SoftCo is committed to acting responsibly across all the activities that we undertake.
This commitment supports our approach to ESG and is demonstrated through our pledges:
Contribute to economic development by helping other organizations to thrive and grow.
Deliver sustainability for a better world, including removing paper with our innovative technologies.
Help local communities in
the markets we operate
through sponsorship,
engagement, and the SoftCo Foundation.
Support and promote sporting activities, particularly for young people, to create a healthier lifestyle.
Operate transparently, honestly, and responsibly in all our activities.
The environmental impact of the invoicing process is often overlooked. The truth is when paper reaches the end of its life cycle, it is sent to a landfill or incinerated, thus producing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) as it breaks down. Ten percent of the trees that get cut down become paper for invoices. The disproportionate amount of energy required to produce this volume of paper equals the annual consumption by 20 million households.
SoftCo enables its global customers to remove paper documents from being printed. The automation of the Procure-to-Pay system removes most paper from the process, whereby PDFs replace paper invoices and the approval process becomes an electronic sign-off. We believe that our technology is one of the most sustainable platforms in financial automation.
“SoftCo….. will increase the level of automation and standardisation in the Group’s processes, helping to ensure the control environment is appropriate and sustainable in the long-term.”
SoftCo has a unique document management platform that removes duplication of paper and unnecessary electronic storage. Our Storlife CAS technology ensures that documents, which would normally need to be printed up to 4 times each for storage, are now stored digitally in our complaint archive for fast retrieval. Single Instance Storage prevents any duplicate files from being stored and GDPR Retention Workflow removes wasted storage as documents are digitally shredded.
As an organization, we aim to reduce our inputs and be an advocate for sustainability at every opportunity. SoftCo are deploying a solar project at the Company HQ which will result in 17,298 kg CO2 Emissions avoided per year. Our Helsinki office achieved a LEED v4 Gold Certification, which is the most widely used and well-recognized green building rating system around the world. LEED certified buildings save money, improve efficiency, lower carbon emissions, and creates a healthier place for people.
SoftCo invests significantly in our people and their working environment by creating a safe and healthy workplace, in addition to investing in professional and personal development. SoftCo empowers employees to pursue rewarding careers, while also prioritizing their wellness, health, safety, and families. Our education schemes have been in place for decades.
We foster a diverse and inclusive workplace encouraging team members to be their complete, authentic selves. Our flexible working arrangements reduce stress and ensure that all parents can care for their children while building their career. Currently 48% of SoftCo’s global employees are female, and represent 42% of Management positions in the company.
SoftCo is dedicated to supporting female entrepreneurship and helping women achieve their growth ambitions. One of the ways that SoftCo has done this is by being a significant sponsor of the Going for Growth initiative, which has supported over 800 female entrepreneurs.
SoftCo is proud to support Starting Strong, the latest Going For Growth initiative designed to empower and support female entrepreneurs at an early stage of business development. By partnering with other leading companies, we are able to provide participants with access to tailored workshops to help them succeed in their business ventures. At SoftCo, we are committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the business world and are excited to be a part of Starting Strong.
“Our lead Susan Spence was practical, honest and so generous in sharing her experiences. I would highly recommend Going for Growth to any woman in business.”
SoftCo’s commitment to supporting Women in Sport has resulted in an award-winning sponsorship agreement with the Irish Women’s Hockey Team, leading to a silver medal in the 2018 World Cup, the most successful outcome achieved by an Irish team in a major global sport. In 2022, SoftCo extended its support of Irish Hockey and now supports both Women’s and Men’s teams on an equal investment basis.
Our support has since been expanded to both the Women’s and Men’s Under 21 development squads. We are also the main sponsor of the University College Dublin Women’s Rowing Team who compete at a European level.
“This unique SoftCo dual-sponsorship ties in perfectly with hockey’s ‘equally amazing’ charter, promoting the sport on a gender-equal basis.”
Since SoftCo was established in 1990, we have always been aware of our responsibilities to our communities and the need to give back. We support numerous charities every year and our staff has led the way by getting directly involved in diverse fundraisers. From running marathons to riding horses in competitive races to organizing cake sales.
We work closely with our ambassadors to raise funds for charitable causes, including the fight against children’s cancer, respite care for disabled children, social entrepreneurship, heart disease, homelessness, the injured jockeys fund and cancer research. In 2016, the SoftCo Foundation was established as a vehicle for donating to various charities and worthy causes around the world.
SoftCo have worked closely with sporting authorities such as Hockey Ireland to promote sporting activities with young people through innovative participative events, such as the ‘Bucket’ challenge in 2021 and the ‘Tricks for Treats’ challenge in 2022. These initiates have resulted in significant engagement, and we are delighted that one of the winners in 2022 was the Botanic Hockey Club Intellectual Disability Team.
We continuously work with our ambassadors, both past and present, to promote the development of youth sports. Sporting legends including James Anderson (Cricket), Dan Carter (Rugby), and Ronan O’Gara (Rugby) have undertaken SoftCo-organized clinics with young players.
“The support SoftCo provide will have a significant impact on our ability to provide high-quality, cost-effective services for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.”
At SoftCo, we are committed to Governance and have a strong focus on many areas which are important to our business and operations. SoftCo maintain compliance with legal requirements in all regions we operate in and use legal advisors to provide support where needed in addition to dedicated legal staff. We take a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption, and are committed to acting with integrity regarding business ethics. SoftCo operate based on the principle of fair trade and competition. As such, we ensure all our activities conform with all applicable anti-trust regulations.
SoftCo is committed to obtaining the most rigorous certifications to ensure that we operate in the most compliant fashion possible. SoftCo is SOC 1 and SOC 2 audited. A SOC 1 Audit is focused on internal controls related to financial reporting while SOC 2 is focused on information and IT security identified by the 5 Trust Services Categories: Security, Confidentiality, Information Privacy, Processing Integrity, and Availability.
SoftCo’s ISO 27001 certification means that the correct policies and procedures are in place to ensure that the security, confidentiality, availability and processing integrity of all document data (physical and electronic) is handled correctly by SoftCo. SoftCo is SÄHKE2 certified, a European certification that sets a uniform framework for the public sector to develop an efficient electronic records management system.
