Businesses have started to become more and more environmentally conscious. One way of tracking the greenhouse gas emissions of businesses is through carbon accounting software. This software helps companies to track their greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately reduce their environmental impact. This blog post will discuss the ten best carbon accounting software programs of 2023!What is Carbon Accounting Software?Carbon accounting software is a program that helps businesses track their greenhouse gas emissions. This information can be used to enable enterprises to reduce their environmental impact.How does Carbon Accounting Software Work?Carbon accounting software typically works by tracking a business's energy usage. This information is then used to calculate the amount of greenhouse gas emissions the business produces.What are the Benefits of Using Carbon Accounting Software?There are many benefits of using carbon accounting software. Some of these benefits include:- It helps businesses track their emissions.- It helps businesses reduce their environmental impact.- It supports businesses in meeting emissions goals.- It can be used to report a company's emissions.- It helps businesses save money.Glossary of Terms Related to Carbon Accounting- Carbon footprint: The amount of greenhouse gas emissions that a business produces.- Climate change: A long-term change in the Earth's climate.- Greenhouse gas: A gas that traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere.- Emissions: The release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.- Reporting: Documenting and sharing information about a company's emissions.- Reducing emissions: Taking action to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that a business produces.- Carbon accounting software: A program that helps companies to track their greenhouse gas emissions.How do You Choose the Right Carbon Accounting Software for Your Business?When choosing a carbon accounting software program, you should keep a few things in mind. Some of these factors include:- The size of your business- Your emissions goals- The type of data you need to track- How often do you need to report your emissions- The cost of the softwareHere is the list of carbon accounting software1. PersefoniPersefoni is one of the market's most famous climate disclosure and carbon management software. It is popular because of its simple and elegant user interface. In addition, it has a critical relationship with global industry heads like Brain, Workiva, SCSK, CGI, Hitachi, and Patch.The software is known for its scalability and support and is used by Fortune 500 organizations.Features- Audit quality carbon accounting- Financed emissions calculation- Climate impact benchmarking module- Climate trajectory modeling module- Sustainability reporting and disclosersScreenshots of PersefoniOverview of setting up a pageAdvisor sheetTotal emissionsPricingPricing details are not given publicly by the vendor.Likes- Prior technical knowledge is not required to calculate your company's carbon footprint.- It cooperates with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and hence makes easy calculations of Scope 1, 2, and 3 inventory.- It provides an easy-to-use interface and endless support for users.- You can easily view the calculation frameworks, formulas, and emission factors with its CO2e ledger.- You can easily maintain the emission factors set by the IPCC, IEA, EPA, and DEFRA.- It provides easy configuration and deployment.- The Persefoni team helps in a way to set up your carbon footprint.Dislikes- The user interface is complex for beginners.- You can find a few glitches on spreadsheets.- Waste generation could be better with this tool.- Limited life cycle analysis for specific products.- The Naics code classification process is time-consuming.- A detailed checklist is needed for all the necessary data.Other detailsDeploymentCloud, SaaS, Web-BasedSupported languagesEnglish, JapaneseSupportEmail/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge BaseTrainingWebinars, Documentation, VideosCustomer ratingsG2: 5.0 out of 5 (1+reviews)User opinionIt is one of the best carbon management platforms for developing visualization and emission-tracking solutions to incorporate emission reduction. With this solution, you can track your error report and save time. As the ERP of Carbon, the Persefoni platform provides users with a single source of carbon truth across their organization.More about Persefoni2. IBM Environmental Intelligence SuiteIBM environment intelligence suite offers a comprehensive suite of software for carbon accounting and emissions management with the help of AI capabilities. The IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite allows organizations to track, report, and analyze their greenhouse gas emissions.Features- Streamline, automate, and operationalize carbon accounting- Stationary emission API- Fugitive emissions API- Mobile emissions- Location-based emissions- Market-based emissions- Transport and distribution emissionsScreenshot of IBM Environmental Intelligence SuiteSummary dashboardPricingIt offers three types of pricingEssentials- It charges $500 per monthStandard- It charges $5000 per monthPremium- It charges $8750 per monthLikes- It provides built-in, AI-driven augmentation capabilities.- Automates data conversion using APIs.- Automatic updation of data points.- It helps establish disaster-resilient environments through data-driven analytics and decisions. - It has a powerful and comprehensive platform for managing and analyzing environmental data.- It provides options and access to organizations to customize their dashboards. - It reduces disruption with environmental intelligence.- It is easy to use and navigate. Dislikes- Its cost is so high that small companies cannot afford it. - It has complex features so that only experts can handle this platform.- It will not provide 100% data accuracy.- Its premium services can be expensive.- It has some screen crashes and loading issues.- Requires a skilled workforce to operate and analyze the data.