How CPAs Can Upskill in Sustainability
It’s easier than you think
The demand for the sustainability skillset is growing
Sustainability reporting will soon be mandatory, and organizations are increasingly looking to their CPAs to take a leading role. According to LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills report, the rising demand for green skills is growing faster than the supply.
The good news is that CPAs already have the core skills needed to do sustainability work. It’s all about upskilling and applying those same core skills to a new subject matter.
In fact, many CPAs have already done it!
While the landscape may seem vast, every journey starts with a first step. Mandatory sustainability reporting is expected to come to Canada soon, so it is time to start your upskilling journey and be ready to take the lead.
Many CPAs have already upskilled, and expanded their traditional roles in internal audit, financial reporting and external audit to include sustainability.
Hear from one CPA who has already made the journey.
The Five Most Important Skills for CPAs in Sustainability Reporting
The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) published a literature review of competencies for sustainability reporting and assurance which identified the five (5) most relevant competencies for CPAs:
- Systems-thinking: the ability to apply knowledge of interconnected topics to (i) understand the various financial statement impacts of sustainability metrics and (ii) to propose innovative solutions to associated risks.
- Interpersonal skills: the ability to communicate across groups and disciplines to understand inputs to sustainability metrics.
- Critical thinking and problem solving: the ability to quantify and translate non-financial data and associated risks into financial statement data.
- Adaptability and flexibility: the ability to apply foundational knowledge to new types of data reporting and new reporting requirements.
- Technological Capability: the ability to analyze non-financial data and large datasets.
At the heart of sustainability reporting is telling the story of an organization’s future sustainability-related risks and opportunities, like telling the story of company’s historical financial statements. It’s all about identification, measurement and disclosure: three areas where CPAs are already well-equipped.
How to get started: A three-step guide to upskilling in sustainability
Upskilling in sustainability does not have to be any different from any other professional development. It’s all about learning the basics, pursuing your accreditation and then applying what you have learned.
Here’s a three-step guide to help you get started:
Step One: Lay the Foundation
- Learn the language of sustainability by familiarizing yourself with common terms, acronyms and stakeholders in the sustainability space
- Look into what regulations exist that may directly or indirectly apply to your organization/clients
- Read up on the different sustainability reporting standards.
Visit the Foundational Knowledge Hub on Sustainability Simplified to find a helpful acronym key and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), as well as articles to help you get started.
You can also subscribe to and receive notifications from standard setters such as the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).
Finally, review sustainability reports published by different companies to help get a better grasp of how sustainability information is reported.
Step Two: Take courses and get accredited
There are many sustainability courses and certificate programs CPAs can register for, such as CPA Ontario’s suite of sustainability courses and its Fundamentals of ESG Certificate. CPA Ontario and many providers offer digital badges to help build your skills and enhance your online profile.
Step Three: Start applying what you’ve learned!
Take what you have learned and begin applying it to your organization. For example, you might start with a materiality assessment and identify relevant sustainability topics using the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) materiality finder. Or you can take steps to establish and measure your organizations greenhouse gas emissions.
The bottom line
Sustainability reporting and assurance represents an incredible opportunity for CPAs to help drive business and society forward. As more organizations turn to CPAs to help lead the change, learning how to apply your skillset to the challenges of sustainability through upskilling can open new doors in your career.
