What should you ask a carbon accounting software vendor?
Ten questions, each with the reason it matters in Nigeria and what a good answer looks like. The sections after the table explain each one.
| Question to ask | Why it matters in Nigeria | A good answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Are generators a standard input, separate from the grid? | Generator fuel is Scope 1 and grid power is Scope 2 | Each generator and each meter has its own place to record |
| 2. Does it count fuel burned or fuel bought? | Receipts show purchases, not consumption in the period | Fuel consumed is the default |
| 3. Can it show Scope 2 on a location basis? | SRG 1 requires it | A location-based figure without a workaround |
| 4. Does every figure record its factor and version? | Factors are revised, and your trend must stay honest | Factor, source and version on each calculation, with a choice to restate |
| 5. Is evidence attached when data is entered? | Assurance starts from the third year of reporting | The bill or log sits with the figure from day one |
| 6. Does it record who owns, reviews and approves each figure? | SRG 1 lists data ownership and approval as internal controls | Named owners, review and sign-off on record |
| 7. Does it check data before it counts? | SRG 1 lists validation as an internal control | Out-of-range readings flagged before they reach a total |
| 8. Does the output fit the FRC's structure? | SRG 1 fixes where and how the disclosure appears | Built for the IFRS S1 and S2 structure SRG 1 sets |
| 9. Can it handle first-year reliefs? | The FRC lets you leave out Scope 3 and comparatives in year one | Each omission recorded with a reason |
| 10. What currency is the invoice, and can you leave with your data? | Dollar billing moves with the exchange rate | Naira billing, and a full export at any time |
1. Does it treat generators as a standard input, separate from the grid?
It should. Many Nigerian sites run on grid power for part of the day and diesel generators for the rest, and the two land in different scopes: generator fuel is Scope 1, grid electricity is Scope 2.
Software built for markets with a reliable grid often treats a generator as a custom field or an afterthought. Ask the vendor to show you a site with two generators and one grid meter, and watch how many steps it takes to record a month.
2. Does it count the fuel your generators burned, or the fuel you bought?
The fuel burned. A diesel receipt shows a purchase, not what was consumed in a given month; fuel used in a period is the opening stock, plus deliveries, minus the closing stock.
Software that calculates from receipts will put emissions in the wrong months, and sometimes the wrong year. Ask what the default is, and how stock readings or generator logs are entered.
3. Can it show Scope 2 on a location basis, and split your group from other investees?
It needs to. SRG 1 (2026) requires Scope 2 to be shown on a location basis, and Scope 1 and Scope 2 to be split between your consolidated group and other investees such as associates and joint ventures.
Ask to see both splits on a sample report. If the vendor has to export to Excel to produce them, you will be doing that every year.
4. Does every figure record which emission factor produced it, and which version?
It should, because factors are revised. When a published factor changes, the software should add the new version, keep the old one against earlier years, and let you decide whether to restate.
Without that record, a fall in your emissions might be a real reduction or just a new factor, and nobody can tell which. Ask what happened the last time one of their factors was revised.
5. Is evidence attached when the data is entered, or collected at audit time?
When it is entered. The FRC roadmap requires assurance from the third year of reporting, and an assurance provider traces each figure back to its bill, log or meter reading.
Evidence gathered at audit time means searching old email for documents from two years earlier. Ask to open any figure in a demo and see the document behind it.
6. Does it record who owns, reviews and approves each figure?
It should. SRG 1 lists clear ownership of sustainability data, and review and approval of assumptions, among the internal controls a reporting entity must have, and they are part of stage three of the FRC readiness test.
This is also where reporting time goes. In two client engagements, the environmental consultancy Environmental Managers Consult found the hard part was tracking who was responsible for each data point and what had been completed. Ask the vendor how you would see, today, which data is still outstanding and who owes it.
7. Does it check data before it counts?
It should flag readings that are out of range for a site before they enter a total. SRG 1 names data validation and reconciliation as one of the five internal controls it expects.
A meter reading with an extra zero is easy to miss in a spreadsheet and expensive to find after publication. Ask what the software does with a month that is ten times the last one.
8. Does the output fit the FRC's structure?
It should be built for it. SRG 1 requires the disclosure to be one titled section of the annual report, after the Directors' Report and before the financial statements, with a statement of compliance, and the roadmap asks for an index of where each disclosure appears.
Output designed for European or US rules is a different document. Ask to see a sample in the FRC structure, not a generic sustainability report. See what the FRC requires for the full list.
9. Can it handle the first-year reliefs?
It should let you use them and record that you did. In your first annual reporting period, the FRC roadmap allows you to leave out Scope 3 and comparative figures, among other reliefs.
Each omission should appear as an explicit entry with a reason, not a blank. Then ask the harder question: what does the software offer for Scope 3 when you need it from year two, and is that available today or planned? See reporting deadlines for what each relief lets you leave out.
10. What currency is the invoice, and can you leave with your data?
Ask both before you sign. A licence billed in dollars moves with the exchange rate every renewal, and a platform you cannot export from turns your own records into a reason to stay.
A good answer is Naira billing and a full export, including evidence documents, at any time. Also ask whether existing spreadsheets can be imported, and whether imported figures stay marked as coming from a spreadsheet rather than a source document.
How does Emvert answer this checklist?
Mostly yes, and in one place, not yet. Emvert treats generators as a standard input, counts fuel consumed by default, records the factor and version behind every figure, attaches evidence at entry, records owners, reviews and approvals, flags out-of-range readings, records omissions with a reason, imports Excel with each figure marked as spreadsheet-sourced, bills in Naira and lets you export everything at any time.
The gap is Scope 3. Emvert does not yet send structured data requests to suppliers. If Scope 3 is material to you from year two, ask us where that stands, and judge us on the answer the way you would judge anyone else.
See carbon accounting software for how each of these works, or book a demo and bring this checklist.
Check this yourself
These are the primary documents behind the regulatory points in this checklist.