accounting case study example

Free business case studies to bring real-life examples into the classroom

Searching for materials to bring into the classroom can be time consuming. At CPA Canada, we've made it a little easier by providing free case studies you can use in your next business or management accounting course. 

Developed by academics and industry leaders, our case studies provide high-quality content in the areas of strategy management, financial management and reporting, and performance management and measurement. 

Use them to complement your lessons and keep students engaged. Give your students valuable insights from real-life companies that they can apply in the work force.

Students will learn how to address day-to-day operations and challenges and improve a company’s financial performance.

Use them in your classroom today!

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Use this case study to illustrate how focusing on community support, the environment, and operational excellence led to a successful strategy mapping implementation.

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Inspire your students by showing them how a shift in strategy is what Nespresso needed to achieve success and redefine the coffee industry.

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Financial Statements Examples – Amazon Case Study

Financial Statements are informational records detailing a company’s business activities over a period.

Austin has been working with Ernst & Young for over four years, starting as a senior consultant before being promoted to a manager. At EY, he focuses on strategy, process and operations improvement, and business transformation consulting services focused on health provider, payer, and public health organizations. Austin specializes in the health industry but supports clients across multiple industries.

Austin has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration in Strategy, Management and Organization, both from the University of Michigan.

• What Are Financial Statements?

Amazon’s Balance Sheet

Amazon’s income statement, amazon’s cash flow statement, usage of financial statements, amazon case study faqs, what are financial statements.

Investors need financial statements to gain a full understanding of how a company operates in relation to competitors. In the case of Amazon , profitability metrics used to analyze most businesses cannot be used to compare the company to businesses in the same sector.

Amazon remains low in profitability continuously to reinvest in growing operations and new business opportunities. Instead, investors can point to the metrics signified in Amazon’s cash flow statement to demonstrate growth in revenue generation over the long term.

There are three main types of financial statements, all of which provide a current or potential investor with a different viewpoint of a company’s financials. These include the following below. 

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet represents a company’s total assets, liabilities, and shareholder ’s equity at a certain time. 

Assets are all items owned by a company with tangible or intangible value, while liabilities are all debts a company must repay in the future.

Shareholders' equity is simply calculated by subtracting total assets from total liabilities. This represents the book value of a business.

Income Statement

The income statement represents a company’s total generated income minus expenses over a specified range of time. This can be 3 months in a quarterly report or a year in an annual report . 

Revenue includes the total money a company makes over a set time. 

This includes operating revenue from business activities and non-operating revenue, such as interest from a company bank account.

Expenses include the total amount of money spent by a company over time. These can be grouped into two separate categories, Primary expenses occur from generating revenue, and secondary expenses appear from debt financing and selling off held assets.

Cash Flow Statement

The cash flow statement represents a company’s total cash inflows and outflows over a specified time range, similar to the income statement. Cash in a business can come from operating, investing, or financing activities. 

Operating activities are events in which the business produces or spends money to sell its products or services. This would be income from the sales of goods or services or interest payments and expenses such as wages and rent payments for company facilities.

Investing activities include selling or purchasing assets, which can include investing in business equipment or purchasing short-term securities. Financing activities include the payment of loans and the issuance of dividends or stock repurchases.

Key Takeaways

• Financial statements have information relevant for investors to understand the operations and profitability of a business over a specified time.
• Fundamental analysis typically focuses on the main three financial statements: the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement.
• Although analyzing business financials can provide an unaltered outlook into the operations of a business, the numbers don’t always demonstrate the full story, and investors should always conduct thorough due diligence beyond pure statistics.
• Investors must ensure all of a company's financial statements are analyzed before forming a thesis, as inconsistencies in one sheet may be caused by an unusual one-time expense or dictated by a global measure out of the company’s control (ex., COVID-19).

Now that we have a general understanding of the financial statements, we can begin to take a look at Amazon’s most recent quarterly filing. 

Company filings can be found by using EDGAR (database of regulatory filings for investors by the SEC) or from Amazon’s investor relations website.

Before we begin analyzing this sheet, it is important to take note of the statement just below the title, indicating that the data is being displayed in millions. 

