Carbon Close Bundle

Run carbon like finance: monthly ingestion, QA, anomaly review, exceptions, sign-off, and a published dashboard.

Carbon BasicsBundleBundle1 week to 90 days

Disclaimer: Educational only. Align controls and approvals with your organization's reporting requirements and any assurance plans.

Outcome

By the end of this bundle you will:

Implement a monthly Carbon Close cadence (roles, tracker, checklist)
Standardize QA and anomaly review across key datasets
Maintain an exceptions log that closes issues (not just tracks them)
Publish a monthly KPI scoreboard leaders can act on
Reduce restatements and improve audit readiness over time

Who this is for

•Sustainability owners — responsible for reporting credibility
•Finance/risk reviewers — responsible for controls and sign-off discipline
•Ops/procurement data stewards — feeding utilities, refrigerants, invoices, and suppliers
•Leaders — who want a single "are we ready?" view

Time to implement

1 week

Run Carbon Close for one dataset (Scope 2 recommended)

30 days

Expand to Scope 1 and priority Scope 3 datasets

90 days

Stabilize cadence and trend down exceptions and anomalies

What you'll need

Minimum:

•A boundary statement (what sites/entities are in scope)
•Evidence storage rules (bills, exports, invoices, service records, supplier responses)
•Named owners for each dataset (primary + backup)
•A monthly close date and a sign-off deadline

Recommended:

•A methods note template (how factors and boundaries are applied)
•A place to publish monthly outputs (dashboard + locked dataset links)

Step-by-step sequence

1Assign roles and choose a cadence

Minimum roles:

Close Owner (Sustainability): runs the close, owns tracker and exceptions
Finance Reviewer: sanity checks material changes and approves restatements
Data Stewards: own each dataset's ingestion and evidence discipline

Cadence recommendation: Close on a consistent schedule (e.g., 10th business day of each month)

2Start with one dataset (Scope 2 is the best first close)

Why Scope 2 first:

• data is frequent (monthly)
• evidence is straightforward (bills/exports)
• QA patterns are predictable (overlaps, missing months, spikes)

Run the close end-to-end:

1) ingest
2) QA checks
3) anomaly review
4) exception triage
5) sign-off
6) publish

3Apply QA and anomaly detection as a standard gate

Before numbers are "real," require:

• structural QA (no duplicates/overlaps; required fields present)
• anomaly review (MoM/YoY flags, spikes/drops)
• evidence links validated

If QA fails: fix the source, or label as proxy with documented limitation.

4Triage exceptions (fix/accept/proxy/defer)

Every issue becomes one of:

Fix now

data correction available this cycle

it's real and explained

Proxy

cannot fix now; label and improve later

Defer

assign owner + due date (review weekly)

Beginner rule: If there's no owner and due date, it's not an exceptions log—it's a graveyard.

5Reconcile and lock the dataset (versioning)

Lock a dataset version each month:

• create a version label (e.g., )
• store a link to the locked file/table
• record sign-off

If later changes occur: use the change log (do not silently overwrite).

6Publish the KPI scoreboard (make it actionable)

Publish a monthly view that answers:

• Are we complete?
• Are we clean?
• Are we improving?
• Where are the biggest risks?

Minimum KPIs:

• coverage %
• evidence completeness %
• open exceptions >30 days
• restatements count

7Expand scope gradually (Scope 1 then Scope 3)

Add datasets in this order (recommended):

1)Scope 2 (utilities)
2)Scope 1 refrigerants/fuels (high materiality in some portfolios)
3)Scope 3 screening/engagement (start with priority categories)

Included assets

Tools (supporting calculations and coverage)

Scope 2 Emissions Calculator Refrigerant Leak CO2e Estimator Supplier Engagement Coverage Tracker(if running supplier program)Renewable Matching Coverage Calculator(if making claims)

Core resources (how-to)

Carbon Close Playbook Data QA and Anomaly Detection Playbook Portfolio KPI Dashboard Spec Utility Account Access and Inventory Playbook Vendor Master Data and Spend Mapping Kit Scope 3 Assurance Prep Kit

Templates (copy/paste)

• Carbon Close month plan
• Carbon Close tracker
• Exceptions log
• Sign-off sheet
• Change log
• Monthly close agenda

↓ See templates section below

Templates (copy/paste)

1) Carbon Close Month Plan

Carbon Close Month Plan

Period:
Datasets in scope:
Close Owner:
Finance Reviewer:
Dataset stewards:

Close meeting date:
Sign-off deadline:
Publish date:

Top risks this month:
- 1)
- 2)
- 3)

Links:
- Ingestion folder:
- Exceptions log:
- Locked dataset versions:
- KPI dashboard:

2) Carbon Close Tracker (simple)

Period	Datasets in scope	Ingestion complete?	QA complete?	Anomaly review complete?	Exceptions open (#)	Sign-off complete?	Version	Publish link	Notes
—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

3) Exceptions Log

Date	Dataset	Identifier	Period	Issue	Severity	Decision	Owner	Due date	Status	Notes/Evidence
—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

4) Sign-off Sheet

Carbon Close Sign-off

Period:
Datasets included:
Known limitations:
Open exceptions summary:

Prepared by:
Reviewed by:
Approved by:
Date:

Locked dataset links:
- Scope 2:
- Scope 1:
- Scope 3:

5) Change Log (no silent restatements)

Date	Dataset	Period impacted	Change type	What changed	Why	Approved by	Evidence link
—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

6) Monthly Close Agenda (30 minutes)

Carbon Close Meeting (30 min)

1) Completion status by dataset (5 min)
2) High-severity anomalies and explanations (10 min)
3) Exceptions >30 days (10 min)
4) Sign-off + version lock confirmation (5 min)

Outputs:
- Tracker updated to "Complete"
- Exceptions owners + due dates confirmed
- Sign-off captured
- Publish link shared

Proof and KPIs

•Carbon Close completed on time (Y/N)
•Evidence link completeness % (target ≥95%)
•Open exceptions >30 days (trend down)
•Restatements per quarter (trend down)
•Coverage % by measured/allocated/proxy (proxy should trend down)

Common pitfalls

•Trying to close everything immediately (start small)
•No owners → exceptions never close
•Evidence scattered in email threads (breaks auditability)
•Changing methods without a change log (trust collapses)
•Publishing dashboards without QA (becomes noise)

Next bundles to run

Scope 2 Data to Claims Bundle

If you're making external statements

Available →

Supplier Engagement Bundle

If you're scaling Scope 3 quality

Coming soon

Metering ROI Bundle

If measurement upgrades are next

Coming soon

Change log

v1.0 (2026-01): Latest release