PKF launches national sustainability and ESG practice

The Australian branch of accounting and advisory network PKF has launched a new national sustainability practice via a joint venture with Perth-based consulting firm Parvate ESG.

To be known as PKF Parvate Sustainability, the new entity will provide specialist support to organisations seeking to meet their newly-mandated sustainability requirements, via current performance benchmarks, tailored road-maps, and implementations.

“This is another significant development for PKF,” stated chair Steve Meyn.“PKF’s joint venture with Parvate ESG reflects our commitment to solving, at times, complicated multi-disciplinary problems for our clients, and to turning them into strategic advantages.”

Led by managing director Jim Allenby, Parvate ESG was established in Perth in 2020 and provides a range of ESG and sustainability services covering assessments, preparedness, supply chain, training, and reporting, with companies in the manufacturing, mining & resources, technology, and transport sectors among the firm’s clientele.

“PKF was a natural fit for us, having initially experienced their exceptional work as clients,” Allenby stated. “We appreciated the proactive, yet pragmatic approach, with a client base that will benefit from early education and awareness opportunities. ASRS is not just a compliance exercise, but a catalyst for better business practices.”

The ASRS – or Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards – came into effect at the beginning of the year, and will initially impact businesses with revenues of $500 million or greater and a headcount of above 500, before being progressively rolled out to smaller organisations over the next two years, including those with $50 million in revenues in 2027.

“It’s very important that businesses allow enough time to prepare to take advantage of the strategic opportunities this new requirement can offer,” Allenby continued. “With the reporting deadline in place, they will need to build the necessary infrastructure for data collection and analysis, and train their teams or engage external expertise to meet the compliance standards.”

Sumday partnership

The announcement of the PKF Parvate joint venture coincides with the firm’s new partnership with Australian-founded carbon accounting technology provider Sumday, which helps organisations of all sizes track, measure, manage and report their greenhouse emissions to an audit-ready standard. The platform will initially be rolled out through PKF’s Sydney office.

Again, Bob Bell, PKF’s Sydney & Newcastle managing director, made the point that it’s not only big organisations which are now required to adopt carbon accounting, stating; “Smaller businesses down the supply chain will also need to report upwards, and this makes our partnership with Sumday an essential part of our advisory services.”