This can throw off newcomers, who may be very confused upon seeing Amazon’s revenue is $53,888. Amazon’s quarterly revenue is indeed $53.8 billion as calculated in millions.

When looking at Amazon’s assets, it is important to note the difference between current and total assets. Current assets are categorized separately due to the expectation that they can be converted to cash within the fiscal year.

Current assets can be used in the current ratio to analyze Amazon’s ability to pay off its short-term obligations. The current ratio formula is:

Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities

Amazon’s current ratio sits at 0.92, which is below the e-commerce industry average of 2.09 as of March 2023 (Source: Macrotrends ).

This could mean that Amazon is potentially overvalued compared to competitors, but this is only one metric and should ultimately be all of an investment decision, especially considering the capital-intensive nature of Amazon’s business model.

It is also important to understand all of the vocabulary used to detail items in Amazon’s balance sheet. Some of the major items’ definitions can be found below:

Assets are classified as follows.

• Cash and cash equivalents: Assets of high liquidity, such as certificates of deposit or treasury bonds.
• Marketable securities: Liquid securities can be sold in the public market, such as stock in another company or corporate bonds.
• Accounts receivable (A/R): Money owed to the company that has not been received yet, such as from items previously bought on credit.
• Inventories: Unsold finished or unfinished products from a company that has yet to be sold.
• Property and equipment (PP&E): Assets owned by a company that is used for business activities. It may include factory assets or other types of real estate.
• Operating leases: Assets rented by a business for operational purposes. Calculated as the net present value on the balance sheet.
• Goodwill: Calculates intangible assets that cannot be sold or directly measured, such as customer reputation and loyalty.

Liabilities are of the following types.

• Accounts payable (A/P): Obligations accrued through business activities that must be paid off shortly.
• Accrued expenses: Current liabilities for a business that must be paid in the next 12 months.
• Unearned revenue: This represents revenue earned by a business that has not yet received. Prevents profits from being overstated for a specific period.
• Long-term debt: Debts in which payments are required over 12 months.
• Lease liabilities: Payment obligations of a lease taken out by a company.
• Stockholders’ equity: Net worth of a business/asset value to shareholders.
• Retained earnings: Net profit remaining for a company after all liabilities are paid.

Amazon’s next statement in its quarterly filing is the income statement. The income statement is useful for comparing a company’s growth over time and matching it up against competitors in the same or different sectors.

An essential factor to note when looking at a company’s income statement is whether its revenue and net income are consistently growing year over year. Investors should also be aware of Wall Street expectations, as they can heavily influence the business’s share price.

Many important ratios are used when analyzing a company’s income statement. Some of the most notable ones include:

• EV/EBITDA = (Market Capitalization + Debt - Cash) / (Revenue - Cost of Goods Sold - Operating Expenses)
• Gross Margin =  (Revenue - Cost of Goods Sold) / Revenue
• Operating Margin = Operating Income / Revenue
• Net Margin = Net Income / Revenue
• Return on Equity (ROE) = Net Income / Average Shareholder Equity (End Value + Beginning Value / 2)
• Earnings Per Share = Net Income / Shares Outstanding

Let’s use these ratios to conduct a comparables analysis between Amazon and eBay, a company at a much lower valuation relative to the e-commerce giant.  Here are their ratios side-by-side, as of Amazon’s Q1 2023 and eBay’s Q1 2023 filings:

* = EV/EBITDA ratios sourced from finbox.com , March 2023 trailing twelve months (TTM)

Looking at these statistics on paper, it is clear to see that Amazon seems overvalued compared to eBay due to lower margins, negative earnings per share, and an EV/EBITDA multiple over three times as high as the business. 

However, pure stats on an income statement cannot fully justify purchasing one company or another. The statement merely shows what a company is doing without a corporate spin.

One thing to note that is unique about Amazon’s business model is how the company invests huge amounts of capital into R&D and technology to expand its operations continuously.

Their numbers don’t account for the massive cash flows and growth opportunities that the business takes advantage of.

When conducting fundamental analysis, an investor must consider all aspects of a business beyond the financial statements, including comparing business models to competitors and setting benchmarks encompassing the overall sector.

Amazon’s cash flow statement is where the company begins to shine compared to its competitors in the online commerce sector. The company has consistently increased cash flow from operating activities and constantly returns value to shareholders in the form of capital appreciation.

