ESG data collection software: how to collect ESG data without chasing spreadsheets
ESG data collection software gathers the energy, emissions, workforce and governance data a sustainability report needs from the people and systems that hold it. Good tools request data from named owners, chase them, read invoices and bills, pull from integrations, and keep a source on every number so the final report is audit-ready.
Last updated 27 October 2026 · By Tom Wilford, Founder, Ella
Get startedWhat is ESG data collection software?
What ESG data do you need to collect?
| Data | Typical owner | Typical source | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity, gas and heat use | Facilities or office managers | Supplier invoices, meter reads, landlord statements | Scope 2, Scope 1, SECR, CDP, VSME B3 |
| Fleet and other fuel | Fleet or operations | Fuel cards, mileage claims | Scope 1, SECR, CDP |
| Business travel | Finance or travel desk | Travel management company reports, expenses | Scope 3 category 6 |
| Purchased goods and services | Procurement and finance | Accounts payable ledger, supplier data | Scope 3 category 1 |
| Waste and water | Facilities | Waste contractor reports, water bills | VSME B6 and B7, CSRD |
| Headcount, turnover, pay and training | HR | HRIS and payroll | VSME B8 to B10, CSRD social metrics |
| Health and safety incidents | Health and safety lead | Incident log | VSME B9, CSRD |
| Policies and governance evidence | Legal, compliance, leadership | Policy documents, board minutes | CSRD, CDP governance, customer questionnaires |
How to collect ESG data: a step-by-step process
Activity data, spend data and supplier data: why the method matters
| Method | Data you collect | Accuracy | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier-specific | Product-level cradle-to-gate emissions from suppliers | Highest when supplier data is good | High |
| Hybrid | Supplier activity data where available, secondary data for gaps | Medium to high | Medium |
| Average-data | Mass or units purchased, multiplied by industry average factors | Medium | Medium |
| Spend-based | Money spent, multiplied by spend-based factors | Lowest, good for a first screen | Low |
What to look for in ESG data collection software
| Capability | Why it matters | Question to ask in a demo |
|---|---|---|
| Assigned requests to named owners | Accountability and fewer gaps | Can I assign one data point to one person with a due date? |
| Automatic reminders and chasing | Removes the follow-up work from the sustainability team | Who sends the third reminder, me or the system? |
| Contributor access without a licence or login | Colleagues and suppliers respond faster when it is one email | What does a contributor see, and do they need an account? |
| Document reading | Invoices, bills and reports become data without retyping | Can I drag in a PDF energy bill and get kWh, period and site back? |
| Integrations | Finance, HR and travel data arrive without a manual export | Which systems connect today, and what is the fallback? |
| Validation and outlier checks | Catches unit and period errors early | What happens if a site sends ten times last year's figure? |
| Source on every number | Makes the report audit-ready | Can I click a reported figure and see the original document? |
| Supplier surveys | Scope 3 and value chain requests | Can I send a standard supplier request and track responses? |
Spreadsheets vs ESG data collection software
| Spreadsheets and email | ESG data collection software | |
|---|---|---|
| Requesting data | Manual emails per person | Assigned requests sent on a schedule |
| Follow-up | The sustainability lead chases | Automatic reminders |
| Evidence | Attachments scattered across inboxes | Stored against each data point |
| Version control | Multiple copies of the workbook | One record with an audit trail |
| Reuse across frameworks | Copy and paste | Collect once, map to several frameworks |
| Handover | Depends on one person's knowledge | Process and history stay in the system |
Collecting ESG data from suppliers under the VSME value chain cap
How Ella collects ESG data
How Ella helps
ESG reporting software
Collect, clean and report ESG data for CSRD, VSME and customer questionnaires, with a source on every number.
Carbon accounting software
Scope 1, 2 and 3 footprints for SECR and CDP, built from invoices, bills, integrations and supplier data.
ESG strategy software
Turn collected data into targets, reduction plans and a strategy your board can sign off.
Related resources
How to prepare your ESG reporting data
To prepare ESG reporting data, define your reporting period and organisational boundaries, assign an owner to each metric, and gather supporting records in one place. Check units and calculation methods, document missing information, and review the evidence before drafting your report. Keep assumptions visible so reviewers can trace each claim.
SECR Reporting Explained: Who Must Report and What to Include
SECR (Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting) requires UK quoted companies, and large unquoted companies and LLPs, to report their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in their annual report. A company is large if it meets two of three tests: turnover of £36m or more, balance sheet of £18m or more, or 250 or more employees. Scope 3 is optional.
CDP reporting explained: how scoring works and why the data is the hard part
CDP reporting means answering CDP's annual environmental questionnaire, usually because an investor or a large customer asked you to. Responses are scored from D- to A across four levels. In the 2026 cycle the scoring deadline was 16 September, and final responses close in the week commencing 26 October.
Best ESG Software in 2026: 11 Platforms Compared
The best ESG software depends on who is asking you for data. Workiva and Sweep suit enterprises filing CSRD or ISSB reports. Watershed and Persefoni suit carbon-heavy enterprises. Ella suits sustainability teams handling EcoVadis, CDP, SECR and customer requests: AI-native ESG software that collects, cleans and reports your data for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ESG data collection?
ESG data collection is the process of gathering environmental, social and governance data, such as energy use, emissions, headcount, pay and policies, from the colleagues, systems and suppliers that hold it, together with the evidence behind each figure, so it can be used in sustainability reporting.
What is the best ESG data collection software?
The best tool is the one that gets data in with the least manual chasing for your setup. Look for assigned requests to named owners, automatic reminders, document reading for invoices and bills, integrations with finance and HR systems, and a source attached to every number. Ask vendors to demonstrate these live.
How do you collect ESG data from different departments?
Map each data point to one named owner, send a request with the period, unit and evidence you need, set a due date and a reminder schedule, and check returns against last year. Collecting quarterly for energy and fuel spreads the work and reduces year-end pressure.
How do I collect Scope 3 data from suppliers?
Start with spend data from your accounts payable ledger to find the suppliers that matter most, then ask those suppliers for their own emissions or activity data. The GHG Protocol describes supplier-specific, hybrid, average-data and spend-based methods. Most companies use a hybrid approach and improve it each year.
What ESG data do I need for SECR?
SECR asks in-scope UK companies to report energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions, an intensity ratio, the methodology used and energy efficiency action taken. In practice that means electricity, gas and transport fuel data for the reporting year. Our SECR guide covers the detail.
Can I use spreadsheets for ESG data collection?
Yes, for a first footprint or a single site. Spreadsheets struggle once there are several entities, frameworks and contributors, because follow-up, version control and evidence all become manual. Many teams move to software when the person who built the workbook leaves.
What is the VSME value chain cap?
The value chain cap limits what companies reporting under the CSRD can require from value chain partners with an average of no more than 1,000 employees. Under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560, those requests cannot go beyond the datapoints in its Annex II, from financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
Can AI collect ESG data for me?
AI can now do much of the collection work: sending requests, chasing replies, reading PDFs of invoices and bills, and flagging outliers. A general chatbot can draft a questionnaire but cannot follow up with your colleagues. Ella is ESG software built as an agent to do the collecting, with a person reviewing the result.