Standardization Guidelines
Learn how Tracenable standardizes EU Taxonomy disclosures by reconciling templates, mapping activities, and unifying KPI terms.
Why Standardization Matters
EU Taxonomy disclosures are governed by a single framework, but in practice companies report in different ways. Companies may:
Use two different reporting templates depending on the reporting year.
Report activities with inconsistent detail (activity codes, descriptions, or NACE codes).
Use varying terminology for the same KPIs (e.g., “revenues,” “net sales,” or “business volume” for turnover).
Without harmonization, these variations would make it difficult to compare disclosures across firms or reconcile metrics within the dataset. Tracenable’s standardization rules bridge these gaps, while retaining traceability to the original company reports.
Tracenable’s Standardization Guidelines
Guideline 1: Reconciling Reporting Templates
Two official EU Taxonomy templates are in use, and they capture eligibility and alignment differently:
Old template (2020–2022) – quantitative percentages at both activity and total level, plus a dedicated “taxonomy-aligned proportion” column.
New template (2023 onward) – qualitative flags at the activity level (e.g., “Yes (Y),” “No (N),” “Eligible (EL)”) and quantitative values only at the total level. The separate “aligned proportion” column is removed, replaced by distinct rows for A1 (aligned) and A2 (eligible but not aligned).
Tracenable’s Reconciliation Rules
To reconcile these differences, Tracenable translates old template disclosures into the structure of the new one. For example:
An old disclosure of “10% eligible” and “8% aligned proportion” becomes two rows: 8% under A1 (aligned) and 2% under A2 (eligible but not aligned).
An old disclosure showing that activity A contributed 5% to climate change mitigation is carried into the new format with both the original 5% value and a qualitative flag “Yes (Y)” under climate change mitigation.
Conversely, when companies report only qualitative flags in the new template, Tracenable standardizes these into equivalent percentages (e.g., if turnover = 2% and the flag is “Yes,” the contribution is recorded as 2%).
This reconciliation ensures that all disclosures, old or new, fit into a single, consistent framework for analysis.
Guideline 2: Harmonizing Percentage Contribution Formats
Companies use two different ways to report percentages that describe how much of an activity contributes to an environmental objective. This can make disclosures look different even when they mean the same thing.
Percentage-of-value format – the percentage is expressed as a share of the relative KPI. Example: If relative turnover = 2% and the company reports “100% contribution to climate change mitigation,” this means the full 2% is linked to that objective.
Direct-percentage format – the percentage is reported directly as the final share of the relative KPI. Example: If relative turnover = 2% and the company reports “2% contribution to climate change mitigation,” this represents the same situation as above, just written differently.
Tracenable standardizes both approaches into a single format so they can be compared consistently. In both examples above, the contribution is recorded as 2%.
Guideline 3: Mapping Activities to Taxonomy-Defined Options
Company-reported activities are not always expressed in official EU Taxonomy terms. Disclosures may include:
Activity numbers without objectives.
Descriptions that partially or loosely match Taxonomy activities.
NACE codes without clear activity descriptions.
Tracenable applies structured mapping rules to reconcile these disclosures with the official activity list:
Perfect matches are mapped directly.
Semi-matches use NACE codes and context.
Ambiguous or unmatched cases are categorized under Other activities to preserve data without forcing an inaccurate mapping.
This ensures that every activity is anchored to the Taxonomy framework, with uncertain cases handled transparently.
Guideline 4: Unifying KPI Terminology
Even for core KPIs (turnover, CAPEX, and OPEX) companies often use alternate terms that can create confusion. Tracenable maintains a mapping guide to ensure these terms are consistently standardized to the correct EU Taxonomy KPI.
Turnover
Revenues, Sales, Gross sales , Gross rental income, Business volume
OPEX (Operating Expenditure)
Business expenses, Investments in working capital, Investments in current assets
CAPEX (Capital Expenditure)
Investments, Investments in fixed assets
This ensures that all disclosures roll into the official EU Taxonomy KPIs, regardless of the terminology used in reports.
Takeaway
Tracenable’s standardization rules make sure EU Taxonomy data speaks the same language across companies and years. Whether reports use old or new templates, vague activity descriptions, or alternative KPI terms, everything is harmonized into a single structure that’s easy to compare and analyze.