterprise sustainability management, and we empower companies to better manage their sustainability footprint. We are a global team of over 170 team members with over 500 companies around the world using our platform today. Our comprehensive solution is purpose-built and designed to meet regulatory reporting requirements and ensure transparency in sustainability data across entities, global locations, funds, and investments in all jurisdictions.

The Pulsora platform enables complete value chain data collection, audit- and assurance-ready data, and it helps you manage sustainability processes all in one place, including carbon accounting. It's really built to position you for success today and in the future as ESG reporting and regulations are bound to evolve.

CSRD fundamentals

The CSRD was adopted in the European Union in January 2023, with the first wave of disclosure requirements due in 2025, based on 2024 data. The regulation creates common standards for companies to report sustainability information to stakeholders. Part of the objective here was to create transparency with respect to sustainability information. Effectively, it's meant to address the problem of fragmented and non-comparable ESG information that is currently reported by some companies.

This regulation has a massive and far-reaching impact. Within the first few years that the regulation is being phased in, this will impact approximately 50,000 companies around the world.

Key requirements: ESRS, double materiality, assurance

When it comes to key requirements, there are really three areas that companies need to account for. The first requirement is to disclose against what's called the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, or the ESRS.

Let's define the CSRD versus the ESRS. Whereas the CSRD is the regulation itself, the ESRS are the backbone to the regulation. They provide the specific detailed guidelines and metrics for companies to follow when preparing their sustainability reports. The ESRS cover a wide range of environmental, social, and governance topics. In just a few minutes you'll see how the Pulsora CSRD solution is built directly from the ESRS.

For companies to articulate which ESRS metrics they need to focus on and disclose against, they will first conduct what's called a double materiality assessment. You will only disclose on matters that are proven as material to your business. This assessment has two dimensions: impact materiality and financial materiality. A sustainability matter is material from an impact perspective when it pertains to the company's impacts on people or the environment. A sustainability matter is material from a financial perspective if it triggers or could trigger material financial effects on the company. Among the set of ESRS metrics, a matter will be considered material if it meets the criteria for impact, financial, or both.

Lastly, companies need to obtain assurance of reported information. This is really a critical component of compliance. That means every piece of data collected and reported must be auditable. For many companies, these three requirements represent entirely new processes that companies are working to figure out.

The 12 ESRS standards

To focus more on the ESRS and understand how extensive these metrics are: the ESRS are made up of a total of 12 different standards. Two are cross-cutting, making up the general requirements and disclosures. The remaining 10 span across topics covering environmental, social, or governance.

Within environmental, this could be anything from climate change to pollution to water and marine resources. Regarding social, this could be your workforce, both your direct workforce and the workforce that makes up your supply chain, as well as local communities, consumers, and end users. Governance is really going to be about business conduct. What you're seeing here in the presentation is just a very small snapshot of the metrics that make up the ESRS.

Where the data lives

Where is this data coming from? The data required by the ESRS could really come from every corner of your organization. This means not only cross-departmentally from places like HR or legal, but also from the many entities that make up your value chain around the world. Such comprehensive data requirements necessitate adequate time to make sure you're able to collect the right data from the right place, in the format that you need to comply.

Compliance considerations

With the key requirements in mind, there's definitely a lot to consider when it comes to compliance. The CSRD is a comprehensive regulation. It includes 12 reporting standards, 86 disclosure requirements, over 100 KPIs, and in some cases, companies reporting on more than 1,100 data points. These processes, and specifically the data collection process, must be audit-ready.

Keeping in mind that this is a new regulation that will evolve over time, it's important to consider setting yourself up with a system that can ensure future reporting cycles are reflective of the most up-to-date CSRD requirements. While the requirements for the initial reporting year are sector-agnostic, in the next few years what we'll see are more specific requirements come into play. This could be for small to medium-sized enterprises, as well as sector-specific standards for industries such as mining, oil and gas, road transport, agriculture, and more.

Time is of the essence. For companies subject to reporting in 2025 on 2024 data, now is really the time to get systems and processes in place.