It is notable for focusing on what the company is doing inside of its cash flow statements to get a better picture of why its income or stock price is trending a certain way. 

For example, an explosive drop in net income in an otherwise stable company could be due to mismanagement or hampered growth but is most likely due to M&A activity charged in a quarter that may be skewing the numbers. The cash flow statement clears this up.

Compared to 2022, Amazon has increased its annual cash from operating activities by over 38% from the previous year based on a 12-month rolling basis.

This increase has also resulted in an 11.7% increase in investment expenditures, which should allow Amazon to continue growing faster than similar companies.

In comparison, according to eBay’s most recent 10-K filing , the company generated an 82% growth in operating cash flow (OCF), however, this stat can be very misleading due to the company’s lack of investment in processes such as R&D and SG&A.

In 2022, the company reported $92M in investing activities, representing only 26% of operating cash flows. Amazon reported over $37.6B in investing activities representing approximately 88% of its OCF.

The income statement can misrepresent how well a company is doing, as while eBay has a higher net income, Amazon strategically reinvests its cash flows into R&D and other expenses to produce more over time continuously. 

What makes the cash flow statement so essential to fundamental analysis is the fact that it is tough to manipulate its numbers through financial engineering or clever accounting. 

The statement purely shows precisely where all of the money a company makes is being used. Many investors use the cash flow statement to tell the true financial health of a business, as profits can often not be indicative of a growth company's value.

The stock price of a company can easily be swayed by sentiment or the market cycle , and the income statement can be skewed through large one-time transactions or large amounts of financed revenue. The amount of money in the possession of a company is very hard to adjust.

Amazon currently has much better growth prospects than eBay and thus sells at a higher premium in the open market , but you wouldn’t understand why unless you took in the full picture of the company.

Everything You Need To Master Valuation Modeling

To Help You Thrive in the Most Prestigious Jobs on Wall Street.

Financial statements are excellent tools to learn more about a business in terms of an overall market or sector of operation. Using financial statements to determine the current value of a business is essential for understanding a company’s stock price.

Along with the ratios mentioned, analysts often form their methodologies over time to focus on companies that are strong in specific financial circumstances. 

Tools such as stock screeners can sort millions of companies by certain factors. For instance, some investors may seek defensive companies with consistent dividend growth over long periods, while others may seek growth companies with the most innovative new technology.

Investors should keep all of this information in mind, as well as pay attention to the reports of analysts with varied performance outlooks. It is essential to seek out the opinions of multiple sources before establishing an opinion on a business.

Looking at reports from analysts specializing in the industry can also ensure that your expectations are reasonable compared to industry experts. 

If your thesis results in Amazon growing its revenues by 20% a year while analysts across the country are only expecting growth in the range of 5-7%, it could be a sign that you may have overlooked a key factor in your due diligence .

The overall goal of using financial statements is to fully understand the company you are investing in to justify a position. Although your views may slightly differ from experts, quality due diligence can result in somewhat varied outcomes based on an investor’s outlook for the future.

Using EBITDA instead of net income strips away the capital structure and taxation of a business to analyze the pure earnings potential of a business. This is more practical for investors to see the general trajectory of a company’s income over time.

For example, companies may decide on completing a merger or acquiring another company. This will require a company to report its current and acquired assets on its balance sheet .

Over time, these assets must be recorded as expenses through the use of depreciation, which is the process of deducting from gross revenue to account for the decreasing value of company plant assets. 

If these assets increase in value over time, this could decrease revenues over time not due to company performance but because of increased prices for equipment outside of the company’s control. 

Without looking at EBITDA, company financials may paint a completely different picture with the use of net income that may or may not be justified at all.

ROE is an important metric to distinguish how good a company is at generating profits with investor capital compared to its share price and competitors. It is yet another indicator used to analyze the trajectory of a business over time. 

Using ROE can also demonstrate how much financing a company requires to generate its revenue and if investors are really getting a great return for the amount of money shareholders contribute. 

A startup that has recently gone public on the stock exchange may have a very low to negative ROE compared to an established company. Still, the startup may have the margins and growth to justify its valuation . 

