The two paths
Broadly, companies handling sustainability reporting and tagging choose between two models:
- Software platforms — you license a tool, your team uses it to manage data collection, drafting, and tagging in-house, typically on an annual subscription.
- Outsourced services — you send your finished report to a specialist provider who handles tagging (and sometimes more) for a per-report or per-page fee, with no software to learn or maintain.
When software makes more sense
- You report frequently (quarterly disclosures, multiple entities, ongoing data tracking) rather than an annual event
- You want your sustainability team directly managing data day-to-day, not just at reporting time
- You have the internal capacity to learn and maintain a new tool
- Your data needs (emissions tracking, supply chain data collection) go well beyond what a single annual report requires
When an outsourced service makes more sense
- You report annually or infrequently, and don't want ongoing software costs for something used once a year
- Your report is largely finished and you need it tagged accurately, not a data-management platform
- You'd rather not train staff on new software for a task that happens once a reporting cycle
- You want to pay only for the work done, not a licence whether you use it fully or not
The cost comparison, roughly
Software platforms in this space commonly range from a few thousand pounds a year for SME-focused tools to tens of thousands for mid-market platforms, and well into six figures for enterprise deployments — regardless of how much you actually use them in a given year. A per-report tagging service scales with actual usage: if you file once a year, you pay for that one filing, not a standing licence.
They're not mutually exclusive
Some companies use software for ongoing data management and still outsource the final tagging and validation step for accuracy assurance — the two approaches can complement rather than replace each other.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need ESG software if I only file once a year?
Not necessarily — if your reporting is an annual event rather than an ongoing data-management need, a per-report tagging service usually costs less than a year-round software licence for something used once.
Can I switch from software to a service, or vice versa?
Yes — there's no lock-in requiring you to stick with one model, and many companies revisit this choice as their reporting needs change year to year.
Is outsourced tagging less accurate than software?
Not inherently — accuracy depends on the quality of the people or process doing the mapping and review, not whether it happens inside software or via a service. Ask any provider what review process their tagging goes through before you commit.