End To End Sustainability Tracking and Reporting for SMBs

Overview

The video presents Microsoft’s sustainability solution for small and medium businesses, built on Microsoft cloud and part of Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability for SMBs. It explains that regulations like CSRD also affect SMBs, and that the solution covers all three emission scopes with a focus on reducing carbon footprint. It also tracks other greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide. Pricing is given as 70 per user per month for access to all sustainability features.

The demo walks through the Sustainability Role Center, scorecards and goals, the sustainability chart of accounts, emission factor and formula configuration, and the built-in emissions reports. It then shows how emissions are recorded through sustainability journals and purchase invoices, how the no-code financial reporting tool builds custom ESG reports, and how sustainability entries appear next to general ledger, vendor and tax entries in the posting preview. Water and waste management features are described as coming in a later release.

Key points

• The solution covers all three emission scopes, tracks gases such as methane and nitrous oxide, and includes carbon equivalent calculations.
• Pricing quoted in the video: $70 per user per month for access to all sustainability features and the full ERP solution if needed.
• The sustainability chart of accounts catalogs emissions by scope or other groupings; scorecards track goals with baseline periods, reporting periods and target values, and one goal is set as the main goal used in Role Center KPIs.
• Emissions can be calculated by formulas (fuel, distance, kWh and similar inputs), and partners can add specialized formulas. Emission factors are configured in account subcategories and can be marked as renewable energy related.
• Emissions can be recorded in the sustainability journal, which validates against incomplete entries, or directly on purchase invoices or orders linked to sustainability accounts, so data is not entered twice.
• The built-in financial reporting tool is no-code and can combine sustainability, financial and social data, for example emissions per dollar earned or internal carbon fees in profit calculations.
• Previewing posting shows sustainability entries together with general ledger, vendor and tax entries. Water and waste management features are announced for a future release.

Features

AL objects mentioned

As heard in the captions. A name that matches one object page by exact type and name links to it; the others stay as named.

• other “Sustainability Chart of Accounts” at 3:26
• other “Sustainability Journal” at 14:09
• other “Sustainability Ledger” at 3:56
• other “Sustainability Role Center” at 4:12
• other “Total Emission Report” at 10:33
• other “Emission by Category Report” at 10:59

Quotes

• 1:39 “the core of Microsoft sustainability solution for smbs is its coverage of all three emission scopes with the focus of reducing carbon footprint”
• 2:03 “the next B we’ll introduce water and waste management features offering smbs even much more sustainability tools”
• 2:50 “for 70 per user per month you gain access to all sustainability features”
• 3:26 “the sustainability chart of account provide a structure framework to cataloge and log emissions data by scope or other groupings”
• 16:13 “if you preview the posting results you will see Erp standard information like general ledger entries vendor entries tax entries so on everything in”
• 17:29 “this solution is built on Microsoft cloud and it is a part of Microsoft cloud for sustainability for smbs it is embedded in theam”
• 18:09 “regulation like csrd aren just for large Enterprises they also affects smbs with this tool Microsoft support businesses of all sizes in their sustainability”

Disclaimers in the video

• 2:03 coming-later: the next B we’ll introduce water and waste management features offering smbs even much more sustainability tools

Presenters (as heard): Alexander Toich.