Kick Off Questions
Template questions to ask clients when getting started
Need some help before the first one? We’d be happy to jump on a pre kick off meeting to go over the plan and any questions the team may have, just reach out to the Accounting Support Team.
If you’re looking for a template of common questions to ask your client, we’ve got you covered! ⤵️
Questions to ask your clients to kick off their carbon accounting
Here’s also a docx file for you to download and tailor the template to suit.
Question | Type | Category |
What accounting system do you use? Can you provide advisory access to us for this (with manager user rights so we can add additional staff if needed)? If you have any questions or concerns on this request just let us know. | General | General Information |
What is the reporting period you would like to have assessed (e.g year ending 30 June 2022)? This is generally a 12 month period. | General | General Information |
What structure does the business trade under (e.g private company, discretionary trust, partnership) | General | Boundary,Single Entity Assessment |
Are all entities included in the group 100% owned by the group? In some instances there may be structures including other minority ownership that need to be taken into account. | General | Boundary |
Does the business own any investments in other entities? | General | Boundary,Investments |
As part of an emissions assessment organisations need to elect an approach for their operational boundary. Does your organisation have a preferred approach between: Equity Share, Financial Control, Operational Control. Please let us know if you would like to discuss the various approaches and we can assist with this decision. | General | Boundary |
Can you please provide us with a copy of your fixed asset register. Preferably one at the start of the reporting period and one at the end to allow us to identify any changes. | General | General Information,Fugitive Emissions,Stationary Combustion,Mobile Combustion,Electricity |
What combustion fuel sources are used by the organisation? Examples might include Diesel, Petrol, Natural Gas or LPG? | Scope 1 | Combustion |
For combusted fuel sources, is the organisation able to provide a summary of fuel consumed during the period? This could be in the form of periodic invoices or statements. | Scope 1 | Combustion |
Where you are unable to provide a summary of the combusted fuel sources are these transactions captured as spend in your accounting system? | Scope 1 | Combustion |
Does the organisation have any fuel storage facilities onsite? This could include a diesel or LPG storage tank. This is relevant as scope 1 emissions are based on fuel combusted rather than fuel purchased so movements in inventory levels need to be understood. | Scope 1 | Combustion |
Has the organisation owned or operated any refrigerant assets during the reporting period? This could include air conditioning units, heat pumps, freezes, chillers, refrigerators or similar devices? | Scope 1 | Fugitive Emissions, Leased Assets |
For Refrigerant Assets owned or operated by the organisation please provide the asset details including: Model, year of manufacture, Refrigerant Type, Refrigerant Quantity. If any of these details are not know don’t worry alternative procedures can be performed just let us know what information you don’t have. | Scope 1 | Fugitive Emissions, Leased Assets |
Has the organisation purchased or installed any new refrigerant assets during the period? | Scope 1 | Fugitive Emissions, Leased Assets |
Has the organisation disposed of any refrigerant assets during the period? If so please provide details. | Scope 1 | Fugitive Emissions, Leased Assets |
Were any refrigerant assets serviced during the reporting period? If so please provide service records including the quantity of refrigerant topped-up if any. | Scope 1 | Fugitive Emissions, Leased Assets |
Please provide copies of all electricity invoice covering the reporting period. | Scope 2 | Electricity |
Does the business generate any electricity on any of its sites or facilities? This could be solar panels, wind, other renewable sources or combustion power generators. | Scope 2 | Electricity |
Does the business rent/ hire any assets (such as buildings or vehicles)? Please provide a list of these leased assets. | Scope 3 | Leased Assets |
How is solid waste disposed of across your sites and facilities? For example some organisations use municipal waste while others have dedicated waste management contractors. | Scope 3 | Waste and Water |
Can you provide copies of invoices for water purchased during the reporting period? | Scope 3 | Waste and Water |
Does your organisation purchase water solely from mains water or are other supply arrangements in place? For example you might rely on tank water or have separate water licenses. | Scope 3 | Waste and Water |
What types of livestock are owned or controlled by the group? | Scope 1 | Farming and Agriculture |
How is manure managed on the property? | Scope 1 | Farming and Agriculture |
Are synthetic fertilisers used on the property? | Scope 1 | Farming and Agriculture |
Can you provide details of stock levels through out the reporting period? | Scope 1 | Farming and Agriculture |
Can you provide quantities of feed inputs? weight and volume data generally provides a more accurate assessment of emissions. | Scope 3 | Purchased Goods and Services,Farming and Agriculture |
Can you provide details of any purchased livestock during the reporting period? | Scope 3 | Purchased Goods and Services,Farming and Agriculture |
Can you provide details of average Crude Protein (CP) Content in Feed during the reporting period? | Scope 1 | Farming and Agriculture |
Can you provide details of average Dry Matter digestibility (DMD) during the reporting period? | Scope 1 | Farming and Agriculture |
Can you provide details of average Live weight gain (LWG) during the reporting period? | Scope 1 | Farming and Agriculture |
Can you provide a list of equity investments including percentage ownership held during the reporting period? | Scope 3 | Investments |
Can you provide a list of interest bearing investments and the total funding received by each of the projects or investees? | Scope 3 | Investments |
To your knowledge are any of your portfolio companies measuring their carbon emissions inline with the GHG protocol? If so could you share details by organisation for the current reporting period. | Scope 3 | Investments |
Are you aware of any process emissions generated by your operations during the reporting period? | Scope 1 | Process Emissions,Fugitive Emissions |
Does your organisation use instrumentation to directly measure emissions sources owned or under your control? | Scope 1 | Process Emissions,Fugitive Emissions,Stationary Combustion,Mobile Combustion |
For the organisation’s leased assets are you able to confirm the classification of these as either operating or finance leases? Don’t worry if you don’t know the answer we will be able to help you out. | Scope 3 | Capital Goods,Leased Assets |
Are you able to provide a listing of suppliers including dollars spent with each during the reporting period? | Scope 3 | Purchased Goods and Services,Capital Goods |
Are you able to provide a list of contacts for each supplier on your supplier list? Don’t worry if you don’t have all of this information we will work with whatever you can provide. | Scope 3 | Purchased Goods and Services,Capital Goods |
Can you provide details of how the organisation tracks its freight expenditure and if records of distance and weights of freight are maintained? | Scope 3 | Freight and Transport |
Can you provide details of how the organisation tracks its business travel expenditure and if records of distance are maintained? | Scope 3 | Business Travel |
Does the organisation use a third party to book and manage business travel? | Scope 3 | Business Travel |
Does the organisation divide activities into functions or divisions? if so please provide details to assist with detailed reporting. | General | General Reporting |
What metrics does the business use to measure its performance? this could be number or products sold, revenue or quantity of product produced. This will allow us to tailor reporting to your organisation. | General | General Reporting |
Would you be open to sending out a survey to employees to quantify their commuting and working from home habits? this will impact scope 3 emissions so the more accurate information the better. | Scope 3 | Employee Commute,Working From Home |
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