Organisations are increasingly realising the importance of carbon accounting in order to reduce their climate impact. Companies need to be carbon-accountable to gain a competitive edge and benefit from profitable decarbonization by improving their own production processes and activities as well as taking into consideration external factors.

Carbon accounting software is an essential tool for businesses seeking to track and reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. With a professional and reliable carbon accounting software tool, businesses can identify opportunities for setting carbon reduction targets, measure progress and ultimately advance corporate sustainability. Carbon accounting software is the foundation of any company’s journey towards carbon neutrality and sustainability.

Net0 makes carbon accounting software a positive and engaging experience. What is more, Net0 helps large businesses, public companies and governments to put carbon accounting on autopilot, enabling sustainability teams to focus on carbon reductions and building and executing transformational strategies for the business.

If you want to see CO2 emissions diminish at your company, ensure that your company is doing what is best for the environment, comply with shifting government regulations, please eco-friendly consumers, and provide a transparent system of reporting, then using Net0's carbon accounting platform is the best solution.

In this article we will briefly cover the basics on carbon accounting and show you why Net0 is the best carbon accounting software for your business.

What is carbon accounting?

Carbon accounting is an important and complex process of measuring, managing and reporting carbon emissions to understand the carbon impact of a business. Calculating carbon footprints helps organisations visualise their carbon emissions, identify areas for improvement and set reduction goals. By tracking carbon footprints over time, organisations can measure the performance of their efforts to reduce GHG emissions.

Why do companies need to measure carbon emissions?

Carbon accounting provides the data necessary to understand and manage carbon footprints, which helps companies comply with carbon reduction regulations, develop carbon strategies, set carbon goals and increase corporate sustainability. By engaging in carbon accounting, businesses will not only be doing the right thing for the environment, but they will also gain a competitive advantage by being more carbon efficient. Carbon accounting is an integral part of any company's journey towards carbon neutrality and sustainability. It is the first step to taking responsibility for their greenhouse gas emissions produced and creating a low carbon future.

What are the different methods of carbon accounting?

There are two main carbon accounting methodologies: spent-based and activity-based.  

Spend-based carbon accounting is based on the assumption that all energy consumed by an organisation is carbon intensive. This approach is easier to calculate but does not provide a reliable estimate of a company's GHG emissions.

Activity-based carbon accounting is based on the assumption that all activities conducted by a company are of different carbon intensity. This approach is more accurate and can provide a reliable estimate of the company's GHG emissions. Activity-based carbon accounting takes into consideration all the different activities a company conducts, such as production, transportation, consumption and waste management. This approach is more time-consuming but it provides an accurate estimate of a corporate carbon footprint.

What is included in greenhouse gas accounting?

Greenhouse gas accounting should include all scopes of emissions and cover the entire life cycle of activities, products, services and processes. This includes direct emissions (scope 1; e.g energy consumption or fuel combustion), indirect emissions from electricity consumption (scope 2), supply network emissions (scope 3 emissions include other indirect emissions from vendors) and even avoided emissions, such as those from renewable energy sources (scope 4).

The GHG Protocol and carbon accounting

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is a standardised method for measuring and reporting emissions from businesses, organisations, cities and countries. It was developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The protocol provides guidance on how to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions from different sources using consistent metrics.

Is carbon accounting hard?

Carbon accounting can be complex and time-consuming, depending on the size of a company, its activities, the complexity of the corporate value chain and many other factors. But with the right tools in place, it can be made easier.

Net0's carbon accounting platform is designed to make carbon accounting simple and efficient for organisations of any size. We offer an integrated suite of features to help you track, manage and report emissions in real time. Our platform also provides guidance on most efficient and effective practices and actionable insights to help you reduce your carbon footprint. With our comprehensive solution, measuring and managing greenhouse gas emissions has never been easier.

By accurately tracking carbon footprints, businesses can identify areas for improvement, set reduction goals and build a plan for achieving carbon neutrality.

Why do businesses need carbon accounting software to measure GHG emissions?

Software tools have become increasingly essential for businesses to effectively measure greenhouse gas emissions. Measuring and reporting greenhouse gases manually can be time-consuming, inefficient and inaccurate. Software tools enable businesses to quickly and accurately track their carbon footprint, identify areas of improvement and make informed decisions about carbon reduction strategies.  

At Net0, we understand the importance of carbon accounting and have developed a comprehensive platform to make measuring greenhouse gas emissions easier than ever. With our software, businesses can easily track, manage and report their greenhouse gas emissions in real time, accurately and efficiently. Our platform also offers guidance on best practices, actionable insights and tools to help you reduce emissions quickly and effectively.  

