Using Carbon Verify for client work

Use the same Carbon Verify application for an organisation you advise as you would for your own business. The important difference is agreeing who supplies the information, who reviews it and who approves the final report.

This guide is for advisers, consultants, bid writers and accountants. It describes the practical workflow, not an assurance service or a separate licence tier. Confirm your access arrangements against the current terms and purchased activation allowance; contact Carbon Verify if commercial client-use permission needs clarification.

1. Agree the job and collect the information

Start with the reporting organisation, reporting period, reason for the work and expected deliverables. Agree who will answer questions about missing records, who will review the figures and who is authorised to approve the final report.

Use the existing carbon footprint data checklist and Scopes 1, 2 and 3 guide. The Standard CRP Excel template and CSV template help organise activity information. Additional hotel and water-supply rows are only in the Extended footprint template. Carbon Verify also includes a commuting survey for the selected reporting period. You do not need a second collection process just because you are helping a client.

Ask for the original supporting records and retain them securely. Agree sensible reference names, such as Electricity-Site-A-Jan-2026, so someone else can follow the trail. Avoid putting unnecessary personal information into notes or evidence references.

2. Create the client’s own project

Save the current project, select New project and begin with an empty workspace. Add the client’s organisation and period before entering activities. Choose the appropriate reporting purpose and confirm the boundary with the client rather than assuming that a previous organisation’s settings apply.

Save an early .carbonverify project file in that client’s folder. Keep a separate folder and separate files for each organisation. Do not create a new client by renaming an old project.

3. Prepare and review the figures

Enter the activities, units and classifications, then record evidence references, assumptions and data-quality notes. Use factors appropriate to the activities and reporting period. Missing information needs resolving or explaining as an estimate. It does not mean zero emissions.

Start with Standard CRP · PPN 006 when the client needs that defined subset. Its optional other-fuel, gas-release and purchased-energy panels remain in Standard. Shared-load freight uses the client's shipment weight and distance, with category 4 for transport they buy and category 9 for after-sale distribution they do not pay for. Turn on Extended footprint only for wider supported coverage. Both modes include saved projects, the Evidence Pack and personalised documents. A 15-category assessment records relevance and coverage; it does not calculate those emissions by itself.

Use A figure from a supplier or separate calculation where a suitable calculation already covers a source not entered elsewhere. Check the gross emissions, choose the report's exact kgCO₂e or tCO₂e unit, and check the exact reporting dates, source, method, evidence, included activities and matching client boundary before confirming no overlap. Standard accepts Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 categories 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9; other categories are active only in Extended. The app records the supplied calculation method rather than applying another factor. It does not inspect the underlying calculation or give an assurance opinion. Retain it in the client's evidence folder and follow the separate-figure checklist.

In Extended, the guided purchases route for supported separately billed legal, accountancy and IT consultancy services selects the documented industry-average factor and applies the available ONS price adjustment. Check the client's invoice classification, cost excluding VAT and spending period; review the combined legal/accounting price-index proxy and any provisional data or even-spend assumption. It is a limited screening estimate, not supplier-specific measurement or complete Scope 3 coverage. Mixed bills, capital assets and unsupported price periods need a separate resolution; do not turn a pending record into zero. The advanced own-factor route requires suitable source and price-basis documentation and has no automatic currency or inflation adjustment. See the purchases methodology and limitations.

Work through Carbon Verify’s existing review and readiness checks. Ask the client to confirm the boundary, source completeness, estimates, targets and proposed measures. Use the Evidence Pack to review the calculation record. A completed screen is not proof that every source document is correct.

If you are preparing a Carbon Reduction Plan, use the existing worked example and publication checklist. Check the actual buyer requirements where procurement is the reason; software preparation does not promise tender acceptance.

4. Obtain genuine client approval

Use stage 6, Reduction plan, for the client's targets, measures and genuine approval; it is not a document-generation section. All document controls are in stage 7, Check & download. Open Need a draft for review? for draft preview or draft Word for the client's chosen purpose. It remains clearly marked as a working draft, with outstanding checks, without claiming management approval or complete conformity. Give the client that draft and the questions that need a decision. Return to record the real approver’s name, role and approval only after the required review has taken place. Do not mark a report approved simply because you have finished preparing it.

Keep the organisation’s management approval distinct from your preparation work. If underlying information changes, revisit the review and approval before issuing revised documents. A preparer credit is not an assurance opinion.

5. Deliver the agreed documents

Use a plain document or apply the client’s optional branding. Add an adviser credit only if wanted and agreed. Inspect the generated Word or HTML output for the correct client, period, figures, status and page layout.

Send the agreed final report or plan. Share the Evidence Pack, editable project file or original supporting material only where that is part of the handover and suitable for the recipient. See preparing branded, editable documents for a file-by-file checklist.

The CRP and Evidence Pack are the main document options. The separate Carbon Footprint Statement is optional, available in a closed explainer if the client wants that concise self-declared summary. It has its own internal sign-off and does not replace the declaration or management approval within the CRP.

If the client requests a figures change in Word, update the app and regenerate the document. Changes made in Word do not update the Carbon Verify project.

6. Retain the working file

Save a dated project file matching the issued work, alongside the issued documents and separately retained evidence. Agree who holds the current editable copy and how long working records will be kept under your own arrangements. Do not assume that Carbon Verify stores an online copy for you.

Sharing a project is a file handover, not live collaboration. It does not grant access to paid features, transfer a licence or create a client login.

A fictional example: two clients, two separate files

Willow Advisory helps two fictional businesses. Harbour Joinery reports for 1 April 2025–31 March 2026, with workshop gas, electricity and van-fuel records. Juniper Design reports for 1 July 2025–30 June 2026, with office electricity, business travel and staff-commuting information. These completed periods fit this edition. The examples explain the workflow, not example footprints or compliance conclusions.

1. Willow creates Harbour Joinery as an empty project, records its evidence references and prepares a draft. Harbour’s operations director still needs to approve it, so the adviser leaves it unapproved and saves the project file.
2. The adviser selects New project for Juniper Design. Harbour’s records, draft approval state and workshop logo do not belong in Juniper’s project. Juniper has its own references, a different reporting period and plain document presentation.
3. Juniper’s authorised director reviews the report and gives approval. Willow records that actual approval, checks the documents and retains a dated working file with the issued outputs.
4. When Harbour responds, Willow first saves Juniper’s latest project, then opens the saved Harbour file. The adviser checks Harbour’s name, period and still-unapproved status before making the requested changes.

The safe habit is to check the active organisation before entering data and again before every export. Do not use simultaneous tabs in the same browser profile as separate client workspaces.

Where responsibility sits

• The software calculates from the supplied information and prepares structured outputs. It does not inspect the original evidence or independently verify a footprint. Carbon Verify remains responsible for its software and service in accordance with applicable legal obligations; client review does not transfer responsibility for software defects.
• The adviser is responsible for the professional work agreed with the client, including appropriate review and clear explanations of scope and limitations.
• The reporting organisation remains responsible for its information, declarations and genuine management approval.
• Independent assurance is a separate engagement with its own scope and evidence requirements. A white-label report or adviser logo does not supply it.