Sustainability Tracking Software: How Business Central Helps You Embrace the Future
Is your company setting sustainability goals? Are you tracking your emissions as part of your environmental footprint? If you're asking these questions or are worried it might be too much manual work, the solution might be right at your fingertips.
Dynamics 365 Business Central has all the features needed to track your emissions and report on that information across the entire value chain. Business Central’s latest release wave introduced additional features to support your sustainability efforts. A bonus to that is that this module is included with your existing Business Central subscriptions, meaning your business can ensure that it's doing its part for sustainability for no additional charge.
In this blog, we will highlight some of these sustainability features and show you how they work. First, we will provide you with more background information on why an increasing number of companies are looking for innovative ways to integrate sustainable practices into operations. Additionally, we will highlight why the most effective way to achieve this is through sustainability tracking in your ERP system.
The Importance of Sustainability Tracking Software
As environmental concerns continue to rise, the emphasis on sustainability is more pronounced than ever. As businesses strive to reduce their environmental footprint and promote eco-friendly practices, integrating sustainability tracking within the ERP systems is crucial, and something we should all be excited about.
Sustainability tracking allows you to monitor, measure, and manage your environmental impact, helping you make informed decisions that align with your sustainability goals. By embedding sustainability metrics into your ERP systems, you can ensure that your operations are efficient, profitable, and environmentally responsible.
Furthermore, certain customers, such as Microsoft or Mars, or those based overseas, may expect their suppliers to share a commitment to sustainability and align with their objectives of achieving carbon negativity soon.
Benefits of Sustainability Tracking in ERP Systems
- Enhanced Decision-Making: With real-time data on energy consumption, waste generation, carbon emissions, and resource usage, businesses can make strategic decisions that minimize their environmental footprint.
- Regulatory Compliance: Many industries are subject to stringent environmental regulations. An ERP system with integrated sustainability tracking ensures that companies comply with these laws, avoiding potential fines and penalties.
- Cost Savings: Sustainable practices often translate to cost savings. By identifying inefficiencies and areas for improvement, businesses can reduce energy consumption and waste, leading to lower operational costs.
- Competitive Advantage: As consumers and employees become more environmentally conscious, companies that prioritize sustainability gain a competitive edge. Committing to sustainable practices can enhance brand reputation and attract eco-minded customers and your future workforce.
- Enhanced Reporting: Sustainability tracking simplifies generating comprehensive reports on environmental performance, which can be used for internal assessments, stakeholder communications, and marketing.
The Future of Sustainability Tracking Software
As technology evolves, Dynamics 365 Business Central's sustainability tracking capabilities will grow. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Copilot, and machine learning will further enhance data accuracy and provide deeper insights into environmental performance. Businesses that adopt these innovative solutions will be well-equipped to lead the way in sustainability and set new standards for corporate responsibility.
Business Central is positioning itself as a smart and effective sustainability-tracking software system.
Dynamics 365 Business Central
The heart of the Sustainability module in Business Central for tracking your emissions is the Chart of Sustainability Accounts. You can create accounts and categories your organization needs to track emissions. Let's look at some of the key features in Business Central that can help you with sustainability tracking:
1. Chart of Sustainability Accounts
Similar to your regular GL Chart of Accounts, you can post to the Chart of Sustainability Accounts through journals, or by adding the emissions to your purchase invoices, sales orders, transfers, or manufacturing orders.
2. Sustainability Journal
You can set up default emissions based on the categories and then the system will calculate the emissions automatically For example, input the number of miles driven with company cars, or miles your team has been flying economy class, and it will post the emissions accordingly:
3. Utilities Purchase Invoice
When you receive an invoice from a utility provider, the emissions are calculated based on the electricity consumed. If you’re using AP Automation this data can even be retrieved from the PDF:
4. Business Central Metrics
Business Central metrics show you real-time data on your organization’s carbon emissions compared to its goals:
5. Business Central report Emissions by Category and Emissions per Scope
The following screenshots are examples of reports that are included, allowing your business to make strategic decisions to minimize environmental footprint:
Sustainability tracking in Business Central represents an exciting opportunity for your organization to improve operations and contribute to a greener, more sustainable future. The time to act is now; let’s work together to create a brighter, more sustainable tomorrow, and get your organization started with sustainability in Business Central.
Talk to the Stoneridge Experts Today to Get Started with Sustainability Tracking in Business Central
Our team has a tremendous amount of experience helping organizations implement Business Central and optimize it by ensuring you use all of the features you need for your business to thrive.
Reach out to us today to learn more!
Under the terms of this license, you are authorized to share and redistribute the content across various mediums, subject to adherence to the specified conditions: you must provide proper attribution to Stoneridge as the original creator in a manner that does not imply their endorsement of your use, the material is to be utilized solely for non-commercial purposes, and alterations, modifications, or derivative works based on the original material are strictly prohibited.
Responsibility rests with the licensee to ensure that their use of the material does not violate any other rights.