Much like every financial ratio, ROE doesn’t demonstrate the entire story of a business, and the full picture of a business must be considered to decide on an equity investment.

To proliferate and take market share from competitors, Amazon undercuts prices on many products to decrease competition and remain the top player in the industry.

Amazon, like many other companies recently since the pandemic, has also faced significant increases in operating expenses , thus lowering operating and net margins in the short term. Once Amazon begins to slow expansion, these margins are expected to rise.

Amazon’s net income is very low for many of the same reasons. The company is profitable yet is constantly reinvesting into new businesses and products to further grow cash flows for future expenditures.

Amazon investors are not focused on income but rather on its ability to continuously grow in the long term. Growth companies like Amazon do not issue dividends because they believe that the money is better reinvested in business operations.

Everything You Need To Master Financial Statement Modeling

To Help you Thrive in the Most Prestigious Jobs on Wall Street.

Researched and Authored by Tanner Hertz | LinkedIn

Free Resources

To continue learning and advancing your career, check out these additional helpful  WSO  resources:

• Accounting Conservatism
• Accounting Equation
• Accounting Ratios
• Three Financial Statements in FP&A
• Working Capital Cycle

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Accounting and Finance: Case Studies and Reports

• Print Resources
• Online Resources
• Databases and e-Journals
• Case Studies and Reports

Introduction to Case Studies

Case Studies are widely used in Accountancy and Finance education. They offer students the opportunity to develop their analytic and writing skills. They are most common used to examine the communication skills and team working ability of the student. 

Finding Case Studies

Textbooks .

Books containing case studies can be found by using our catalogue. Here are a some examples for Accounting and Finance :

Some databases allow users to search for case studies under a certain topic. Others allow users to filter or offer to limit their search results to case studies. Two examples are :  

• Taylor & Francis Social Science & Humanities Library This link opens in a new window

Writing Case Studies

Online guides and help when writing case studies

Emerald publishing has a useful how to guide for case studies access it here  

Cengage  has a good introduction to the topic covering definition, Analysis, and writing a Case Study. 

Five Misunderstandings about case study research by Bent Flyvbjerg

The Real Life Guide to Accounting Research Edited by Chrotopher Humphrey 

The Case Centre for Educators 

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• In Practice

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Smart. Open. Grounded. Inventive. Read our Ideas Made to Matter.

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Teaching Resources Library

Accounting Case Studies

Course Resources

Case studies.

A set of in-class activities is available for some of the modules in this course to support face-to-face and hybrid classes. These are not already built into the assignment tool of your learning management system (Canvas, Blackboard, etc.), but they can be downloaded for use or previewed below:

• Module 1: Case Study: Harley-Davidson, Inc.
• Module 2: Case Study: Harley Davidson
• Module 3: Case Study: Burton Snowboards
• Module 4: Case Study: Janus Motorcycles
• Module 5: Case Study: MOD Pizza
• Module 6: Case Study: Auto Manufacturing
• Module 7: Case Study: Zero-Based Budgeting
• Module 8: Case Study: Ski Santa Fe
• Module 9: Case Study: Highland Park
• Module 10: Case Study: Wells Fargo
• Case Studies. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Classroom. Authored by : ProSymbols. Provided by : Noun Project. Located at : https://thenounproject.com/term/classroom/520781/ . License : CC BY: Attribution

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Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies of 2021

Two cases about Hertz claimed top spots in 2021's Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies

Two cases on the uses of debt and equity at Hertz claimed top spots in the CRDT’s (Case Research and Development Team) 2021 top 40 review of cases.

Hertz (A) took the top spot. The case details the financial structure of the rental car company through the end of 2019. Hertz (B), which ranked third in CRDT’s list, describes the company’s struggles during the early part of the COVID pandemic and its eventual need to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

The success of the Hertz cases was unprecedented for the top 40 list. Usually, cases take a number of years to gain popularity, but the Hertz cases claimed top spots in their first year of release. Hertz (A) also became the first ‘cooked’ case to top the annual review, as all of the other winners had been web-based ‘raw’ cases.

Besides introducing students to the complicated financing required to maintain an enormous fleet of cars, the Hertz cases also expanded the diversity of case protagonists. Kathyrn Marinello was the CEO of Hertz during this period and the CFO, Jamere Jackson is black.

