Overview
This article covers the end-to-end journey of a GHG assessment on Greenly: what it is, why it matters, and how to move through each step of the platform to produce a complete, audit-ready carbon footprint.
Key benefits / use cases
Understand your company's full carbon footprint across Scopes 1, 2, and 3
Meet regulatory requirements (CSRD, Bilan Carbone, GHG Protocol) with a structured, traceable process
Identify your largest emission sources to prioritize reduction actions
Produce shareable results for stakeholders, investors, or certification bodies
Build a baseline year to track your climate progress over time
What is a GHG Assessment?
A Greenhouse Gas (GHG) assessment (also called a carbon footprint or bilan carbone) is a structured inventory of all the greenhouse gases your organization emits directly or indirectly over a given period — typically one calendar or fiscal year.
Emissions are grouped into three scopes:
Scope 1: Direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by your company (e.g. company vehicles, on-site combustion)
Scope 2: Indirect emissions from purchased electricity, heat, or steam
Scope 3: All other indirect emissions in your value chain (business travel, purchased goods, employee commuting, etc.)
Greenly's platform follows the GHG Protocol and Bilan Carbone® standards, which are the two most widely recognized frameworks.
Step 1 — Set Up Your Assessment
When you first access your GHG assessment on Greenly, you will be asked to define the key parameters of your assessment:
Reference year: Choose the fiscal or calendar year you want to measure. This becomes your baseline year for future comparisons.Organizational boundaries: Define which entities, subsidiaries, or sites are included in scope. If you manage several legal entities, refer to the multi-entity documentation for guidance on consolidation approaches.Consolidation method: Select the approach that fits your structure — operational control, financial control, or equity share — in line with the GHG Protocol.
💡 If you are unsure which consolidation method to use, the Key Concepts section in the Help Center covers each approach in detail.
Identify your emission sources: This is the first mandatory task in the Progress Tab on the platform. You will be guided through a short survey about your business profile. Greenly's AI agent then analyzes your answers to identify which emission sources are relevant to your organization and recommends a tailored set of data collection modules. Each module corresponds to a specific emission category (e.g. energy, transport, purchased goods) and, once selected, is automatically deployed in the platform to collect and compute the corresponding emissions.
Step 2 — Collect Your Data
The Data Tab is where you import or manually enter the activity data that Greenly will use to compute your emissions. Data is organized by category (e.g. energy, transport, purchases) and by scope.
There are several ways to provide your data:
Direct file import: Upload spreadsheets or exports from your accounting or ERP system
Bank/accounting connection: Connect your financial data source for automated expense-based estimation
Manual entry: Enter consumption figures directly for specific categories (e.g. kWh of electricity, km driven)
For file imports, make sure that you download templates that will help you structuring the data so it can be processed by the platform. Ecopilot can help you transforming your file to match the format that us expected by the platform.
Greenly will flag missing or incomplete data so you can prioritize your collection effort. You do not need 100% activity data to generate a first estimate — Greenly uses monetary-based estimation for categories where no activity data is available yet.
When data is imported, the platform will run a series of quality check to validate the accuracy of your upload. If some checks fails, you should review them, update the data accordingly or discard them with some explanation before you can complete corresponding module.
Step 3 — Track Your Completion
The Progress Tab gives you a real-time view of how complete your assessment is. It shows:
Which emission categories have been covered and which still need data
Your current data quality score
The split between activity-based data (more precise) and monetary-based estimation (less precise)
Use this tab as your project management dashboard throughout the data collection phase. A higher proportion of activity-based data leads to a more accurate and audit-ready assessment.
Step 4 — Review your emissions & compute the report
Once data has been submitted, the My Emissions Tab displays your computed GHG results, broken down by:
Scope (1, 2, 3)
Emission category (energy, transport, purchases, etc.)
Organizational entity (if applicable)
You can use filters and visualizations to identify your top emission sources, compare categories, and export results for reporting or internal presentations.
Before you can generate your GHG report, the platform requires you to complete a mandatory data quality review. This step is accessible via Data → Data Quality and becomes available once all your data import tasks are complete (or explicitly skipped).
The quality check process has two stages:1. Review and improve your data: The platform runs a series of automated validation checks to detect issues such as missing values, inconsistencies, or anomalies. For each check, you can either fix the underlying data or dismiss it with a justification if the situation is expected for your business.
2. Final confirmation: A second set of checks focuses on key emission sources and data uncertainties. For each item, you either approve the result or go back to review your emissions. Once all items are approved, you can proceed to request your report.
💡 If a result looks unexpected at any point, check the Greenly's Computations section of the Help Center for detailed explanations of how each category is calculated. For a full walkthrough of the quality check steps, see Data Quality: last step to your GHG Report.
Step 5 — Next Steps After Your Assessment
Completing your GHG assessment is the starting point, not the finish line. From here you can:
Build your Climate Strategy: Set reduction targets, track initiatives, and align with science-based targets — all within the Climate Strategy section of the platform
Communicate your results: Generate shareable reports and export data for regulatory submissions or stakeholder communications
Engage your suppliers: Extend your Scope 3 accuracy by inviting suppliers to contribute their own emissions data
Run year-over-year comparisons: Once you have a baseline, future assessments will automatically compare against it
FAQs
Do I need to complete all data categories before I can see my results?
No. Greenly generates an estimated carbon footprint as soon as you connect your data — even if only monetary/expense data is available. You can then progressively enrich the assessment with activity-based data to improve accuracy. Results update in real time as you add new data.
What is the difference between a monetary approach and an activity-based approach?
The monetary approach estimates emissions based on your financial spend in each category, using spend-based emission factors. It is a fast way to get a first estimate but is less precise. The activity-based approach uses actual consumption data (e.g. kWh, km, tonnes) combined with physical emission factors, and produces more accurate and auditable results. Greenly starts with monetary estimation and progressively shifts to activity-based as you supply the data.
Can I include multiple legal entities in one assessment?
Yes. Greenly supports multi-entity assessments. You can consolidate several subsidiaries or sites under a single group assessment, choosing between operational control, financial control, or equity share consolidation methods. Cross-entity emissions are handled automatically to avoid double-counting at group level.
How long does a first GHG assessment typically take?
It depends on your data readiness. With a bank or accounting integration, you can have a first indicative result within hours. A thorough, audit-ready assessment with activity-based data typically takes between 4 and 12 weeks, depending on the complexity of your organization and how readily available your data sources are.
What frameworks does Greenly's GHG assessment comply with?
Greenly's methodology is aligned with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and the Bilan Carbone® framework (ADEME). Both frameworks are globally recognized and widely accepted for regulatory, certification, and voluntary reporting purposes.