Carbon tracking software · for smaller businesses
Carbon tracking software: a monthly routine for smaller businesses
Carbon tracking software turns a business’s monthly bills, fuel and mileage into a running carbon figure.
For most small and mid-sized UK businesses no law requires it; customers, bids and lenders do, so the tool needs to be quick to feed and easy to export.
For what tracking means at any scale — real-time data, closing a period, gaps — see carbon emissions tracking software.
The routine
What does monthly carbon tracking involve? Three feeds, one figure
Bills
kWhElectricity and gas: Scope 2 and Scope 1Fuel
LitresOwned vehicles: Scope 1Mileage
MilesStaff claims: business travelFactors
DESNZ, by yearApplied to each lineEach month a small business has three feeds: energy bills, fuel and mileage claims.
The tool converts each with the DESNZ factor for that year and adds them up by scope.
That covers Scope 1 and 2, which the GHG Protocol requires, plus the business travel most customers ask about.
Across the year
When does a small business need its carbon figure? Usually when someone asks
- Monthly01
Bills arrive
Enter or import kWh, litres and miles; the running figure moves. - June02
New DESNZ factors
The 2026 set appeared on 11 June 2026; each set covers activity in its own year. - Any time03
- Bid deadline04
A PPN 006 plan
For central government contracts over £5m a year: Scope 1, 2 and five Scope 3 categories. - Year end05
Close the year
Freeze the twelve months so next year compares with what you told people.
One business, run through
What does a 40-person agency need? A labelled case
Fieldwork Studio Ltd is an illustrative design agency with 40 staff, one leased office and no vehicles.
It is nowhere near SECR’s limits, so no law asks it for a figure; a client’s questionnaire does.
Its whole footprint comes from one electricity bill, one gas bill and mileage claims, which a spreadsheet or the simplest tool can carry.
For Fieldwork, the deciding factors are price and how fast a month can be entered, not enterprise features.
- 1
Month 1
A client’s supplier questionnaire asks for Scope 1 and 2.
- 2
Month 2
Twelve months of office electricity and gas bills entered.
- 3
Month 3
Mileage claims added as business travel.
- 4
Month 4
The questionnaire answered from a rolling twelve-month figure.
- 5
Ongoing
Ten minutes a month as bills arrive.
Spreadsheet or software
Is a spreadsheet enough? Often, for a small business
Factors
FreeDESNZ publishes them each yearSECR in scope
19,900Organisations, DESNZ evaluationStaff time per SECR complier
~94 hoursA year, mostly dataThe DESNZ conversion factors are free, so a spreadsheet can do the arithmetic for a business with a handful of meters.
Software pays off when sites, vehicles and staff multiply and the hours go on collecting data rather than on maths.
Even SECR-sized companies spend about 94 hours a year on it, DESNZ found (evaluation), which sets the scale a small business should expect to be well below.
When software earns its place
One office
When software earns its place
Several sites
When software earns its place
A fleet
When software earns its place
Bids and customers
Published prices
What does carbon tracking software cost? 4 SME tools publish a price
Reading a price line
Scope
Reading a price line
Term
Reading a price line
Seats
Reading a price line
Add-ons
Your quotes
How do you compare quotes? Over three years, not one
Type your own quotes into the worksheet beside this text; it holds no vendor’s price and suggests none.
Compare over three years, because set-up, add-ons and minimum terms change the order a first-year price suggests.
Your three-year cost · your numbers only
Three-year total £0
Arithmetic on the figures you type, from the vendor’s written quote.
Added entities are counted for an average of one and a half years each. This page states no vendor price and estimates none.
Nothing is stored or sent.
13 SME tools
Which tools are built for smaller businesses? In their own words
13 vendors · smes
“Measure, reduce, and report your Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions”
“The professional benchmarking and reporting platform built for sustainability consultants, SMEs, and the platforms that serve them”
“Coolset gives supply chain and ESG teams the structure, automation and guidance to meet complex compliance requirements like EUDR, PPWR and CSRD, and manage Scope 1-3 emissions”
“Dcycle is an ESG software platform founded in 2020 that helps companies collect, manage, and govern sustainability and non-financial data”
Ecologi describes itself as a B Corp-certified climate action platform.
“Measure, report, and reduce your company's emissions on one audit-ready sustainability management platform”
“Net Zero Now exists to provide a simple, credible and affordable route to Net Zero for SMEs and to celebrate and promote those that achieve this vitally important goal”
“Measure your full carbon footprint, build your net zero strategy and develop in-house expertise with a single partner”
“Seedling is an all-in-one carbon accounting and Net Zero planning platform for businesses of up to 2000 FTEs”
“Small99 Hero creates a pathway to net zero for you based on your industry, outlining how long your Net Zero journey will take and how much it will cost”
“Manage sustainability metrics intelligently in medium-sized businesses - through automated processes, AI-powered carbon accounting, and audit-proof ESG reports”
“Trace combines AI-powered software with expert advisory support to help organisations meet their mandatory climate and sustainability reporting obligations, efficiently and with confidence”
“Carbon management software with experts built in, so you can move from measurement to action without spreadsheets or one-off consulting projects”
Alphabetical, which ranks nothing.
