Simplify carbon accounting in Excel using the Climatiq Excel add-in

Many sustainability teams and consultants use Excel spreadsheets to calculate and report emissions data. While Excel is a powerful tool for data analysis, it’s not built for carbon accounting, which can be inherently complex and time consuming.

Common limitations include manually sourcing emission factors from third-party databases, tailoring calculations to specific business activities, and ensuring auditability for regulatory compliance. 

To address these challenges, we built a solution that brings streamlined carbon calculations directly into tools like Excel, where you already manage your data.

What is the Climatiq Excel add-in?

The add-in is a lightweight way to calculate emissions directly in Excel using the largest database of emission factor data and Climatiq’s trusted calculation engine.

You can access Climatiq’s leading carbon intelligence platform directly from your spreadsheet using our Excel add-in. It brings high-quality emissions data and automated calculations into your existing workflow. 

With direct access to the world’s largest emission factor database and custom formulas based on established carbon accounting methodologies, you can calculate emissions across a wide range of business activities.

From freight shipping and procurement to business travel and more, you can transform raw business data into trustworthy CO2e estimates, without ever leaving Excel or maintaining a database of emission factors.

Why use Excel to calculate carbon footprint?

Excel remains a practical starting point for many teams. Most companies already export operational data into spreadsheets, but turning that data into accurate emissions estimates often requires complex, manual steps.

The Climatiq Excel add-in is built for professionals who:

• Are responsible for emission calculations and reporting but don’t have access to dedicated carbon accounting tools
• Need consistency across multiple projects, clients, or suppliers
• Work with business activity data already exported into Excel, from procurement records to shipping logs to travel spend
• Want a scalable and audit-ready system that won’t require custom tools or new training

Whether you're just getting started or already wrestling with manual Excel workflows, Climatiq helps you automate calculations and reduce overhead. 

What challenges does the add-in solve?

The add-in helps you eliminate manual workload, inconsistent data, compliance concerns, and scalability issues.

Whether you're new to carbon accounting or an ESG consultant familiar with emissions calculations in Excel, chances are you're facing at least one of these challenges:

• Searching for the right emission factors across disparate sources
• Juggling messy formulas and sorting through outdated emission factor data you’ve collected in Excel
• Spending hours mapping your data to factors manually
• Checking units and conversions over and over again
• Worrying whether your results will stand up to audit scrutiny

The Climatiq add-in solves these pain points by bringing automated, reliable emissions calculations directly into your spreadsheet environment.

How the Excel add-in alleviates carbon accounting workload

The add-in delivers emission estimates in seconds using just your spreadsheet data.

No more gathering emission factors and mapping them to your business data. You can search for and select emission factors directly within Excel. The add-in connects to Climatiq’s database, the largest of its kind, compiling 80+ emission factor datasets across 16 economic sectors and 300+ global regions. 

It helps you calculate emissions confidently with custom formulas that use established carbon accounting methodologies. Estimates include a source reference for the emission factors used, ensuring transparency. The formulas are powered by our calculation engine, which is accredited and compliant with standards and frameworks such as GHG Protocol, GLEC, and ISO 14067.

The plug-in allows you to:

• Search for and select emission factors within Excel from Climatiq’s database
• Apply simple formulas to your data (e.g. for fuel, freight, electricity, travel spend, and more)
• Handle bulk estimates by simply clicking and dragging to apply the formula to all data rows.
• Use calculations that are compatible with your input data, whether spend- or activity-based

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You don’t need to change how you work and can start calculating emissions in minutes. 

Start calculating carbon footprint in Excel with the Climatiq add-in

It’s free to install, easy to use, and ready to go in your existing spreadsheet environment.

Adopted by thousands of consultants and sustainability professionals within just a few months, the add-in has proven itself as a powerful carbon accounting tool. Whether you're serving multiple clients or just beginning your company’s emissions reporting journey, the add-in helps you calculate carbon footprint within Excel reliably while reducing workload.

Getting started takes just minutes:

1. Download the Climatiq Excel add-in
2. Follow our setup steps including downloading our demo file
3. Open your spreadsheet and add your API key (signup is free)
4. Start calculating

We recommend watching our Excel how-to videos on YouTube for a full step-by-step on using the add-in and each of its features.