SASB Professional & Commercial Services

1. Identify your industry standard: Visit the SASB Navigator (sasb.org) and locate the Professional & Commercial Services standard applicable to your business (e.g., consulting, advertising, security services). Download the standard for free.

1. Conduct a materiality assessment: Review the sustainability topics defined in the SASB standard and determine which are financially material to your organization. SASB provides guidance on how to assess materiality in the context of investor-relevant risks and opportunities.

1. Map existing data to SASB metrics: Audit your current data collection processes against the quantitative and qualitative disclosure metrics specified in the standard. Identify gaps where new data collection processes need to be established.

1. Build internal reporting processes: Engage cross-functional teams (finance, HR, operations, legal) to gather the required data points — such as energy consumption, data security practices, and employee engagement metrics — and establish repeatable annual reporting workflows.

1. Draft your disclosures: Prepare disclosures aligned with SASB's format recommendations. These can be published in your annual report, sustainability report, or SEC filings (e.g., 10-K). Use the SASB Standards Application Guidance for formatting help.

1. Consider third-party assurance (optional): While not required by SASB, many investor-facing organizations choose to have their SASB disclosures independently assured by an accounting or sustainability assurance firm to enhance credibility.

1. Publish and communicate: Release your disclosures publicly and communicate adoption to investors and stakeholders. Register your use of SASB standards in the SASB Standards Adoption Database if desired.

1. Monitor updates and iterate annually: Track revisions to SASB standards issued by the ISSB (which absorbed SASB's standard-setting function) and update your reporting processes accordingly each year.

The SASB Professional & Commercial Services standard defines a set of sustainability topics and associated disclosure metrics that are considered financially material for companies in this sector. Unlike a pass/fail certification, SASB does not "assess" organizations externally — rather, it provides a structured framework that organizations use to self-report on defined metrics.

The standard covers several core sustainability topic areas relevant to professional and commercial services firms. Data Security is a primary focus, requiring disclosure of metrics such as the number of data breaches, the percentage of employees trained in cybersecurity, and the approach to identifying and addressing data security risks. Workforce Diversity & Engagement metrics include employee turnover rates, gender and racial/ethnic diversity statistics across management levels, and employee engagement scores. Professional Integrity addresses topics such as legal and regulatory fines, the number of cases involving violations of professional standards, and anti-corruption policies.

Environmental Footprint of Operations is also addressed, covering Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, and the percentage of energy from renewable sources — particularly relevant for firms with large office footprints or data center operations. Competitive Behavior metrics may apply to larger firms, covering legal actions related to anti-competitive practices. Each topic area includes both quantitative metrics (reported as specific numbers or percentages) and qualitative activity metrics (descriptions of policies, processes, and governance approaches). Organizations select the topics most material to their specific business model and disclose accordingly.

SASB standards have become one of the most widely referenced sustainability disclosure frameworks globally, particularly among investor-facing corporations and asset managers. As of the early 2020s, thousands of companies across more than 70 countries had publicly disclosed using SASB standards, with adoption concentrated among large-cap publicly traded companies in North America and Europe. The framework's investor-centric design — focusing on financially material ESG information rather than broad stakeholder reporting — has made it the preferred choice for companies communicating with institutional investors such as BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, all of which have explicitly encouraged or required SASB-aligned disclosures from portfolio companies.

A landmark development occurred in 2022 when the IFRS Foundation consolidated SASB's standard-setting activities into the newly formed International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). The ISSB's inaugural standards (IFRS S1 and IFRS S2), published in 2023, explicitly incorporate SASB's industry-specific metrics as a key reference point, effectively embedding SASB into the emerging global baseline for sustainability disclosure. This has significantly elevated SASB's credibility and longevity, though it also means the standalone "SASB" brand is gradually being subsumed into the broader IFRS/ISSB ecosystem.

In the professional and commercial services sector specifically, SASB adoption is driven by pressure from institutional investors and ESG rating agencies such as MSCI and Sustainalytics, which use SASB-aligned data in their scoring models. Competing frameworks include GRI (which takes a broader stakeholder perspective), CDP (focused on climate and environmental data), and the TCFD recommendations (focused on climate-related financial risk). SASB's key differentiator is its industry-specific, investor-grade focus, though the convergence of frameworks under ISSB is gradually reducing the need to choose between them. Demand for SASB expertise continues to grow as mandatory ESG disclosure regulations expand in the EU (CSRD), U.S. (SEC climate rules), and Asia-Pacific markets.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) was founded in 2011 by Jean Rogers in San Francisco, with a mission to develop industry-specific sustainability accounting standards that help companies disclose financially material ESG information to investors. The initiative was modeled on the structure of financial accounting standard-setting bodies like FASB, applying the same rigor and investor-relevance lens to sustainability data. SASB spent its first several years conducting extensive industry research and stakeholder consultation, developing provisional standards across 77 industries organized into 11 sectors, including the Professional & Commercial Services sector.

SASB published its full suite of codified standards in November 2018 after a multi-year public comment and review process. The standards quickly gained traction among institutional investors and corporations seeking a credible, comparable framework for ESG disclosure. In 2019, SASB merged with the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) to form the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF), broadening its reach. A further consolidation occurred in 2022 when the IFRS Foundation absorbed the VRF, transferring SASB's standard-setting responsibilities to the newly established International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). The ISSB's first standards (IFRS S1 and IFRS S2), released in June 2023, formally incorporated SASB's industry-specific metrics, cementing SASB's legacy as the foundation of the emerging global sustainability disclosure baseline.