Each description is the vendor’s own words from its own site, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026; prices appear only where the vendor publishes one.
No product here has been tested by this site.
What the SME tools say they cover
Footprint
What the SME tools say they cover
Reports
What the SME tools say they cover
Prices
What the SME tools say they cover
Read
These vendors describe tools designed to make carbon tracking approachable for teams without a sustainability specialist.
In the trial
What should you test in a free trial? Six checks
Run each check with one real bill and one real month.
No tool has been scored against these checks here.
Carbon tracking trial checks · tick the ones you need
The pass tests are our reading of the cited provisions.
Nothing you tick is stored or sent.
For the owner
Track carbon from the bills you already have, and buy software only when the bills outgrow a spreadsheet.
The site’s summary of the routine and the spreadsheet test above.
Takeaways
Carbon tracking for small businesses, in five facts
| Fact | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Most small businesses have no legal carbon duty | Customers, bids and lenders set the timetable. |
| The DESNZ factors are free and annual | A spreadsheet can do the arithmetic. |
| PPN 006 applies to contracts over £5m a year | Only then do you need the five Scope 3 categories. |
| 4 of 13 SME tools publish a price | Compare quotes over three years. |
| Tracking does not reduce emissions by itself | Use the figure to choose what to change. |
Frequently asked
Carbon tracking software, answered
What is carbon tracking software?
Software that turns a business’s monthly bills, fuel and mileage into a running carbon figure, so it can see its position through the year and answer customers, bids and lenders without a scramble.
What is the best carbon tracking software for a small business?
This site has tested no product and names no best.
For a small business the test is simple: does it take your bills and fuel easily, show the factor year, flag missing months and export cleanly?
The demo questions on this page check those.
How much does carbon tracking software cost?
4 of the 13 SME tools in this site’s registry publish a price, listed on this page in their own words.
Use the three-year worksheet to compare your own quotes.
Do small businesses have to track carbon?
Usually not by law.
SECR applies to unquoted companies only above two of £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet and 250 employees.
The pressure on smaller businesses usually comes from customers, bids and lenders.
Is a spreadsheet enough for carbon tracking?
Often, yes.
With a few meters, one vehicle fleet and the free DESNZ conversion factors, a spreadsheet can track monthly.
Software earns its place when sites, fuel cards and staff multiply.
How often should a small business track carbon?
No UK rule sets a frequency.
Monthly is common because bills arrive monthly; what matters is that a month can be closed and added up to a year without re-keying.
Which emission factors should carbon tracking software use?
The DESNZ conversion factors for the year in which the activity happened.
The 2026 set was published on 11 June 2026.
What data do I need to start tracking carbon?
Twelve months of electricity and gas bills, fuel-card or fuel receipts, and staff mileage claims.
That covers Scope 1, Scope 2 and business travel for most small businesses.
Can carbon tracking software help with government bids?
Yes, if it produces the PPN 006 table: Scope 1, Scope 2 and five named Scope 3 categories.
PPN 006 applies to major central government contracts above £5 million a year.
Does tracking carbon reduce it?
Not by itself.
Tracking shows where the emissions are; the savings come from what the business then changes.
Has this site tested any carbon tracking software?
No. The vendor list quotes only what each vendor says about itself, and the prices are the vendors’ own published prices.
Sources
Primary sources
Every rule on this page traces to the source listed here; prices are the vendors’ own.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2026
Published 11 June 2026; free to download.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGovernment conversion factors for company reporting (collection)
One set a year.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026 conversion factors methodology paper
Each set is for activity mostly within its year.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero2026 conversion factors: major changes report
Why 2026 electricity is lower.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410, Schedule 7 (SECR)
Who reports energy and carbon.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410, Schedule 7 ¶20B
The size test.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410, Schedule 7 ¶20D
The 40,000 kWh relief.
- GOV.UK (DESNZ, Defra)Environmental Reporting Guidelines, including SECR guidance
Government guidance for voluntary and mandatory reporters.
- legislation.gov.ukESOS Regulations 2014, Schedule 1
At least 250 persons, or £44m turnover and £38m balance sheet.
- GOV.UK (Cabinet Office)PPN 006: carbon reduction plans
Major government contracts over £5 million a year.
- GOV.UK (Cabinet Office)PPN 006 technical standard
Scope 1, 2 and five Scope 3 categories.
- GHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard
Scope 1 and 2 required.
- GHG ProtocolScope 2 Guidance
Location-based electricity.
- GOV.UK (DESNZ)SECR regulations: evaluation
Hours and costs per complier.
- CDPHow to disclose
Where many customer requests start.
- Science Based Targets initiativeStandards and guidance
Voluntary targets a customer may ask about.