Sandwiched between the two Hertz cases, Coffee 2016, a perennial best seller, finished second. “Glory, Glory, Man United!” a case about an English football team’s IPO made a surprise move to number four.  Cases on search fund boards, the future of malls,  Norway’s Sovereign Wealth fund, Prodigy Finance, the Mayo Clinic, and Cadbury rounded out the top ten.

Other year-end data for 2021 showed:

• Online “raw” case usage remained steady as compared to 2020 with over 35K users from 170 countries and all 50 U.S. states interacting with 196 cases.
• Fifty four percent of raw case users came from outside the U.S..
• The Yale School of Management (SOM) case study directory pages received over 160K page views from 177 countries with approximately a third originating in India followed by the U.S. and the Philippines.
• Twenty-six of the cases in the list are raw cases.
• A third of the cases feature a woman protagonist.
• Orders for Yale SOM case studies increased by almost 50% compared to 2020.
• The top 40 cases were supervised by 19 different Yale SOM faculty members, several supervising multiple cases.

CRDT compiled the Top 40 list by combining data from its case store, Google Analytics, and other measures of interest and adoption.

All of this year’s Top 40 cases are available for purchase from the Yale Management Media store .

And the Top 40 cases studies of 2021 are:

1.   Hertz Global Holdings (A): Uses of Debt and Equity

2.   Coffee 2016

3.   Hertz Global Holdings (B): Uses of Debt and Equity 2020

4.   Glory, Glory Man United!

5.   Search Fund Company Boards: How CEOs Can Build Boards to Help Them Thrive

6.   The Future of Malls: Was Decline Inevitable?

7.   Strategy for Norway's Pension Fund Global

8.   Prodigy Finance

9.   Design at Mayo

10. Cadbury

11. City Hospital Emergency Room

13. Volkswagen

14. Marina Bay Sands

15. Shake Shack IPO

16. Mastercard

17. Netflix

18. Ant Financial

19. AXA: Creating the New CR Metrics

20. IBM Corporate Service Corps

21. Business Leadership in South Africa's 1994 Reforms

22. Alternative Meat Industry

23. Children's Premier

24. Khalil Tawil and Umi (A)

25. Palm Oil 2016

26. Teach For All: Designing a Global Network

27. What's Next? Search Fund Entrepreneurs Reflect on Life After Exit

28. Searching for a Search Fund Structure: A Student Takes a Tour of Various Options

30. Project Sammaan

31. Commonfund ESG

32. Polaroid

33. Connecticut Green Bank 2018: After the Raid

34. FieldFresh Foods

35. The Alibaba Group

36. 360 State Street: Real Options

37. Herman Miller

38. AgBiome

39. Nathan Cummings Foundation

40. Toyota 2010

47 case interview examples (from McKinsey, BCG, Bain, etc.)

One of the best ways to prepare for   case interviews  at firms like McKinsey, BCG, or Bain, is by studying case interview examples. 

There are a lot of free sample cases out there, but it's really hard to know where to start. So in this article, we have listed all the best free case examples available, in one place.

The below list of resources includes interactive case interview samples provided by consulting firms, video case interview demonstrations, case books, and materials developed by the team here at IGotAnOffer. Let's continue to the list.

• McKinsey examples
• BCG examples
• Bain examples
• Deloitte examples
• Other firms' examples
• Case books from consulting clubs
• Case interview preparation

Click here to practise 1-on-1 with MBB ex-interviewers

1. mckinsey case interview examples.

• Beautify case interview (McKinsey website)
• Diconsa case interview (McKinsey website)
• Electro-light case interview (McKinsey website)
• GlobaPharm case interview (McKinsey website)
• National Education case interview (McKinsey website)
• Talbot Trucks case interview (McKinsey website)
• Shops Corporation case interview (McKinsey website)
• Conservation Forever case interview (McKinsey website)
• McKinsey case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• McKinsey live case interview extract (by IGotAnOffer) - See below

2. BCG case interview examples

• Foods Inc and GenCo case samples  (BCG website)
• Chateau Boomerang written case interview  (BCG website)
• BCG case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• Written cases guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG live case interview with notes (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG mock case interview with ex-BCG associate director - Public sector case (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG mock case interview: Revenue problem case (by IGotAnOffer) - See below