12 reasons Net0s is the best carbon accounting software

Now that we have discussed that every business needs to measure carbon emissions, Net0 stands out as the best carbon accounting software for many reasons. Here are 11 of the most important features that make Net0 an ideal carbon accounting software:

1. Easy to use, interactive dashboard

The Net0 dashboard is designed with simplicity and usability in mind. With a clean and intuitive interface, users can easily navigate and access all the features and tools within the platform. The dashboard provides an overview of a company's carbon emissions, allowing users to monitor and track their progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, the Net0 dashboard offers a range of customisation options, allowing users to tailor the platform to their specific needs and preferences. With customisable reports and data visualisations, users can easily access and understand the information they need to make informed decisions about reducing their greenhouse gas footprint. Overall, the Net0 dashboard is a user-friendly and straightforward tool that helps businesses effectively measure, reduce, and disclose their carbon dioxide footprint.

Your home screen's dashboard will show you your emissions (in kgs and percentages), offset carbon footprint, vendor-specific emissions, as well notifications to encourage you on your net zero journey. Having the company's carbon footprint in one easy-to-access place is not only more efficient, but it also allows team members to see where they can take action.

2. Automated data capture

Artificial intelligence can be used to automate the process of capturing and processing carbon footprint data, helping businesses to accurately measure and record their emissions in a carbon management platform. That's why Net0 features fully automated emission calculations using 50,000+ emissions factors. This can be especially beneficial for large businesses, which often generate significant amounts of emissions data that would be difficult and time-consuming to process manually.

Net0 uses AI to capture and process data from invoices and utility bills, allowing businesses to automatically track their carbon emissions over time. By using AI to automate this process, Net0 helps businesses to accurately measure their greenhouse gas emissions, ensure the data quality and identify areas where they can make changes to reduce their carbon footprint. Achieving sustainability goals and getting to net zero emissions relies heavily on effective carbon accounting and management.

3. Effective calculation of greenhouse gas emissions

With Net0 carbon accounting software, sustainability team members can either automate data capture (as mentioned above) or manually add emission data. This allows businesses to track their emissions from various sources, including their business and manufacturing sites, vehicles, and business travel.

Thanks to Net0, team members no longer have to remember the fine details of their business activities' data collection is streamlined and centralised. By simply following the Net0 system and taking note of the data gaps identified by Net0, sustainability teams can rest assured that their profile is complete and accurate, ready to be analysed in real time.

Calculations are done automatically with Net0, enabling businesses to accurately and quickly determine their carbon emission levels, without having to manually convert units or use multiple software systems. This helps businesses to streamline their processes, allowing them to focus on other aspects of their sustainability efforts.

4. External collaborative features with vendors

Net0 allows sustainability managers to invite supply chain vendors to join the platform. This allows businesses to collaborate and share emissions data with their stakeholders, providing a comprehensive view of their carbon footprint.

By inviting supply chain vendors and by understanding the emissions of their suppliers, businesses can gain a more accurate and comprehensive view of their own carbon footprint, and identify opportunities for reducing emissions throughout their value chain.

Also, understanding the emissions of their suppliers can help businesses to make more informed decisions about their supply chain and procurement processes. By choosing suppliers with lower carbon emissions, businesses can reduce their own carbon footprint and support the transition to a low-carbon economy. This can help businesses to meet their sustainability goals and improve their environmental performance.

Last, but not least, by understanding the emissions of their suppliers, businesses can identify potential risks and vulnerabilities, and take action to address them. This can help businesses to protect their reputation and avoid potential liabilities associated with their carbon emissions.

Overall, understanding the carbon emissions of their suppliers is essential for businesses that are committed to sustainability and reducing their environmental impact and Net0 makes the whole process of communicating and measuring the scope 3 emissions caused by vendors simple and truly effective.

5. Collaborative features with internal teams

Net0 makes it easy for sustainability managers to add and manage team members. Assigning various tasks to the different members of your team ensures that work is completed more effectively.

If everyone pitches in with the carbon accounting, it'll become part of the business' day-to-day instead of one employee managing all of it. This empowers teams to see the contributions they are making and what the carbon footprint of the company really looks like.

Recommended content

To find out more information about how carbon management software can change your company for the better, we recommend the following from our free library of resources:

• Article: What is carbon accounting?
• Article: What Is a Carbon Offset and Why Do Companies Need It to Achieve Net Zero Carbon Emissions?
• Article: Carbon Credits: Everything You Need to Know
• Article: Carbon Accounting Methodologies for Measuring Emissions
• Article: How Are Carbon Emissions Measured?‍

6. Thorough analytics and reporting

Net0 provides the necessary analytics and reporting that businesses need to understand their progress towards their sustainability goals. The platform provides a comprehensive range of analytics and reporting options, allowing businesses to track and measure their GHG emissions over time. This helps businesses to identify carbon reduction trends as well as to benchmark their emissions against the industry average data of their peers, enabling them to compare and contrast the emissions performance of different companies.

