Climate Reporting Experience: A Career Opportunity for Financial Controllers
Climate reporting has arrived in Australia and New Zealand. For finance professionals, it is one of the biggest new areas of responsibility in years, and one of the biggest career opportunities.
In Australia, mandatory climate-related financial disclosures under AASB S2 are being phased in. Group 1 entities began with reporting periods from 1 January 2025, Group 2 from 1 July 2026, and Group 3 follows from 1 July 2027. In New Zealand, large listed companies and financial institutions have been reporting under their own climate-related disclosure regime since 2023.
In many organisations, finance leads or heavily supports this work. Financial Controllers and Finance Managers who build climate reporting experience now will be in demand for years. This article explains why, and how to build and present the experience.
Why finance is involved
Climate reporting sits alongside the financial statements. It needs reliable data, clear processes, controls and assurance. Directors must sign off on it. That is familiar territory for finance.
In many businesses, finance is asked to coordinate data collection, build processes, work with sustainability teams and assurance providers, and explain disclosures to the board.
What the work involves
Identifying climate-related risks and opportunities with the business
Collecting emissions data, often across Scope 1, 2 and 3
Building processes and controls around new data sources
Scenario analysis and connections to financial planning
Preparing disclosures and supporting assurance
Reporting to the board and audit committee
Why it is a career opportunity
Few finance professionals have deep climate reporting experience yet. Demand is growing as more entities come into scope. Those who build experience early will stand out for Financial Controller, Head of Finance, Group Reporting and CFO roles.
It also brings exposure to boards, audit committees and senior leaders across the business.
How to get involved
Volunteer to support your organisation’s climate reporting project
Learn the basics of AASB S2 or the New Zealand standards through professional body courses
Work with the sustainability team on data and processes
Help build controls around emissions and energy data
Offer to prepare the board or audit committee briefing
Even if your organisation is not yet required to report, many are preparing early. There may be opportunities to help.
How to show it on your resume
Many finance professionals doing this work describe it too briefly. “Supported sustainability reporting” undersells a major piece of cross-functional work.
Show your role and results. “Led the finance workstream for the group’s first climate-related disclosures under AASB S2, building data processes and controls for Scope 1 and 2 emissions and coordinating with assurance providers.” That line shows leadership, technical capability and board-level exposure.
Profile example
“CA qualified Financial Controller with experience in statutory reporting and the group’s first climate-related disclosures under AASB S2. Known for building reliable data processes and controls across new areas of reporting.”
In interviews
Expect questions about how you approached the work, what challenges you faced, how you worked with other teams and what you learned. Show that you understand both the reporting requirements and the practical challenges of new data.
Emissions data is a finance problem
One of the hardest parts of climate reporting is data. Emissions data often comes from energy bills, fuel records, supplier information and estimates. It may be incomplete, inconsistent or held across many systems.
Finance teams are good at exactly this kind of problem. Building processes to collect data, reconcile it, apply controls and document assumptions is familiar work. That is why finance is so often asked to lead.
Assurance is increasing
In Australia, assurance requirements for climate disclosures increase over time. That means the data and processes behind the numbers need to withstand scrutiny, much like the financial statements. Finance professionals who understand assurance and can prepare for it are especially valuable.
Connecting climate and financial reporting
Climate-related risks can affect the financial statements too, for example through asset impairment, useful lives, provisions and disclosures about going concern. Finance professionals who can connect climate reporting with the financial statements add real value to the CFO and audit committee.
Smaller organisations and supply chains
Even organisations not required to report may be asked for emissions data by larger customers, lenders or investors. Suppliers to large reporting entities increasingly need to provide information. That means climate-related data skills are becoming useful well beyond the largest companies.
A worked example
Financial Controller, listed industrial group
Key Achievements and Projects
Led the finance workstream for the group’s first AASB S2 climate-related disclosures, coordinating data from 14 sites.
Designed controls and reconciliations for Scope 1 and 2 emissions data, supporting limited assurance with no significant findings.
