How apps can make it simple to take climate action in your business

More and more businesses are focusing on sustainability, and for good reason. Not only do many small business owners personally feel it’s important to play a role in protecting the environment, doing so is proven to have a positive impact on their bottom line. 

We understand that taking the first steps toward sustainability in your business can feel overwhelming. The Xero App Store is proud to feature a number of sustainability apps designed to make it easy for small businesses to take climate action by automating and streamlining sustainability measures. Many of the apps are low-cost or free and require very little in the way of additional resource to start driving change in your business, because they leverage the data you already have in Xero.

Protect the planet, help your bottom line

Many small businesses are choosing to take climate action to align with their own values, but studies show that it is increasingly favourable to customers, employees and investors, too. 

• Attract customers. A 2020 study from IBM found that 6 in 10 consumers are willing to change their purchasing habits to reduce their impact on the environment. Among those who say sustainability is important to them, more than 70% say they will pay a premium for products from businesses that practice sustainability! In Australia, more than half of businesses think their competitors are taking climate action, proving the drive to win customers over is only getting more intense. 
• Attract employees. In addition to boosting customer numbers, taking sustainable actions in your business may also help you attract more employees. KPMG research showed that 70% of employees are more likely to work for a company that has a strong green footprint – and as many as 30% have actually left a company because of a lack of a sustainability agenda. 
• Attract investors. As consumer and employee attitudes shift, it makes sense that investor decisions will also shift toward sustainably minded businesses. At the start of 2020, global sustainable investment reached USD $35.5 trillion in 5 major markets, showing a rapid rise year on year, according to the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance. Finding finance may become easier for small businesses that can prove their environmentally friendly actions. 

How can apps help drive sustainability in your business?

The sustainability apps in the Xero App Store offer functions such as:

• Logging and tracking carbon emissions across various areas of your business
• Automating carbon reporting so you can prove your sustainability credentials to investors, customers, employees and more – and see where you can continue improving
• Providing recommended next steps for climate action in your business
• Identifying areas in your business where you could save energy and cut costs
  

Best of all, these apps integrate with Xero, meaning they can seamlessly pull insights from your existing data with no additional input from you, and provide a complete picture of your business. 

What sustainability apps are currently available for small businesses?

We are thrilled to be offering the following options to businesses across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom right now: 

• Cogo. Available in Australia, Cogo Business Carbon Manager calculates your business’s carbon footprint based on your expenses, so you can provide detailed reports to stakeholders and customers.
  
• Ecologi Zero. Available in the United Kingdom, Ecologi Zero provides free carbon accounting to small businesses, syncing with Xero and showing emissions from your own business and that of your supply chain, revealing emissions hotspots and areas to improve on an easy-to-use dashboard.
  
• NetNada. Available in Australia and New Zealand, NetNada automates carbon accounting and reporting tasks, provides accurate measurements of your carbon footprint, and creates detailed sustainability reports with advice on what to do next.
  
• Evalue8 Sustainability. Available in Australia, Evalue8 Sustainability links to your financial accounts in Xero to measure carbon emissions, identify areas for further improvement and saving, and track your progress toward greater sustainability. 
• CarbonInvoice. Available in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, CarbonInvoice makes it simple to track and offset the emissions for every invoice you send, and then share your efforts with clients and your wider network.
  
• CarbonTrail. Available in New Zealand, CarbonTrail uses AI to automate carbon accounting based on your Xero transactions, saving time and money by reducing the cost of carbon auditing and showing monthly and annual reports of your biggest emitters. 
• Zero Carbon. Available in the United Kingdom, Zero Carbon runs an intelligent climate analytics engine, presenting insights back to you in an easy-to-read climate dashboard so you can track your progress and compare your progress to industry averages.
  

We are adding more sustainability business apps to the Xero App Store all the time, so keep checking the collection of these apps in your region to find the best one to drive environmentally friendly outcomes in your business.