01 FAQ
Standards & straight answers
Carbon accounting standards, and every other question before you sign up
Which carbon accounting standards matter?
The GHG Protocol is the measurement standard nearly everything builds on: the Corporate Standard defines
Scopes 1 and 2, the Corporate Value Chain Standard defines Scope 3. Disclosure regimes sit on top:
CSRD's ESRS E1 in the EU, ISSB's IFRS S2 internationally, CBAM for EU imports, and SB 253 in California.
02 Standards
GHG accounting standards
The standards, in one honest table
| Standard | What it is | Who it binds |
|---|---|---|
| GHG Protocol | The measurement rulebook: scopes, the 15 Scope 3 categories, methods. Voluntary itself, but referenced by nearly every regulation. | Everyone, indirectly |
| CSRD / ESRS E1 | The EU's sustainability reporting directive; E1 is the climate standard requiring Scope 1, 2 and material Scope 3 with methods and targets. | Large EU companies and listed SMEs, phased |
| ISSB / IFRS S2 | The international climate disclosure baseline, adopted jurisdiction by jurisdiction; requires Scope 3 with category breakdown. | Companies in adopting jurisdictions |
| CBAM | The EU carbon border mechanism: embedded emissions reporting on imported steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen, electricity; certificates from 2026. | EU importers of covered goods |
| California SB 253 / 261 | Emissions disclosure (253) and climate-risk reporting (261) for large companies doing business in California, phased with assurance. | Companies above revenue thresholds in CA |
Regulatory summaries above are category facts, current as of mid-2026; thresholds and phase-ins move. Verify your entity's obligations with your advisor.
03 Straight answers
The pre-signup objections
Honest answers to the questions that matter
01 Can I see it work before I buy?
Yes. The demo runs the real classification pass on your own spend lines, ungated and before any card step, so you judge the output first and pick a plan after.
02 Is the demo's number audit-grade?
No. It is a spend-based screening estimate: right for finding hotspots and scoping a real inventory, not for filing an assured disclosure. The full product adds activity-based factors and the audit trail that assurance needs. That difference is exactly what the product exists to manage.
03 What standards does it follow?
The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard for the boundary and the 15 categories; outputs are structured for CSRD ESRS E1, CBAM and ISSB IFRS S2 report packs.
04 How does data get in? Does it connect to my ERP, accounting software or bank?
You upload a CSV or XLSX export, or paste the lines: the accounts-payable or GL export from QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite or any ERP, plus utility and fuel-card exports. Column mapping is remembered per source, and the same batch uploaded twice is caught before it doubles your totals. Supplier figures arrive through a private request link that your supplier fills in. CarbonAccounting.ai never connects to your ERP, accounting software, bank or utility accounts and never asks for their logins. Results leave as CSV and XLSX exports and report packs.
05 Do I have to replace my consultant?
No. Consultants use it to drop the data-wrangling hours and keep the advisory margin; one account holds a workspace per client, each on the plan that client needs. The honest division of labour is written up in services vs software.
06 Where does my data go? Is it safe?
Demo input is processed to classify it and returned to you; it is not stored, not sold, and not used to train anything. The paste box is capped and rate-limited. In the product, everything moves over HTTPS, the ledger exports to CSV and XLSX at any time, and an assurance provider gets a read-only seat. We hold no SOC 2 attestation and no ISO 27001 certificate today, and we will not imply otherwise.
07 What does it cost?
Pricing is published on the pricing page: Ledger $390/mo, Compliance $1,290/mo, Assurance $3,900/mo, with yearly billing at 50% off. Every plan is a subscription and there is no free tier; the demo is the free taste.
08 What happens after I give you my email?
You confirm it with a 6-digit code and land in your account, where you choose a plan. Your workspace opens once the plan is paid; there is no card step before that.
09 Who is behind this?
CarbonAccounting.ai is built by CarbonAccounting (CarbonAccounting.pl). That line is the only trust badge on this site, because it is the only one that is true. No invented logos, no invented testimonials, no invented user counts.
See your own footprint classified in about a minute.
Run the live demo on a sample or on your own spend lines, then create your account and start your inventory.