The carbon data work of small and medium-sized enterprises often starts unexpectedly from the email of the sales team. A request comes in from the customer to fill out a survey asking for the amount of electricity used, fuel consumption, and emissions per product. The general affairs team looks for the invoice, the production team looks for the work diary, and the purchasing team looks for the raw material list. Once you respond, if the form of the next customer changes, you have to collect the same data again. The reason why the Carbon Data system is needed is to reduce this repetitive work and make it possible to explain the numbers you have submitted.
Distinguish between direct regulations and requests from customers.
Not all small and medium-sized enterprises are subject to the same carbon disclosure obligations. The applicability depends on the country of origin of the material, the size of the company, the products produced, and the trading relationships. It is not appropriate to call all items a legal obligation simply because the customer requested it, or to ignore a request simply because it is not directly regulated. First, you must verify the basis and purpose of the request.
For example, the EU CBAM came into effect in 2026, but it targets specific products in certain fields. It is not a system that applies uniformly to all general small and medium-sized enterprises.European Commission CBAM guidanceComparing this guidance with the goods being traded makes it possible to distinguish direct-applicability issues from supply-chain information requests.
Meanwhile, the GHG Protocol's Scope 3 standard covers emissions from the value chain, including goods and services purchased by companies. If a customer conducts this calculation, production information from suppliers may be required. This means that there is a path to request data from suppliers, but it does not mean that a universal law requires a specific customer to receive a specific form.GHG Protocol value chain standard
The first goal is to connect the scattered records scattered throughout the company.
If you are a new business, you can start by organizing monthly electricity and fuel consumption, a list of business locations, and the production volume of your main products. The important thing is that you don't stop collecting document files. Each value should be linked to the period of use, unit, business location, original location, and person responsible for entering it so that it can be compared to the next month. Distinguish between rates and usage, and record when the billing period is different from the calendar month.
At this stage, the emissions of the entire company and the emissions of a single product should not be mixed. Just because the company's electricity consumption is divided by the sales ratio does not mean that the product emissions will be acceptable to all customers. If you need to calculate by product, you should first agree on the customer's requirements, the classification of production processes, and the distribution method of public resources. If you divide the goal of creating a simple corporate inventory from the goal of creating sophisticated product data, you can avoid excessive work from the beginning.
The GHG Protocol corporate standard supports the establishment of corporate-level greenhouse gas inventories. In addition, it distinguishes between the calculation of corporate inventories and offsetting credits for reduction projects. You should not express that you have secured carbon emission rights by completing a company emission table.GHG Protocol corporate standard
To reduce repeated surveys, divide common data and submission forms.
For small organizations, a practical approach is to create a common internal spreadsheet and fill out the form to be sent to the customer on top of it. The internal spreadsheet should retain the original usage and calculation basis, and the submitted document should only contain the items requested by the customer. Even if each customer changes units or bundles items, the original should remain intact. Changing the column names of a specific form can reduce the risk of previous submission values being overwritten.
The VSME, a voluntary sustainability reporting tool for unlisted SMEs in Europe, is also worth noting. EFRAG provides standardized digital templates and data formats and explains the purpose of reducing the burden of responding to multiple individual questionnaires. It should not be read as a unified mandatory regulation for Korean SMEs. In addition, EFRAG is guiding data updates in accordance with the voluntary standard announced in July 2026, so it is recommended to check the version and whether the customer accepts it when using it.EFRAG Digital Template Guide
Templates are tools for finding omissions, not seals that guarantee accuracy. Before applying the formula, you should check that the units and periods of the original are correct. If you write down briefly what file and item you are reading so that it can be used even if the person in charge changes, you can reduce the time spent handing over the information verbally every time.
Don't hide the places where there is a lack of data, and set the order of improvement.
Let's consider a hypothetical manufacturing company where two factories share electricity bills. At first, the actual usage by each facility is not separated, so distribution estimation may be necessary. In that case, you should indicate how it was divided and limit the scope of questions that can be answered with that value. In the next step, you can determine whether separate metering is needed or if recording production time can be supplemented.
If you try to measure all items precisely from the beginning, the cost will increase. It is reasonable to start by improving items that are closely related to actual emissions, items that customers check repeatedly, and items whose calculations are shaken by missing originals. If you check the rate of securing originals and the estimated number of items on a monthly basis, you can see the direction of improvement. It is important to see whether the basis supporting the main results has improved rather than the fact that there are a lot of data rows piled up.
When sharing information, sales information should also be considered. The information customers need to calculate greenhouse gas emissions may overlap with sensitive information such as costs, mixtures, and customers. It is recommended to set an original accessor, consult the scope of external submission, and record what purpose it was provided for. Instead of opening access rights to the entire system, you can deliver the necessary data in a form that can be reviewed for the required period and items.
We start with a small system that helps with operation.
In the first month, collect energy usage and production data from the past month to identify any gaps. In the next month, renew in the same way and record the input time. In the third month, choose one actual customer request and create a submission document in an internal table. This process is not a specific certification acquisition process, but an example of how a company can start based on its workload.
As a result of the review, the production volume is similar, but if the electricity consumption has changed significantly, you can look into the reason. Check whether the product configuration has changed, whether the operating time has increased, or whether the billing period has been off. The emission analysis and cost analysis do not always reach the same conclusion, but if you manage the starting data of both analyses together, it becomes easier to explain the site.
Small and medium-sized enterprises do not need to start with a complex platform purchase for their Carbon Data system. They can start by creating a small data flow that can respond to actual requests, connecting source records, calculation, review, and submission. A realistic first achievement is a state in which the basis does not have to be found again from scratch even when a customer's questions change, and in which the before and after of reduction activities can be compared under consistent conditions.