3. Bain case interview examples

• CoffeeCo practice case (Bain website)
• FashionCo practice case (Bain website)
• Associate Consultant mock interview video (Bain website)
• Consultant mock interview video (Bain website)
• Written case interview tips (Bain website)
• Bain case interview guide   (by IGotAnOffer)
• Bain case mock interview with ex-Bain manager (below)

4. Deloitte case interview examples

• Engagement Strategy practice case (Deloitte website)
• Recreation Unlimited practice case (Deloitte website)
• Strategic Vision practice case (Deloitte website)
• Retail Strategy practice case  (Deloitte website)
• Finance Strategy practice case  (Deloitte website)
• Talent Management practice case (Deloitte website)
• Enterprise Resource Management practice case (Deloitte website)
• Footloose written case  (by Deloitte)
• Deloitte case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

5. Accenture case interview examples

• Case interview workbook (by Accenture)
• Accenture case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

6. OC&C case interview examples

• Leisure Club case example (by OC&C)
• Imported Spirits case example (by OC&C)

7. Oliver Wyman case interview examples

• Wumbleworld case sample (Oliver Wyman website)
• Aqualine case sample (Oliver Wyman website)
• Oliver Wyman case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

8. A.T. Kearney case interview examples

• Promotion planning case question (A.T. Kearney website)
• Consulting case book and examples (by A.T. Kearney)
• AT Kearney case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

9. Strategy& / PWC case interview examples

• Presentation overview with sample questions (by Strategy& / PWC)
• Strategy& / PWC case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

10. L.E.K. Consulting case interview examples

• Case interview example video walkthrough   (L.E.K. website)
• Market sizing case example video walkthrough  (L.E.K. website)

11. Roland Berger case interview examples

• Transit oriented development case webinar part 1  (Roland Berger website)
• Transit oriented development case webinar part 2   (Roland Berger website)
• 3D printed hip implants case webinar part 1   (Roland Berger website)
• 3D printed hip implants case webinar part 2   (Roland Berger website)
• Roland Berger case interview guide   (by IGotAnOffer)

12. Capital One case interview examples

• Case interview example video walkthrough  (Capital One website)
• Capital One case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

13. Consulting clubs case interview examples

• Berkeley case book (2006)
• Columbia case book (2006)
• Darden case book (2012)
• Darden case book (2018)
• Duke case book (2010)
• Duke case book (2014)
• ESADE case book (2011)
• Goizueta case book (2006)
• Illinois case book (2015)
• LBS case book (2006)
• MIT case book (2001)
• Notre Dame case book (2017)
• Ross case book (2010)
• Wharton case book (2010)

Practice with experts

Using case interview examples is a key part of your interview preparation, but it isn’t enough.

At some point you’ll want to practise with friends or family who can give some useful feedback. However, if you really want the best possible preparation for your case interview, you'll also want to work with ex-consultants who have experience running interviews at McKinsey, Bain, BCG, etc.

If you know anyone who fits that description, fantastic! But for most of us, it's tough to find the right connections to make this happen. And it might also be difficult to practice multiple hours with that person unless you know them really well.

Here's the good news. We've already made the connections for you. We’ve created a coaching service where you can do mock case interviews 1-on-1 with ex-interviewers from MBB firms . Start scheduling sessions today!

The IGotAnOffer team

Early Examples of EU Digital Product Passports in Action

As the world's circularity rate plummets to a mere 7.2% , the severity of unsustainable business practices looms large. A staggering 90% of product materials end up as waste, wreaking havoc on our environment. In a bid to address this pressing sustainability crisis, the European Union (EU) is pushing for the adoption of Digital Product Passports (DPPs) for most goods imported into and within the EU by 2030. Industries with high environmental impact, like batteries and textiles, will be mandated to use DPPs by 2026/2027.

A DPP is a digital copy of a physical product that contains various sustainability- and quality-related information throughout a product’s supply chain journey. This includes everything from material sources and workplace conditions to product recyclability and repairability. While DPPs are still in the pilot stage, a few early case studies have already showcased the potential of this technology.