Estimated timeline

This is a high-level estimated timeline of what you and your team could be looking at, but this is going to be dependent on your company and on your organization, so very case-specific. Even so, if you're having conversations and someone might say "This can be done quickly in a matter of weeks," that just really won't be the case.

There are a few different phases that you have to consider when it comes to preparation. First, there's the completion of the double materiality assessment. Then there's also researching and selecting the right platform that will help you meet the CSRD deadline. There's the implementation phase of this platform, and that will depend on the complexity of your value chain. Then moving into defining the ESRS metrics that are material to your business and collecting the right data to populate these metrics, as well as obtaining assurance of your data. Finally, disclosing: preparing your report and disclosing.

How Pulsora solves CSRD

With our compliance considerations in mind, knowing that we have only so much time, where does Pulsora come into play and how can we help you solve for this? Our platform is flexible to fit your CSRD reporting requirements.

This is the journey we're going to take today as we go through the platform. In order to produce your CSRD disclosure, Pulsora will guide you step by step. From collecting the data that you need, to consolidating this data in one central repository, with data collection having different options for how you might need to collect that data.

In this consolidated repository for your data, we'll also be able to include your carbon data. You'll see within Pulsora that you can calculate your carbon emissions directly within the Pulsora platform.

Lastly, there's reporting and compliance. You'll be able to produce your disclosure in the format that you need, with all included data auditable.

Cross-functional collaboration

Earlier, I noted the nature of the ESRS metrics means that this is a cross-functional collaborative process. As we go through the Pulsora demo today, you will see how the platform really encourages and empowers your team to work together, whether across departments or by engaging your entire value chain and the people that make up that value chain who will need to provide you with data. We'll look at all of the different roles and personas that we'll be engaging in your data collection process.

Where are we going to end up? We have an example here of our CSRD disclosure in the format that we need. We're seeing a DOCX file, and we're also seeing the XBRL format for machine readability. This is where we'll end up, and let's see how we'll get there.

Demo: home page and catalogs

Once you land on your Pulsora homepage, you're going to have quick access to a few different areas of the platform. First and foremost, you're going to see any tasks that need your attention today. Tasks are relevant to your data collection processes. Just keep in mind, this can be any sustainability initiative. Today, our focus is CSRD, but I did want to note that for any sustainability or reporting initiative, all the features today that you'll see can apply.

As I keep scrolling down, I will have access to any analytics dashboards as well as any existing reports that might be in flight, as well as what we call our data sources. This will involve integrations to existing systems, and we'll take a look at these.

First we're going to start with what we call our Pulsora catalogs. This is going to be that consolidated area where all the data will end up. We're going to take a look at our CSRD disclosure catalog today.

Demo: ESRS metrics in the catalog

Within our CSRD disclosure catalog, we are going to see those ESRS metrics that are material to our business. What you're seeing here is over 100 topics and nearly 800 metrics, and these are representing those ESRS metrics. This catalog is built directly from that framework.

From what we're seeing with our current customers today that are going through the preparation process, the 700-range number is right in what these global organizations are working on currently.

As I drill down into the metrics themselves, again organized by ESRS topic, within each topic, I'm going to see those metrics listed out that I need to work on and collect data for.

I have the ability to click into each metric within my catalog. First, I'm going to check out and see the exact instructions as they relate to this metric. This is coming directly from the ESRS, and the platform's really going to guide you and your team as you go about collecting this data.

Demo: validations and audit log

I have the option within my metric details page to update this data. You'll notice that as I attempt to update this data, I'm being prompted to provide an explanation. What you're seeing here is a validation rule has been set, and users with the appropriate permissions are able to do so. You and your team members can work through this to make sure the data is coming in in the way and format that you want.

You have the ability to set those validations, and this will really be critical also when you're engaging all of the entities that make up your value chain. These validation rules are really going to guide them as they provide you with the data you're looking for.