- High learning curve for users.- Frequent updates.- Limited scalability to other apps.- Complexity, and demanding significant expertise is challenging.Supported industries- Energy, Environment, and Utilities- Public sector- Travel and Transportation- Retail- Financial services- Industrial productsUser opinionUsing climate risk analytics, IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite predicts the potential impacts of climate change and weather across the business. It measures and reports on environmental initiatives. Its API provides current and forecasted conditions. Compared to other software, its cost is high.More about the IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite3. Net Zero Cloud by SalesforceNet Zero Cloud by Salesforce is a carbon accounting software designed to help businesses achieve net-zero emissions.The Net Zero cloud will be powered by 100% renewable energy, and it will help customers decrease their carbon footprints through a range of features and services.Features- Analyze scope one emission- Analyze scope two emissions- Dashboard- Emissions forecasting- Analyze scope three emissions- Automated data gap-filling- Data model and calculation- Procurement emission management- Transportation and distribution- Waste management module- Business travel moduleScreenshot of Net ZeroClimate action dashboardPricingIt offers two editions- Starter - It costs $48,000 per organization per year (billed annually) with three full CRM licenses.- Growth - It costs $2,10,000 per organization per year(billed annually) with five full CRM licenses.Apart from this, it offers some add-ons.Net-zero analytics licenseIt costs $165 per user per month (billed annually)External engagement managementIt costs $60,000 per organization per year (billed annually)Net Zero Cloud additional users It costs $25 per user per month (billed annually)Likes- It provides detailed dashboards for scopes 1, 2 and 3- Offers actionable insights- Provides secure supplier collaboration- It allows the integration of data from many sources- It is scalable, flexible, and agileDislikes- The user interface becomes challenging to keep track of location within the system- Lacks sufficient support for complex organizations with multi-tier hierarchies- Falls short in providing insights into the cost of carbon- Not fully transparent regarding the distinction between net zero and true zero emissions.Supported industries- Energy and utility- Education- Financial services- Governments- Healthcare and life science- Manufacturing- Media- Retail- Non-profit- Transportation and hospitality- TechnologyUser opinionNet Zero flows all your data directly into one path. You can track your energy pattern and emission trends also evaluate their impact. It has rich data visualization impact and dashboards. It is also one of the Salesforce in-house solutions for their own carbon accounting.More about Net Zero Cloud by Salesforce4. Microsoft Cloud for SustainabilityMicrosoft Cloud for Sustainability is a carbon accounting software introduced recently. The software manages environmental data and reports on an organization's carbon footprint. In addition, the software includes various features, such as tracking facility emissions, fleet, and air travel. Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability is a web-based application that can be accessed from any internet-connected device.Features- Recording and reporting of environmental impact- Measurement and monitoring of emissions- Dashboards to visualize emissions activities- Actionable data insights- Energy managementScreenshots of Microsoft Cloud for SustainabilityRecording and reportingDashboards to visualize emissions activitiesData connectionPricingMicrosoft sustainability manager costs $4000 per tenant per month.Likes- It helps to reduce the carbon footprint and energy consumption- It allows you to get insights into reducing carbon emissions, energy costs, and waste- Helps to collaborate with sustainability team members like stakeholders and contributors- Increases transparency and accountabilitySupported Industries- Automotive- Energy- Financial services- Manufacturing- Retail- Smart placesUser opinionMicrosoft Cloud for Sustainability aims to reduce carbon emissions globally. It helps you record, report, and reduce your organization's environmental impact through automated data connections. You can connect your data more accurately and make the remissions footprint operation report easily. It helps accelerate customers' digital readiness with its cloud solutions.More about Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability5. SpheraSphera is one of the most popular carbon management platforms. It helps businesses manage their emissions and greenhouse gas data with its integrated Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance(ESG) solutions. It offers a variety of features, such as data management, tracking, and analysis. Sphera also provides consulting and training services to help businesses reduce their emissions.Features- Sustainability- Chemical management- Master data management- Health and safety management- Operational risk management- Control of workScreenshots of SpheraOverview demo pagePricingFor pricing details, contact the vendor directly. Likes- Identifies the scope of three categories- Calculates corporate carbon footprint- Gathers data for energy consumption and number of products per period- Determines emissions sources- Reduces all paperwork at the time of auditing - You can do a sustainability-related analysis easily - You can scan large inventory in small places - Its program is user-friendly Dislikes- Uploading new docs can be complex.- File sharing ability needs to be improved. - Configuring and customizing the platform is tricky.- Lack of flexibility in the product according to future needs.- Exporting it to Excel could be time-consuming.- Less satisfying user interface.- It demands a learning curve for effective navigation.- The server functionality could be smoother for an improved user experience.- The comparison between it and the Audit, may not have been favorable.