Environmental metrics often arrive as vendor PDFs, IoT dashboards, or consultant spreadsheets. None of those formats automatically qualify as audit evidence. The question is whether you can re-perform the calculation from authorized sources.
Vendor statements are starting points
A renewable energy certificate summary is useful, but assurance still needs matching purchase records, period cut-off tests, and an understanding of double-counting risk. Connecteddatahub labs force teams to attach both the certificate pack and the AP trail.
Estimates need methodology memos
When direct measurement is unavailable, write the estimate method as carefully as you would for an inventory provision. State inputs, assumptions, and sensitivity. ESG-related financial assurance fails most often when estimates are treated as softer than financial ones.
Design for exception logs
Your financial auditing app should capture deviations — missing meters, extrapolated months, sites sold mid-year. Reviewers trust files that show problems were noticed. Blank perfection looks like incomplete fieldwork.