New accounting tool to help charities measure their carbon footprint
Howard Lake | 28 February 2008 | News
Business software provider Asyst Solutions has launched a tool to help businesses and charities measure their carbon footprint. The new functionality was developed by Access Accounting within the Access Dimensions accounting package and is “the first integrated method of calculating carbon emissions within an accounting software package”.
The tool users figures from DEFRA and the Carbon Trust to help organisations account for their carbon emissions as part of normal day-to-day operations. When adding a receipt or invoice, the system automatically spots travel expenses or energy bills and calculates the carbon emission element of them.
The new functionality will bring clarity to managers looking to understand which activities are generating the most carbon and so make informed decisions on strategies to reduce them.
Jon Jorgensen, managing director for Asyst Solutions, said: “Charities have always been scrutinised on their ability to deliver as high a percentage of each pound donated to the cause as possible. They are also often very vocal supporters of initiatives designed to lessen any negative impact on the environment. The new accounting for carbon emissions functionality within Access Dimensions will help them do both.”
He added: “Companies and the not-for-profit sector alike face the dilemma of where to start. The answer is with measurement; after all you can’t manage what you can’t measure.”
www.asyst.co.uk
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.