Sustainability Services

Achieve your organization's sustainability goals with Cherry Bekaert's Sustainability Services. Our team consults and advises on the practical approach to Environmental, Social and Governance.

Accelerating Your Organization’s Purpose Through Enhanced and Sustainable Business Practices

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) are sustainable practices that businesses and organizations can and should adopt to deliver long-term value for all stakeholders and communities that a company is a part of.

The purpose of recent U.S. regulatory proposals and European Union (EU) directives is to hold organizations accountable for their actions, and the quantitative and qualitative information that they publish should be accurate, relevant, reliable, verifiable and comparable.

At Cherry Bekaert, we believe, consult and advise on the practical approach to an organization’s environmental impacts; we support the strategic and transformational initiatives of our clients’ organizations without negatively impacting value. We deliver a holistic approach to accurate and measurable reporting; our methodology is designed to help organizations cost-effectively enhance value through an entity-wide approach to the identification, quantification and management of the enterprise’s essential portfolio.

Benefits of ESG

A purpose-driven ESG program helps shape a healthy ecosystem and delivers long-term value for all. Developing an ESG program has many tangible and intangible benefits. It helps companies:

Drive sustained growth
Manage and mitigate physical, financial and operational risks
Realize tax and energy savings and cost reduction
Comply with regulatory and compliance requirements, including those imposed by customers and other business partners
Increase a sense of community, trust, transparency and brand reputation
Develop thoughtful insights through digital dashboarding
Heighten employee relations and attract and retain talent
Build confidence and value with key shareholders, investors and employees

How Cherry Bekaert Delivers a Corporate Sustainability Strategy in Pursuit of Value

All stakeholders need to have a say in “what matters most” and the targeted impacts. Sustainability is not a silo exercise, and companies need to incorporate sustainability practices within their operating model, strategic decision-making, risk management activities and value creation roadmap.

“Sustainability plans have proven important to both consumers and markets. Prioritizing the environment and corporate social responsibility enhances a brand’s reputation and helps attract and retain both top talent and customers.”
Jason Hodell

Partner | Industrial Manufacturing and Consumer Goods Leader

Let Us Help You With Carbon Accounting and Reporting Requirements

On September 14, 2023, California’s Legislature approved a landmark Senate Bill 253/Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, which is expected to have global impacts on corporate climate accountability. The bill will require more than 5,000 U.S. corporations earning over $1 billion and doing business in California to annually report their greenhouse gas emissions.

Helping Our Clients Develop Sustainable ESG Strategies That Engage Stakeholders

Risk & Accounting Advisory Sustainability Services

Current-State Assessment

Assess the maturity of the governance, processes and controls to determine the core metrics for baselining and future reporting.

Carbon Footprint Analysis

Assist in the carbon accounting of Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and ongoing tracking of the organization’s carbon footprint, including life cycle assessment (LCA) of products, factory analyses and advising on the establishment of realistic goals for future emissions remediation.

Data Validation and Gap Assessment

Assess the reasonableness of the baseline of the core metrics interfacing with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and financial reporting, including whether the underlying data is complete and accurate and whether the used assumptions are reasonable.

Internal Controls for ESG Reporting

Build a framework for “how” and “what” in relation to organizational reporting that includes:

How to track, monitor and report on their sustainability targets
What controls are there to ensure that the data reported is complete, consistent and accurate

Tax Credits for Sustainability

Energy Tax Credits and Incentives

Our knowledgeable team will work to identify all federal and state energy tax credits and incentives that your organization is eligible for, such as:

Section 179D Energy Efficient Commercial Building Deduction: For improvements in commercial and high-rise buildings, with a maximum deduction of over $5 per sq. ft. for property placed in service after 2022. It directly reduces taxable income and depreciation expense and can be retroactively applied.
Section 45L Energy Efficient Home Credit: Applies to various types of residential and individual occupancy facilities, requiring certification by Home Energy Rating System (HERS) raters and offering a maximum credit of $5,000 per unit for property placed in service after 2022.
The Section 48 Investment Tax Credit: Encourages businesses to invest in energy-related assets, offering an immediate tax credit based on the energy percentage of the asset value, with a base credit of 6% and a possible increase to 30%.
Section 48E Clean Electricity Investment Credit: Offers a tax credit for electricity produced from renewable resources, applicable to wind, biomass, geothermal, solar, waste, hydropower and marine energy.
Section 45 Production Tax Credit: A clean electricity investment credit also offers an immediate tax credit for energy-related assets used during the tax year, encouraging businesses to invest in cleaner energy sources.
Section 45Q Credit for Carbon Oxide Sequestration: Provides a credit or grant for businesses reducing their carbon footprint and sequestering carbon dioxide within the U.S.
Section 45 X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit: Applies to manufacturers of components used in renewable energy facilities, helping to incentivize the production of components needed for cleaner energy sources.

Learn More

These are a few of the many advantageous energy tax credits and incentives available for qualifying organizations. Our energy tax credits and incentives team can help align tax planning and financial modeling to identify and quantify opportunities.

Site Selection

Conduct site selection strategy and location identification assessment for the expansion of existing or new building facilities to drive key business requirements, growth, and talent needs to maximize profitability, sustainability, and economic incentives.

Digital Advisory

Reporting & Net Cloud Zero Services

Net Zero Cloud offers a streamlined solution that helps organizations track their progress toward reducing their environmental footprint.

Net Zero Cloud leverages the strength of Salesforce’s core platform and ecosystem, providing organizations with power data visualization, carbon accounting information and climate action details. The reports and dashboards are easy to read and can display patterns and trends that impact your business.

Our teams assist in end-to-end reporting for all the organization’s sustainability initiatives as per the regulatory framework and guidance. Cherry Bekaert’s accounting advisory and digital advisory teams can be engaged to assist internal and external report writing, ERP interface and audit readiness and to measure progress on the KPIs over time by using digital transformation, analytics and dashboarding.

Cherry Bekaert is proud to be a Salesforce Partner and is one of the few providers who can sell the Net Zero Cloud license.