Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon footprint: a first-inventory checklist
Updated: Oct 6
A first corporate carbon inventory starts with a clear list of operations and records. Before choosing a calculator, agree which entities, sites and activities the inventory will cover, which period it represents and who will approve the result. Those decisions determine which data to collect and whether the final numbers answer the original business question.
This checklist is for an Indian business preparing its first Scope 1 and Scope 2 inventory or improving an existing calculation. It provides a working structure for data collection. Additional work is needed for relevant Scope 3 emissions, sector-specific sources and any reporting programme requirements.
Write the inventory brief before requesting data
Keep the opening brief to one page. Record the reporting entity, intended use, start and end dates, site list, reporting currency where relevant to intensity measures, responsible manager and planned review date. State whether the request concerns a corporate inventory, a particular facility or a product. A corporate footprint should not be presented as a product footprint.
The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard permits an equity-share approach or a control approach, with control defined financially or operationally. Document the chosen approach and apply it consistently. Ownership percentages alone may not settle the treatment of a joint venture or leased operation.
Create a separate line for each boundary question. For example: “Shared warehouse: confirm control, lease terms and meter coverage with finance and operations.” Resolve the question before finalising the inventory, rather than leaving an unexplained exclusion in the workbook.
Build a source list that reaches beyond electricity bills
Within the selected boundary, check the following possible sources:
Stationary fuel: generators, boilers, furnaces and other combustion equipment, with fuel type, quantity and consumption records
Mobile fuel: relevant company vehicles and mobile equipment, with fuel cards, logbooks or other source records
Refrigerants: equipment inventories, gas types, service records, additions and recoveries needed for the selected calculation method
Process emissions: production activities that may emit greenhouse gases independently of fuel combustion, with a technical owner to assess them
Purchased energy: electricity, steam, heat and cooling, with account numbers, meters, units and periods
Direct emissions within the organisational boundary are Scope 1; emissions from generating purchased or acquired energy consumed by the company are Scope 2. Source classification follows the boundary and applicable accounting guidance. The Corporate Standard overview and Scope 2 Guidance explain that accounting foundation.
Ask a site manager to compare the list against actual equipment and operations. A workbook assembled only from finance ledger headings can miss a refrigerant source or combine purchased fuel with quantities held in stock.
Use one reusable activity-data record
For each source and month, record:
Entity, site and source identifier
Activity description and proposed scope
Period start and end dates
Quantity and original unit
Source document, account or meter reference
Any conversion, allocation or estimate and its rationale
Data owner and reviewer
Status: received, queried, estimated or approved
Keep original units alongside converted units. This makes a litres-to-energy conversion or a kilograms-to-tonnes change visible. Check bill periods that cross the inventory year, duplicate invoices, missing months and shared meters. A payment date is not necessarily the consumption period.
Agree how a missing record will be handled. Document a justified estimate if the relevant method permits one, retain its basis and flag it for improvement. Do not enter zero simply to make a spreadsheet complete. For a detailed source-to-report trail, see our BRSR evidence-file guide.
Keep emission factors separate from activity data
Use a factor register rather than hard-coding an unexplained number into each formula. Record the publisher, document version, year, geography, source or fuel type, units, gases covered and reason for selection. Where individual gases need conversion to carbon dioxide equivalent, record the global warming potential basis used.
Check dimensional consistency before accepting a result. A factor expressed per kilowatt-hour cannot be multiplied directly by a quantity recorded in megawatt-hours without conversion. An electricity factor from a different geography or period also needs evaluation, even if the arithmetic works.
A hypothetical calculation
This is an arithmetic demonstration, not a Nitium client result or an emission factor for use in an Indian inventory.
Suppose a site's purchased electricity is 240,000 kWh and an illustrative factor is 0.50 kg CO2e per kWh. The result is 120,000 kg CO2e, or 120 tonnes CO2e. The conversion from kilograms to tonnes divides by 1,000.
That result covers only the electricity line described. It does not establish the site's full footprint, prove a reduction or account for other sources. A real calculation must use an appropriate, documented factor and the applicable reporting method.