At Net0, we offer businesses the ability to tailor their reports to specific requirements, including mandatory GHG reporting standards.

7. Smart carbon reduction simulator

Net0 provides multiple powerful tools that help sustainability managers and ESG directors develop, test, and execute effective carbon reduction strategies.

Net0's carbon simulator helps businesses identify opportunities for reducing their emissions and make more informed decisions about how to do so. Additionally, carbon simulators provide businesses with valuable insights into the potential costs and benefits of different carbon reduction strategies, allowing them to make more effective and efficient decisions about how to reduce their environmental impact.

8. Marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) tool

The MAC curve tool empowers companies to make carbon reduction decisions based on profitable decarbonisation methods that guide them in strategizing for short and long-term viable solutions. This tells businesses what carbon reduction actions they can make now to increase profitability in their company or what would not be a cost-effective solution at the moment so they can choose or alternative or make future plans. In this way, companies can build net zero strategies using AI to their advantage

9. Certified offsetting projects

Net0 provides its customers with over 140 verified carbon offsets projects to choose from. Net0 always strives to reduce its carbon footprint first and foremost (as science based targets initiative requires), but realises that sometimes achieving this is impossible. In these cases, Net0 will utilize carbon offsets as a stop-gap measure until more sustainable practices can be put into place. Purchasing carbon credits is done with a few clicks on the platform.

Examples of offset programs include:

• Forestry

• Biochar

• Mineralization

• Bio-oil

• Oceans

• Renewable energy (hydro and wind)

• Boreholes

• Cookstoves

• REDD+

• Blue carbon

• Soils 

• Landfill methane capture

• Transportation

• Livestock

• Industrial process emissions 
  
  

All programs are certified by one or more of the following: 

• American Carbon Registry (ACR)

• European Biochar Certificate (EBC) 

• Verified Carbon Standard (VCS)

• Gold Standard

• Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (CCB) 

• Climate Action Reserve (CAR)

• California Air Resources Board (CARB)

• BCarbon

• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
  
  

Since all of our partners are trusted and certified, you will know that your carbon credits are going to a reliable, world-changing project. This removes the hurdle of finding agents that pair you with programs, moreover you can do the offsets in the same dashboard so all of your carbon accounting information is in the same place and you never need tools outside of Net0.

The total offsets vs. emissions will also be shown in your main dashboard screen.

10. Instant certificates to display

When it comes to communicating their efforts to become net zero and promoting transparency, businesses need all the help they can get. Net0 certificates provide that help by giving businesses a way to instantly produce certificates that show their progress towards carbon neutrality.

Not only do these certificates make it easy for businesses to showcase their achievements, but they also help to build trust with consumers and investors. By providing detailed information about a company's carbon footprint, Net0 certificates allow interested parties to see the concrete steps a business is taking to reduce its environmental impact.

This level of transparency is essential for building a sustainable future, and Net0 is proud to be playing a role in making it happen.

11. API access for developers

Net0 provides API access to developers, making it easy for them to integrate our carbon accounting capabilities into their own systems. This helps businesses to easily keep track of their emissions and take action to reduce them.

Net0 API also makes it easy for businesses to comply with regulations surrounding carbon accounting and reporting. By providing a simple, efficient way to track emissions, the Net0 API helps businesses stay ahead of the curve and stay compliant with any relevant regulations.

12. Various system integrations available

Net0 provides a variety of system integrations, making it easy for businesses to connect their ERP, CRM, and other systems with our carbon accounting capabilities.

Net0 offers AI-powered data retrieval via Net0's 10,000+ integrations, making it easy for businesses to connect with our carbon accounting capabilities. With these integrations, businesses can easily keep track of their emissions and take action to reduce them.

Final thoughts

Carbon accounting provides data that enables organisations to make informed decisions about how to reduce carbon emissions. It's an invaluable tool for businesses who wish to become carbon-neutral or carbon-positive.

The aim of Net0 is to make carbon accounting more efficient and easier so that businesses can get quick, accurate measurements. By collecting GHG emissions data in real-time, Net0 enables large businesses, public companies and governments to continuously identify opportunities to reduce emissions and take actionable steps towards a net zero future.

It's time to act

Are you a sustainability manager looking to effectively manage your GHG emissions? Look no further than Net0!

Our comprehensive carbon management platform helps you track, monitor, and reduce your carbon emissions, making it easy to meet your sustainability goals.

With Net0, you'll have access to powerful tools and features that allow you to accurately measure and understand your carbon footprint, identify areas for improvement, and implement effective strategies for reducing your emissions. Plus, our user-friendly interface and expert support team make it easy to get started and stay on track.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to take control of your carbon emissions and book a call today!