Tesla and Audi Battery Passports

The battery industry is the prime target for DPP use, especially as EV sales are expected to increase significantly in the coming years . Questions arise about the origins of battery materials/components and battery recycling , necessitating a battery Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) that primes automakers for a Battery Digital Passport.

To address these EV challenges, the Global Battery Alliance (GBA) revealed its Battery Passport Proofs of Concept (PoC) for Tesla and Audi at the World Economic Forum in Davos in early 2023. The Battery Passports provide Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) information, including partial carbon footprint reporting, materials sourcing locations, and human rights performance.

For instance, the DPP was able to trace 100% of the cobalt used in Tesla’s EV batteries back to the Kamoto Copper Company in the Democratic Republic of Congo. While this only represents 1% of the battery materials for Tesla’s Chinese-made EV batteries, the ultimate goal is to source all materials in the future. In two similar pilot studies, Audi's Battery Passports accounted for 10% and 13.6% of total battery materials, respectively, from Hungarian and Chinese-made cells. Audi’s two Battery Passport case studies yielded a higher materials traceability percentage due to the GBA tracing lithium sourcing in addition to cobalt. These examples highlight the potential of DPPs to enhance supply chain transparency, reduce environmental impact, and improve consumer trust.

Figure 1: DPP for EV Batteries—Audi Showcasing Battery Information, Materials, ESG Specifications, and Related Data

(Source: Global Battery Alliance)

By 2027, ABI Research forecasts that 5.22 million Battery Digital Transports will ship in Western Europe, the same number of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) expected to be sold that year. While batteries are the biggest focus for DPPs, other industries are also being evaluated.

Edenica Building Leverages Materials Passports

Accounting for roughly 40% of raw materials consumption worldwide, the construction industry is another high priority for European DPP utilization. While not an EU member, the United Kingdom is home to a notable DPP example. The 12-story Edenica building development in London is setting a precedent for Materials Passports for commercial real estate companies across Europe. In collaboration with the engineering and environmental consultancy firm Waterman Group, solution provider Circuland has piloted a Materials Passport for the property. The DPP tracks geometry, location, material information, and other key data for structural components (floor slabs, steel frame, concrete floor, etc.). Historical data on construction materials helps real estate operators reuse resources during and after the end of their usage. With the Edenica building expected to last more than 120 years, documenting materials and components with a digital product passport will ensure significant rates of product reuse.

Chart 1: Total Number of New Buildings in the EU as Digital Passport Regulations Evolve

(Source: ABI Research)

Burton Snowboards Leverages a Digital Product Passport Platform from Avery Dennison

Companies that use textiles in manufacturing will be on the shortlist of businesses required to use DPPs by 2027. To help retailers prepare for the upcoming EU legislation, Avery Dennison recently launched a DPP-as-a-Service (DPPaaS) platform. Outdoors-focused apparel company Burton Snowboards is the first customer of Avery Dennison's DPPaaS platform. Burton Snowboards is provided with the hardware, software, digital ID technology, physical labels, and consultancy required to track the sustainability of products. The cloud-based atma.io platform centralizes supply chain data that helps Burton Snowboards understand where it can eliminate waste and how it can promote greater circularity. Customers in Burton Snowboards’ Innsbruck, Austria store, for example, will one day be able to scan a QR code on a shelfed product to reveal insight into its supply chain journey and how it can be reused. Resultingly, the DPP solution empowers the company to put its sustainability commitments in the spotlight and expand its customer base.

Figure 2: Demonstration of DPPaaS for Burton Snowboards

(Source: Avery Dennison)

Each company highlighted in this article has gained a competitive advantage early. Not only are they well-suited for the upcoming digital product passport mandates set by the EU, but their supply chain digitalization journeys are accelerating faster than those of other brands in their industry. These companies can demonstrate to their consumers and investors how they tackle climate change. Through End-to-End (E2E) supply chain visibility and sustainability reporting, stakeholders can hold these companies accountable for their green claims.

For a far more detailed analysis of how DPPs are influencing EU businesses, download ABI Research’s Digital Product Passports: Tech-Driven Sustainability and Traceability for EV Batteries, Construction Materials, and Pilot Use Cases report.

Related Blog Posts

As the EU Mandates Digital Product Passports, Here’s What Supply Chain Leaders Should Know

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