"The future of financials is non-financials"
                                             –Sir David Tweedie, International Accounting Standards Board

Businesses today are required to track their performance in a variety of ways. Not only do they have increasing fiscal responsibilities to shareholders and investors, but they also face mounting pressure—and in some countries, legal requirements—to disclose non-financial metrics as well. For example, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom require environmental reporting, while France and Germany require environmental and social reporting. This type of reporting is often referred to as sustainability reporting or the triple bottom line—environmental, social and economic reporting.

This is where business intelligence and performance management come in. Well-designed and implemented enterprise performance management solutions help companies set and balance conflicting goals, build these into their operating plans, and better leverage all resources to maximize profits and stakeholder value, and achieve greater business value and more sustainable success.

With regulators requiring environmental and social reporting, and growing interest from customers, partners, employees, and other stakeholders in their company's impact on its surrounding environment, the benefits of sustainability reporting are becoming clear:

• Avoidance of penalties or lawsuits
• Improving reputation with stakeholders, including investors, credit agencies, customers, employees, and business partners
• Attracting capital from green investors
• Increasing brand value
• Improving business performance, operational efficiency, and cost savings
• Enhancing risk assessment and management capabilities
• Measure the carbon footprint across your facilities to help reduce GHG emissions, identify cost saving opportunities, meet regulatory requirements and demonstrate environmental responsibility

The biggest benefit is demonstrating the long-term, sustainable financial value of an organization.