Meet Sumday Certified Advisor: Emily Green from Bentley's

‍Tell us about your role at Bentleys?

I started with the Bentleys Tasmania team about a year ago in a temporary position, but have recently come on board as an ESG Advisor. This role involves working with our clients to assess their emissions, and providing reduction strategies to help them meet their sustainability goals.

You have a really different background to many in accounting firms, could you tell us about your academic background and your interest in sustainability?

I graduated from my Bachelor of Science last year, and have no background in traditional accounting. My interest in this project was driven by my passion for sustainability and ethics, and I was excited by the opportunity to help businesses to make more conscious and informed choices.

How important is it to you that accounting firms provide sustainability accounting services?

I believe it is essential that accounting firms are able to provide sustainability accounting services. Organisations need to be able to understand the extent of their impact on the environment and take actions to mitigate this by making meaningful reductions in their outputs. It won’t be long before sustainability reporting is a mandatory part of a business’ operations; and who is better placed to provide this service this than their own accountants? Our clients trust that we know and understand their business – we want to help them to stay informed and up to date in such a fast-developing space, while providing them with a competitive advantage.

Bentleys really pushed to be leaders in carbon accounting, what kind of support have you received from the firm to get started?

Bentleys Tasmania dove into this opportunity with Sumday headfirst, with a number of staff taking the chance to undertake the Sumday Advisors certification course. We were provided with a hands-on learning approach by completing pilot assessments on our own offices as we worked through the Sumday course. The firm has allowed me to take on a roll where working on this will be my primary focus – they wanted to make sure we dedicated the necessary resources to this new area of our firm to ensure it keeps progressing and growing. Our firm hopes that having staff with different skill sets can help provide our clients with a comprehensive and practical approach to carbon accounting.

How did you find the Sumday learning course?

Sumday’s learning course was an excellent and valuable tool in getting started in carbon accounting. The course breaks down each component of completing a carbon emissions assessment - outlining the core concepts, providing further reading for a more in-depth understanding, and working through calculations. I found the modules to be engaging, well structured, and easy to follow.

What would you say to other advisors who are interested in providing carbon accounting services?

There’s no better time to get started in the space – You’ll soon find your clients asking questions (if they aren’t already) about their environmental impact and what they should be doing about it, and you can be ready to meet their needs and guide them in this area. If you’re interested in starting carbon accounting, enrol in the Sumday Advisors certification course, read up on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and start talking to your clients about their needs in the space.

How have you found the advisor support team at Sumday?

The whole team at Sumday have been friendly, knowledgeable, and willing to help at every turn. It has been great to have support from such passionate individuals who believe in what they are doing.