Carbon accounting for small business
If you have fewer than 250 people and no dedicated sustainability team, most large platforms are overkill. Here is what small businesses usually actually need, and in what order.
Why the question is coming up
- A big customer added an emissions question to their supplier form
- An investor or grant application asked for a footprint
- A tender scored your bid partly on sustainability
- You want to sound credible when talking about it
A sensible sequence
- Pull last year's utility bills, fleet fuel and business travel
- Use a free calculator or the SME Climate Hub to get a first number
- Write down what is missing, what is estimated, and what is measured
- Only then decide whether you need software or an advisor
When paid software starts to earn its cost
- You report a footprint every year and the data volume is growing
- Suppliers keep asking questions and you cannot answer from a spreadsheet
- You want to track reduction against a target
- You have multiple sites or entities
Common mistakes to avoid
- Buying a platform before you know what it needs to output
- Hiring a consultant to do a one-off number you will need to redo every year
- Chasing Scope 3 precision when Scope 1 and 2 are still rough
- Treating a badge or membership as a footprint
Small team, first footprint?
Answer five questions and get a practical route that fits your size and budget.
Use the Carbon Accounting Tool Finder