Prepared the audit committee briefing on disclosure requirements and director declarations.
Linked climate scenario analysis to the long-range financial plan for the board.
Lines like these are still rare on finance resumes, which is exactly why they stand out.
A scenario for mid-sized businesses
Not everyone will work on a listed group’s first disclosures. Here is how climate reporting experience can grow in a smaller business. The details are illustrative.
Chloe is a Finance Manager at an $80 million packaging manufacturer in Brisbane. Her business may not need to report under AASB S2 for some time. But one of its largest customers, a national retailer, asks all key suppliers for energy use and emissions data each year.
The first request lands with operations, who pass it to finance. Chloe finds the data spread across electricity bills for three sites, fuel card statements for the delivery fleet and gas invoices. Nobody has collected it before.
Over three months, she:
Builds a simple monthly register of energy and fuel use by site
Agrees a process with accounts payable to capture usage data when bills are processed
Documents her assumptions and estimates so they can be checked
Presents a one page summary to the managing director and the customer
The customer is impressed. The managing director asks her to lead a wider sustainability data project. Chloe now has a real, quantified example of climate-related reporting, even though her business is not yet reporting under the standard.
A 90 day plan to get involved
Days 1 to 30: understand where you stand
Ask your CFO or manager whether and when your organisation expects to report
Find out who owns climate and sustainability data today
Complete an introductory course on climate-related reporting through a professional body
Days 31 to 60: find the data
List where energy, fuel and emissions data currently comes from
Identify gaps, manual steps and estimates
Meet the sustainability or operations lead and offer finance support
Days 61 to 90: add structure
Propose simple controls, such as reconciliations, review sign-offs and version control
Draft a short briefing for your manager on what finance could own
Agree a defined role for yourself in the next reporting cycle
Skills you already have
Many Financial Controllers underestimate how much of their existing work transfers directly. If you have done any of the following, you already have a head start.
Built month end processes and timetables
Designed or tested internal controls
Worked with external auditors through a year end
Consolidated data from several entities or sites
Prepared papers for an audit committee or board
Implemented a new system or data source
Climate reporting applies these same skills to a new type of data. Make that link clear on your resume and in interviews.
LinkedIn headline examples
“Financial Controller | Statutory and Climate-Related Reporting | Industrials”
“Finance Manager | Reporting, Controls and Sustainability Data | Manufacturing”
“Head of Finance | Board Reporting, Governance and AASB S2 Readiness”
Only use terms that reflect work you have genuinely done. Recruiters will ask about them.
Interview questions and how to answer
“What was your role in the climate reporting work?”
Be specific about what you owned. Data collection, controls, board papers or assurance coordination. Avoid saying “we” for everything.
“What was the hardest part?”
Data quality is usually the honest answer. Explain the problem, what you did to fix it and what you would do differently next time.
“How did you work with the sustainability team?”
Show that you respected their expertise and brought finance discipline, such as timetables, reconciliations and documentation, without taking over.
“How would you prepare for increasing assurance?”
Talk about documenting processes, testing controls early and keeping a clear audit trail for estimates and assumptions.
Australia and New Zealand
New Zealand’s large listed companies and financial institutions have reported under their climate-related disclosure regime since 2023. That means some New Zealand finance professionals already have several reporting cycles of experience. In Australia, the phased start of AASB S2 means demand is building as each group comes into scope. Experience on either side of the Tasman is relevant, and people who have worked through a full cycle are especially useful to organisations reporting for the first time.
Common mistakes
Treating climate reporting as someone else’s job
Describing involvement too briefly on your resume
Ignoring the need for controls and assurance
Not building knowledge of the standards
Your next step
Find out where your organisation is on climate reporting. Offer to help. Complete a short course on the relevant standards. Then record your involvement with clear results.
For more on new accountabilities, see ESG experience on a board resume. If you want your resume and LinkedIn to show this emerging experience, my Gold package covers your resume, cover letter, LinkedIn and positioning strategy.
If you want to plan how climate reporting fits your career, book a complimentary Clarity Session.