If I keep scrolling down on the metric details level, I'm also going to see evidence and audit. This is going to be an audit trail that is logged immediately when the data is populated, when the data is changed. You're going to see the user, the date, the value, and how the data is being changed. For every metric in my CSRD catalog, this is going to be updated. This is the component that's going to make all of your data auditable, and really play a huge role in the audit process. Depending on the metric, should you want to or need to provide evidence files, you have the ability to do that as well.

Demo: data sources (integrations)

We just checked out the process to get one metric updated manually, but we want to look at getting data into the system at scale and in the most efficient way possible. In addition to the manual updates we can always make in the catalog, we also have our data sources as well as requests.

With data collection, depending on the data that you're collecting, you can use whichever method makes sense for you and your team. What we're seeing here with data sources is the ability to connect to existing applications that might have the data we're looking for. Once you set these integrations up, you'll be able to automatically populate those ESRS metrics with the data. Again, all of the data coming into that one central place.

Here, what we're seeing are connections. In this example, we have Concur, Workday, and Oracle connected. These integrations can represent exactly what you need and can be flexible. You also have the option to set up SFTP file uploads. We provide templates to help you do that as it regards carbon emissions data. That's going to help you and your team format the carbon data, get it uploaded into Pulsora, and then actually make your way over into our GHG calculators. Those templates really will help to streamline that process.

Demo: request workflows

We checked out manual updating. We've just taken a look at data sources. Let's head over to our request workflows. This is the area of data collection that's going to help you engage with all of those entities that make up your value chain around the world, wherever they may be.

Before I dive in: in your initial phases of getting set up with Pulsora, you will define your organizational hierarchy. You'll clarify exactly which organizations need to provide you with data, and they will actually be invited directly into Pulsora to provide you with that data at no additional cost. So you, your company, are the ones licensing the Pulsora platform. However, you can get those organizations invited, so long as they're just reporting directly up to you. That will be set for their instance. They receive an email notification and they're welcomed to get that data back to you.

Let's take a look at this request. This is an existing request. You have the option to create new ones, and there's really no limit to how many requests you can create. You'll set these request details so your responding entity knows exactly what you're looking for. All of this data is going to end up back in your consolidated ESRS catalog, populating those metrics you're working towards as part of your CSRD compliance.

You will be able to set this due date, so you'll have visibility into your due date. Your responding entity will have visibility into your due date, and you're all working together towards that due date to stay on task. Once you get this request set up, you'll select the exact metrics that you're looking for as they relate to those specific organizations you're requesting data from. You can then confirm and send the request out.

Demo: task management and analytics

Depending on your value chain, this could really look like several requests happening at once, depending on the number of entities. We want to make sure you and your team have the ability to manage all of these different request workflows. What we've done is built out task management. We did see these tasks listed on the homepage as well. When we navigate over into task management, you're going to see all the tasks listed out, as well as the status, the organization that they've been sent to, and that due date. You're going to have the organizational hierarchy represented here on this page as well. If you need to drill down at that level, you're able to do so.

For anyone who prefers a visual representation of the status of all these requests, you can also leverage Pulsora analytics to help you and your team keep track. We have a dashboard here for response rate tracking, and it's going to help you quickly get that visual display of what's happening with all of your requests. In addition to the data request details listed out, we can quickly see those that have been completed, those where the task has been created and maybe no contact. Just another way to help you and your team manage that data collection process.

Demo: GHG calculators

To summarize what we've checked out: we've looked at our ESRS catalog, the set of metrics material to our business. We've made our way through data collection, the different methods by which we can get data into Pulsora to get those ESRS metrics updated. We saw the audit trail being updated as well in our catalog.

Some of the data that may be required as it pertains to your business, within the environmental topic area of the ESRS, could be carbon emissions data. We'll navigate over to Pulsora's carbon management feature, and what you'll find here are our GHG calculators spanning all three scopes. We have Scope 1, Scope 2, and all 15 categories of Scope 3 for you and your team to use. These calculators are built in alignment with the GHG Protocol methodology.

