Few are Confident in Their Organizations’ Ability to Report on ESG Financials

Operationalizing ESG
reporting readiness
through the
controllership playbook
Deloitte poll results
April 2023

Operationalizing ESG reporting readiness through the controllership playbook
Copyright © 2023 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved. 2
Methodology
3,000+
Professionals were polled online during a
Deloitte webcast titled “Operationalizing ESG
reporting readiness through the
controllership playbook” on February 23,
2023. Answer rates differed by question.
In some instances, immaterial amounts (e.g., +/-
0.1%) have been added to or removed from the
“Don’t know/not applicable” answer responses to
bring results to 100% total for each question.

Does your organization have an ESG controller (i.e., an individual focused on the financial reporting and
controls aspects of ESG?)
Don’t know / not applicable = 34.8%
Votes received 6,461
Yes, we have a dedicated
ESG controller or equivalent
No, but there are plans
to hire an ESG controller
in the next 12 months
16.4%
7.2%
41.6%
No, and there are no
plans to hire an ESG
controller
48.8% currently do not have an ESG
controller

What level of influence does your organization’s finance function have on ESG matters?
Don’t know / not applicable = 38.9%
High – Finance attends board/management meetings,
is involved in defining governance/policies, issues ESG
reports to management, etc.
Medium – Finance is included in some executive-level
discussions, issues on ad hoc ESG reports to
management, etc.
7.7%
14.1%
22.1%
17.2%
Low – Finance is occasionally asked to offer opinions
on ESG
None – Finance has no influence on ESG
53.4% of
finance teams
have some level
of
organizational
influence

Are you confident in the ability of your organization's financial reporting team to gather and report on
ESG financial metrics (e.g., equity/DEI, sustainability, governance) for regulatory compliance purposes?
Don’t know / not applicable = 33.6% for all respondents; 13% for organizations with an ESG controller; 22.9% for organizations without an ESG controller; 14.7% for finance
teams with influence; 30.4% for finance teams without influence; 8.2% for organizations with an ESG controller and finance team with influence
45.7%
20.7%
Confident Not confident
All respondents
75.5%
45.3%
11.5%
31.8%
Organizations with an ESG
controller
Organizations without an ESG
controller
Impact of an ESG controller on confidence
levels
60.7%
27.2%
24.6%
42.3%
Finance teams with some level
of organizational influence
Finance teams without any
organizational influence
Impact of finance's organizational influence
on confidence levels
81.0%
10.8%
Impact of having both an ESG controller and
finance team with organizational influence
on confidence levels
Factors impacting ESG reporting confidence levels
30.1-point
difference
More than 2x
difference

15.2%
10.6%
24.1%
41.9%
11.0%
17.7%
24.5%
36.4%
13.7%
11.2%
20.4%
39.6%
8.8%
17.6%
17.0%
26.3%
All respondents
controller
Finance teams with some level of
controller and finance team with
Which do you think poses the greatest challenge for your organization's controllership team regarding
ESG efforts?
Don’t know / not applicable = 30.3% for all respondents; 15.1% for organizations with an ESG controller; 10.4% for finance teams with influence; 8.2% for organizations with
an ESG controller and finance teams with influence
Collecting necessary data on all organizational ESG
efforts
Changing organizational processes to enable effective
ESG reporting
Shortage of staff appropriately skilled to support ESG
controllership efforts
Selecting and implementing technology to support ESG
efforts

Media Contacts
Christine Oh
Public Relations
Deloitte & Touche LLP
chrisoh@deloitte.com
Taylor Graham
Public Relations
Deloitte Services LP
tagraham@deloitte.com

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Copyright © 2023 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.
The statements in this report reflect the aggregation of poll responses and are not intended to reflect facts or opinions of any entities. All data, charts and statistics referenced and presented, as
well as the representations made and opinions expressed, unless specifically described otherwise, pertain only to the participants and their responses to the Deloitte poll. The information
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Few are Confident in Their Organizations’ Ability to Report on ESG Financials

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