Odoo, ESG and sustainability: measure, report and improve your SME
More and more SMEs are receiving questions about sustainability: from their large clients, from banks, in public tenders or from regulations themselves. Collecting this data in scattered spreadsheets takes time and generates errors. An ERP like Odoo ESG allows you to rely on the information you already record every day (purchases, energy, waste, staff, suppliers) to track indicators, prepare reports and detect where to save money. On this page, we explain to you, without jargon, what Odoo can and cannot do for your ESG strategy, and how we approach it at Nextdoo.
What ESG is and why it matters to your SME
ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance (by its acronym). It is the usual way to group how a company manages its impact on the environment, its relationship with people (employees, customers, community) and the way it is managed and makes decisions. It is not just for large corporations: many SMEs are already receiving ESG questionnaires from their clients or become part of the supply chain of companies obliged to report.
The objective is not to fill out paperwork, but to make better decisions. Knowing how much energy you consume, how much waste you generate or how your staff evolves helps you reduce costs, win contracts and anticipate future demands. Here, Odoo ESG comes in as the organised database from which to work, because much of that information already resides in your day-to-day management.
How Odoo ESG helps you track indicators
The advantage of working on ESG within Odoo is that you reuse data you already have: energy and fuel purchase invoices, mileage and fleet, material consumption, hours worked, staff hirings and leavings, training or incidents. Instead of creating a separate file, you define the indicators that matter to you and feed them from the company's real operations.
With that basis, you can set up a tracking dashboard: monthly electricity consumption, fuel expenditure per vehicle, percentage of purchases from local suppliers, staff turnover or proportion of recycled waste. Odoo allows you to organise this data by period, by work centre or by project, and see how they evolve without re-entering anything manually each time. The value lies in that you stop estimating by eye and start measuring with figures that come from your own accounting.
Sustainability reports easier to prepare
When a client or an organisation asks you for sustainability data, the costly part is usually gathering the information, not writing the report. If that data is already in Odoo, exporting and presenting it is much faster: you filter the period, group by the requested category and generate a table or a document with traceable figures whose source is identified.
It is important to be honest on one point: Odoo, on its own, does not certify or guarantee your compliance with any specific standard (for example, reports under European frameworks). What it does do is give you organised and traceable data so that you, your advisor or a consultant can use them as reliable raw material. For formal requirements or certifications, it is best to rely on official sources and a specialist; treat that part as a reference estimate, non-binding, until it is validated by the appropriate party.
Efficiency and savings: the part that pays for itself
The most profitable part of ESG for an SME is usually the environmental one, due to its direct link with expenditure. If you measure energy consumption and cross-reference it with production or sales, you detect peaks, inefficient equipment or poorly optimised shifts. The same applies to wasted material, warehouse shrinkage or poorly optimised delivery routes.
Odoo gives you the picture to act on: you compare months, locate the deviation and decide. Reducing consumption or waste is not just a more presentable ESG figure, it is a lower bill. That is why many companies start here, see a concrete return and then extend tracking to social and governance once they have the habit of measuring.
The social and governance part within Odoo
Beyond the environmental aspects, much of the social and governance data can also reside in Odoo. In the HR area, you can track staff, contracts, training, diversity evolution or safety incidents. In purchases and suppliers, you can record selection criteria, payment terms or dependence on a single supplier, which are signs of good governance.
The idea is not to set up a parallel system, but to take advantage of the fact that your ERP already centralises people, suppliers and processes. With well-defined permissions and records, you have traceability of who does what and when, which is part of the governance pillar. The more organised your operations are in Odoo, the easier it will be to demonstrate how the company is managed when someone asks.
How we implement it at Nextdoo
At Nextdoo, an Official Odoo Partner based in Cunit (Tarragona) with coverage throughout Spain, we do not sell a closed ESG module or promises of certification. We start by understanding what is really being asked of you (clients, tenders, bank) and what data you already have. From there, we define a small set of indicators that provide value from the first month, so that you do not end up with a dashboard that no one looks at.
The usual path is an initial consulting phase to define what to measure and how, followed by implementation within your Odoo so that the data is automatically fed from operations. If you do not yet use Odoo or want to see it without commitment, the free trial is a good way to tinker with the tool before deciding. Our goal is for ESG to stop being an administrative burden and become useful information for better management.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a special Odoo module to work on ESG?
Not always. Much of the ESG tracking relies on data you already record in Purchases, staff, Inventory or Accounting. The important thing is to clearly define which indicators you want to measure and configure Odoo to collect them in an organised way; in some cases, fields or small adjustments are added, but you start with what you already have.
Does Odoo guarantee that I comply with sustainability regulations?
No. Odoo helps you have organised and traceable data, but on its own, it does not certify or guarantee compliance with a specific framework. For formal requirements, it is best to rely on official sources and a specialised advisor. Treat any reference to regulations as a non-binding reference estimate until it is validated.
Is this only for large companies?
No. More and more SMEs are receiving ESG questionnaires from their clients or become part of the supply chain of companies obliged to report. Starting early to measure consumption, waste or staff data avoids headaches later on and usually translates into cost savings.
How much does it cost to implement ESG tracking in Odoo?
It depends on how many indicators you want to track and the state of your current Odoo. We do not give a fixed price without seeing it, but we usually start with a reduced set that provides quick value. The best thing is an initial consultation to refine the scope; any indicative figure would be a non-binding reference estimate.
Where is it best to start?
Almost always with the environmental part linked to expenditure: energy, fuel or waste, because the savings are direct and visible. Once that habit of measuring exists, extending to social and governance is much simpler. At Nextdoo, we help you define that first step based on what your clients ask of you.
Related resources
Official information: Official Odoo documentation.
Explore Odoo by sector and by module
Choose your sector, discover Odoo modules or compare with other solutions. All connected, in a single system.