We'll take a look at Scope 2. Regardless of how you're getting your carbon data into the system, whether it's through an integration or uploading data, you're going to see this data represented in your calculators so you can conduct those calculations. Within Scope 2, we're going to see a list of transactional data. You can dive deeper into each transaction to get those activity details.

In addition to the details about the transaction itself, you're also going to see the other information relevant to getting the calculations conducted, including emissions factor details, both location-based and market-based. As you and your team use the GHG calculators within Pulsora, you're benefiting from our extensive emissions factor data set library. This is a global library. We keep it up to date.

If I keep scrolling down, what we also see at this level is our evidence, any evidence files, as well as another automated audit log. This is going to be represented at the transactional data level within the Scope 2 calculator, as well as our other calculators. This is in addition to the auditing that's happening back in your catalog, your CSRD catalog. Anywhere auditing needs to happen, it's happening within Pulsora.

You're going to see that organizational hierarchy represented here as well. When it comes to your carbon data, you can drill down, whether it be by facility or supplier, whatever that organization might be.

Demo: reporting

We've gone through our catalog. We've touched on data collection. We've also touched on a specific type of data, which is our GHG data. We are ready to check out reporting. This is the phase of the process, once we've gotten our CSRD disclosure catalog populated, the metrics are looking good, we've collected all the data, and we are ready to go into our reporting feature and get the disclosure prepared and generated.

This is our CSRD sustainability statement. It is pulling directly from all of the metrics that were represented in our catalog. We have the option of file type. We have CSV as well as DOCX. You also have the option for XBRL, in terms of machine readability. For today, I will go ahead and get a DOCX example generated. You'll be able to see we have our disclosure prepared.

These were the steps we took. We went through the different methods of data collection. We got the data into our one consolidated catalog, representing our ESRS metrics. When necessary, we used those GHG calculators to get that data updated. We moved on to reporting and generating our report to get the disclosure submitted. All of the data was auditable.

Q&A: Features related to the DMA or gap assessment

All the ESRS data points that you saw in Pulsora are classified based on the ESRS topics, sub-topics, and sub-sub-topics. Based on your double materiality assessment or gap analysis, you would be able to filter down or select the ESRS data points that are relevant and material to your business based on your double materiality assessment. That is built into the dataset that we have for the ESRS data points, and you'd be able to leverage it based on your double materiality assessment.

Q&A: How does entering metrics such as tables work?

We support all qualitative and quantitative data points and ways to provide data into the platform. This is regardless of whether you're doing it through the API or as a user, human-entering data. Specifically for tables, we have an input type defined that allows you to leverage, for the ESRS data points, any of the data that needs to be collected in a tabular fashion or reported in a tabular function. You also have the ability to transform this data. If there was any data that you were collecting as individual data points that you need to report in a certain tabular fashion, you can also transform it via our configurable report layouts and present it as tabular data if needed.

Q&A: Is the solution already multi-language ready (French, German, etc.)?

Yes, we do have those languages and additional languages available. If you get in touch with our team, we can provide more information on that.

Q&A: Working with the double materiality assessment

We work with the double materiality assessment that a company would have conducted as part of their process or journey towards reporting to CSRD or otherwise. The platform can work with any of the double materiality assessments you would have done, regardless of CSRD. The way it works is, you can then filter down to or identify the data points you need specifically for your business. The catalog is fully configurable by each business based on their business requirements and their materiality assessments of what's material to them. That's how you would bring in your double materiality assessment or gap assessment and identify data points or metrics that you can work with as part of your data collection and reporting lifecycle.

Q&A: Does the platform offer simpler explanations or examples for the ESRS?

The instructions within the catalog are built directly from the ESRS. They can also point you to the specific backing source of that data point, so you'd be able to look at more detailed information available from ESRS for those specific data points as well. What we've done is transform those ESRS data points into metrics that we can provide to our customers through the platform, based on what the definition of the ESRS data point is.

Closing

Thank you all for the engagement today. If you have further questions, please do reach out and get in touch with our team. We just really hope this session was helpful, and we're grateful for all of those who attended today.

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