Calculating your company’s carbon footprint: do you need a consultant?

Calculating your company's carbon footprint sounds fairly straightforward.

Gather your data, calculate your emissions, and you've got your number.

But once you start looking into it, a few questions tend to come up.

Which emissions sources should you include? Where does the data come from? Can your team manage the process internally? And with AI and carbon accounting software becoming more accessible, do you still need expert support?

The answer depends on your business, your goals and the resources you already have.

Let's break it down.

What is a company’s carbon footprint?

A company's carbon footprint is a measure of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its activities, typically expressed in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e).

It helps businesses understand where emissions come from, identify opportunities for reduction, track year on year performance, and respond to requests for environmental information.

But calculating it isn't just about adding up energy bills or entering figures into a spreadsheet.

You need to decide what you're measuring, gather suitable data and apply a consistent calculation methodology.

That's where the process starts to become more interesting.

What are Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions?

One of the first things you'll encounter is the distinction between Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions.

These categories, established by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, help companies organise emissions according to their sources.

Scope 1 emissions

These come from sources that your company owns or controls.

Examples include fuel burned in company-operated boilers, certain company vehicles and refrigerant leaks from equipment.

Scope 2 emissions

Scope 2 covers indirect emissions associated with purchased electricity, steam, heating or cooling consumed by your business.

For many organisations, electricity use is an important starting point.

Scope 3 emissions

This is where things become significantly more complex.

Scope 3 includes emissions associated with purchased goods and services, business travel, employee commuting, waste and other activities across your value chain.

Depending on your business model, these emissions may represent a substantial share of your overall footprint.

And unlike your own electricity consumption, the information you need may sit with suppliers, partners or other third parties.

That's not always easy to collect.

Do you need to calculate all three scopes?

Not necessarily for every purpose, and not necessarily to the same level of detail.

The answer depends on why you're calculating your footprint.

Are you establishing a baseline for internal decision-making? Responding to a customer request? Preparing for a reporting requirement? Setting a climate target?

Different objectives can come with different expectations.

What matters is understanding which requirements apply to your business and clearly defining the boundaries of your assessment.

Before you start calculating, make sure you know why.

What data do you need?

That depends on the activities and emissions sources included in your assessment.

You might need information such as:

• Electricity and other energy consumption
• Fuel use and company vehicle activity
• Refrigerants and relevant equipment records
• Business travel and transport information
• Purchased goods and services
• Waste and other relevant value-chain activities

Some of this information may already be available through finance, operations or facilities teams.

Other data might require input from suppliers or colleagues across different departments.

And sometimes, the challenge isn't that the data doesn't exist. It's that nobody knows where to find it.

This is why carbon footprint calculations often involve more coordination than businesses initially expect.

Can you calculate your carbon footprint internally?

Yes. Many businesses can manage some or all of the process internally, particularly when they have the right expertise, resources and access to data.

But before deciding to take it on, it's worth asking a few questions.

Do you have the data?

Is the information available, reliable and sufficiently complete for the assessment you're planning? If data is not available, how are you going to fill the gaps? How will you estimate or model it?

Do you have the time?

Can your team coordinate data collection, carry out calculations and document the process alongside its existing responsibilities?

Do you have the expertise?

Does someone understand the relevant methodology, reporting boundaries, emissions factors and assumptions?

If the answer is yes to all three, you may be well positioned to manage the work internally.

If not, it doesn't necessarily mean outsourcing everything.

It may simply mean identifying where additional support would make the biggest difference.

Can software and AI do the job?

Technology can be extremely useful in carbon accounting.

Depending on the platform and its capabilities, software can help organise information, automate calculations, manage emissions factors and track changes over time.

AI-enabled tools may also assist with tasks such as processing documents, categorising information and identifying missing data.

But technology still needs appropriate inputs and oversight.

A platform cannot automatically guarantee that your organisational boundaries are correct, that every relevant emissions source has been identified or that the underlying information is reliable.

And while AI can help with parts of the process, its outputs still need to be checked.

The question isn't whether you should use technology or people. It's how to use both effectively.

For some companies, software and an experienced internal team may be enough.

For others, external expertise can help bridge gaps in knowledge, capacity or delivery.

When is external support useful?

There isn't one universal answer.

But external support may be useful when:

• You're calculating your company's footprint for the first time and aren't sure where to begin.
• Your data is spread across different departments or suppliers.
• Scope 3 emissions are proving difficult to assess.
• Your team understands sustainability but lacks the capacity to manage the entire process.
• You need help selecting and applying an appropriate methodology.
• You want to migrate your calculation from an internal spreadsheet to a carbon accounting platform
• You want to move beyond the calculation and use the results to inform next steps.

The level of support doesn't have to be the same for every business.

You might need guidance on a specific challenge, additional capacity for an existing team or someone to take a more active role in delivering the work.

The important thing is choosing support that fits the actual problem.

How Ecofiniti supports businesses

At Ecofiniti, we believe sustainability consulting should go beyond telling businesses what needs to be done.

We get involved and get it done.

When data is missing, we help find it. When a process doesn't exist, we help build it. And when a team is already stretched, we help take work off its plate.

For businesses with an internal sustainability team, that means working alongside the people already responsible for ESG.

For businesses without one, we can step in and take on that role.

Our approach is hands-on because the challenge isn't always knowing what needs to happen.

Sometimes, it's having the people and capacity to make it happen.

Explore Ecofiniti's carbon footprint services

Where should you start?

Before choosing a tool, hiring a consultant or building a spreadsheet, get clear on three things:

1. Your purpose. Why are you calculating your carbon footprint, and what will you use the results for?
2. Your starting point. What data, expertise and internal resources do you already have?
3. Your gaps. What is preventing you from completing the process confidently?

You may discover that your team can handle most of the work.

Or you may realise that getting the right support now could save time and help you build a more reliable foundation.

Either way, understanding what your business actually needs is the best place to begin.

Whether you're starting your first carbon footprint assessment or looking for additional support with an existing process, Ecofiniti can help you understand your options.

Book a call with Ecofiniti