Emissions movement explanation workbook
Explain how a reported emissions total moved from one period to another while keeping historical revisions separate. This workbook compares the originally reported base, a separately supplied revised base and the current result. Its component ledger keeps the supporting evidence beside each human-entered movement amount.
Use it after the underlying inventory calculations exist. The blank working sheet has space for 40 signed components, a separate Fictional example shows the workflow, and Read me explains the fields and limits. It supplies no emission factors and does not derive a driver amount by multiplying activity data.
Base revision reconciles the reported base to the separately supplied revised-base control. Activity, Factor and Boundary explain the next bridge. Keep both differences and the evidence for every entered movement visible.
Fix the comparison before entering a movement
Identify the inventory editions, periods, entities, sources and emissions unit. Record the comparison boundary and the evidence location for each supplied total.
Keep the original reported base visible. Enter a revised base only when its separate calculation and decision record are available; do not overwrite the original.
Use one clearly identified Scope 2 method in a comparison. If both methods are relevant, make separately labelled comparisons instead of adding their results.
Record a tolerance for arithmetic review. It is a working precision choice, not a materiality threshold, recalculation policy or permission to omit an unexplained amount.
Build two separate reconciliations
Classify each component using one of four exact labels: Base revision, Activity, Factor or Boundary. The Base revision entries explain the path from the reported base to the revised base. The other three buckets explain the path from the revised base to the current total.
The calculated revised base is the reported base plus entered Base revision amounts. The first bridge check subtracts the separately supplied revised-base control from that calculated value. The unexplained residual compares the current total with the revised base plus entered Activity, Factor and Boundary amounts. Keep both differences visible. A clean second bridge cannot repair an unexplained first bridge.
Supported amounts are zero or magnitudes from 1e-300 to 1e12 tCO2e; supplied totals and tolerance must be nonnegative. These are software input limits, not reporting rules.
Enter increases as positive amounts and decreases as negative amounts, all in tCO2e. Record evidence, a calculation reference, the sequence or interaction treatment, the responsible person and the review record for each line. Avoid recording the same change once as a base revision and again as a current-period driver.
Keep attribution with the person reviewing the evidence
The bucket names are organising labels chosen for this working aid. They do not establish causality or approve a historical restatement. The inventory team must decide whether a factor difference corrects an earlier estimate, represents the relevant year, or needs a different methodological treatment.
Where more than one input changed, explain the order used to calculate component effects in the separate supporting calculation. Different orders can allocate the interaction differently. The ledger accepts the supported amounts; it does not choose an order or invent an efficiency benefit to close the residual.
If an amount cannot be supported within this four-bucket record, keep the difference unexplained and investigate it in the underlying calculation. Do not force a methods or data issue into an unsuitable driver label. A reviewer may need a more detailed analysis before this summary can be used.
Read the fictional example as a reconciliation
The Fictional example starts with a reported base of 1,000 tCO2e, a revised-base control of 1,100 tCO2e and a current result of 1,215 tCO2e. Its invented components are +100 Base revision, +150 Activity, −40 Factor and +5 Boundary. Both bridge differences are zero; current less revised base is +115 tCO2e, approximately +10.45%. All source references and review evidence are invented. None is a client result or a default reporting input.
The percentage comparison uses the revised-base control as its denominator. A zero revised base makes that percentage not applicable; a ratio outside the supported range is also withheld. The signed difference remains a separate arithmetic fact. A zero residual, or a residual within the selected tolerance, establishes only the stated arithmetic relationship. It does not verify the evidence or demonstrate a real-world reduction.
Official references for separate method review
Use the applicable method and your documented decisions alongside the workbook. These source links provide background for that review; the ledger, four buckets and tolerance controls are original Nitium workflow choices.
Download and preserve the working contract
Keep General base formats and paste values only. Text fields accept text or formulas returning text, not numbers or logical results. Numeric/date fields accept numbers or numeric-result formulas, not text numbers, logical results or errors. Enter dates with =DATE(year,month,day) or numeric serials. Dates must be whole serials 1–2958465. Localised date entry or source-format pasting can undermine tested Calc type checks. Restore the original format before relying on results.
Capacity is 40 component records in rows 21–60. Enter an expected component count from 1 to 40, a population/totals reference and an explicit Confirmed population state. Arithmetic is withheld until the setup, row checks and count agree. Review and open-action status remain separate from that arithmetic gate. Use exact dropdown labels. Do not add rows, change the bucket scaffold or overwrite formula cells without redesigning and retesting the workbook. Blank means information has not been supplied; enter a supported numeric zero only when that is the intended amount.
Verify this rebuilt version in your intended spreadsheet application before relying on it. Fresh headless Calc recalculation and rendered-file checks passed for these exact rebuilt files; desktop scrolling and Microsoft Excel behavior have not been tested. The working and Fictional example sheets have no frozen rows and retain only the first two identity columns while scrolling horizontally. Preserve the original input formats and use the field guide when editing the working copy. For dates before March 1900, check the calendar rendering in your chosen application.
Keep the explanation connected to the inventory
Retain the calculation versions, approved historical-treatment decision and movement evidence with the explanation. Review the written claim separately from the arithmetic before it reaches a report or customer response.
Version 1.0.1. Prepared 7 October 2026. All examples are fictional. This optional working aid does not determine regulatory duties, establish compliance or provide independent assurance. AI-assisted preparation; no independent professional sign-off is claimed.
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