Check the Scope 2 method and energy claims
The 2015 Scope 2 Guidance distinguishes location-based and market-based accounting. Companies with operations in markets providing the relevant contractual instruments must report both methods under its requirements. Instruments used for market-based accounting must meet the specified quality criteria.
Keep meter consumption, electricity contracts and energy-attribute documentation separately identifiable. Ask who owns and retires any attributes and which consumption they cover. A renewable-energy label on a contract is not enough to justify a particular emissions result. Check the standard version and programme requirements applicable to the reporting period before making a claim.
Define the handover you need
A useful first-inventory handover includes the boundary note, source list, activity-data file, factor register, calculation workbook, results by scope and method, and unresolved gaps. Ask a reviewer to reproduce selected calculations and investigate unexpected changes across sites or months.
Nitium's carbon footprint analysis service supports inventories and supporting documentation within an agreed scope. Discuss your inventory with the reporting period, site list and available energy records. Nitium provides inventory preparation and readiness support. Any independent verification or assurance must be commissioned from a suitable independent provider.
Reviewed 3 October 2026. This practical checklist is not a complete accounting standard or a determination of legal reporting obligations.
Prepare your activity data and factor register
Use the editable workbook to bring activity quantities, evidence references and emission-factor documentation into one reviewable file. It contains 100 activity rows, a 50-row user-supplied factor register, instructions and a field-level data dictionary. The separate teaching sheets contain only fictional data and invented factors.
Enter your entity, reporting period and boundary-decision reference first. Record each source or consumption component with its activity quantity, unit, dates and supporting evidence. If you convert a source quantity, retain the original value, original unit and documented conversion basis in the method field.
Choose a factor outside the workbook using the applicable method and source evidence. Document its publisher, version, geography, validity period, denominator unit, gases, GWP basis, source locator and selection review. Factors must already be expressed in kilograms of CO2e per the stated activity unit. The workbook supplies no default emission factors and makes no automatic suitability decision. Unit symbols must match exactly, including case: MJ and mJ have different magnitudes. The workbook performs no activity-unit conversion.
Once the entered documentation, unit, period and recorded review checks are satisfied, the workbook multiplies activity quantity by the factor and divides kilograms by 1,000 to show tonnes. Missing or invalid prerequisites leave the numeric result blank and display the first issue to resolve. Numeric zero remains distinct from unavailable data.
The summary separates Scope 1, Scope 2 location-based, Scope 2 market-based and any documented Scope 3 activity entries. It shows calculated and uncalculated row counts. The two Scope 2 methods must not be added together. Totals cover only the calculated rows entered in the file; they do not establish a complete inventory.
A fictional arithmetic example
A fictional fuel quantity of 100 litres multiplied by an invented teaching factor of 2 kg CO2e/litre produces 200 kg CO2e, or 0.2 t CO2e. A missing-quantity example produces no numeric emissions result. These figures demonstrate spreadsheet behaviour and must not be used as real factors or inventory evidence.
Limitations and data control
This working aid supports data preparation and factor-based arithmetic. It does not perform gas-by-gas GWP conversion, direct-measurement or mass-balance methods, offsets, removals, avoided-emissions accounting or a full product footprint. Boundary decisions, factor suitability, overlapping records and method-specific requirements need a documented review. Scope 2 contractual quality requirements cannot be checked by a spreadsheet formula. There are no macros, external data connections or automatic transmissions.
Workbook prepared 5 October 2026. Method sources: GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, chapters 3–4, 6–7 and 9; Scope 2 Guidance (2015), chapters 6–7. The current GHG Protocol page describes a consultation on the 2015 guidance. This workbook does not treat consultation material as an adopted replacement. BIPM SI prefixes distinguish M (mega, 10^6) and m (milli, 10^-3).
Discuss an inventory brief, activity-data gaps and calculation documentation through Nitium’s carbon-inventory support or discuss your project.
Try the emissions arithmetic calculator for one activity line, using your own documented factor and compatible units.
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