Setting Up Your Organisation on Compare Your Footprint

Before you start entering your business data into Compare Your Footprint, you will need to set up your organisation in the system. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Access the set-up section

Navigate to ‘Organisations’ either from the homepage or the left-hand navigation panel.

2. Add your organisation

Click on ‘Add an Organisation’ and fill in the required fields:

• Organisation Name: Enter the name that you want to appear on your emissions report. 
• Reporting Year End: Choose the last day of your reporting year. This date will define the range for your annual carbon reports. Typically, this is the end of the calendar year or your financial year. For example, if your financial year ends on March 31st, select 31/03. 

Note: Changing the reporting year-end later wil require contacting Compare Your Footprint and could incur a fee for the service of managing the transition of any data.

• Industry: Select your industry from the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities. Search using keywords (e.g., construction) and select the closest match if your exact industry is not listed. Your scope 1 & 2 emissions will be benchmarked against this industry. For a complete list of industries, refer to the Industries & Facility Types Guide in the Resources & Support section. 
• Country: Choose the country where your company is primarily based or registered.
• Currency: This will automatically populate based on your selected country, however, it may be changed to another currency. 
• VAT Number: Optional.
• ISIN Number: Optional.
• LEI Code: Optional.

3. Save your information

Click the save icon in the top right corner to save your entries.

4. Add Revenue and Productivity Data (optional)

Once you’ve saved the basic information, you can add metrics such as annual revenue or FTE (full-time equivalent) employee numbers. This will help you understand the intensity of your carbon emissions relative to your business growth. These fields are optional but will influence the intensity metrics in the annual carbon footprint and annual consumption reports.

5. Connect accounting software (Optional)

If you use Xero or Sage accounting software, you can link your account to import your business spend data directly. Follow the step-by-step guide below to link your accounts. 

Next up: now that you have set up your organisation, learn how to set up your facilities by reading our Setting Up Facilities article. 

Connect to Xero

1. Access your organisation

Go to the ‘Organisations’ tab in Compare Your Footprint. Find your organisation and click the ‘View/Edit’ button. 

Source: Compare Your Footprint platform. 

2. Connect to Xero

Scroll down and click the ‘Connect to Xero’ button. You will be directed to a page where you need to enter your Xero login details. Choose the Xero organisation you want to connect and click ‘Allow Access’. 

3. Confirmation

Once confirmed, the ‘Connect to Xero’ button will disappear, and you will see integration settings instead. 

Source: Compare Your Footprint platform. 

Create Xero Tracking Categories

1. Log in to Xero

Open a new tab and log in to your Xero account. 

2. Navigate to Tracking Categories 

Go to ‘Accounting ‘ > ‘Advanced’ > ‘Tracking Categories’ 

3. Create a New Tracking Category 

Click ‘Add Tracking Category’. Name it something recognisable, like ‘Carbon Category’. 

 Map Tracking Categories

1. Refresh

Go back to your Compare Your Footprint tab and refresh the page. 

2. Select tracking categories

In your organisation details, choose ‘Tracking Categories’ for the prompt ‘Select how you want to categorise your expenses’. 

Select the category you created in Xero (in this example – Carbon Category) for the prompt ‘Which category contains Carbon Footprint categories?'

Source: Compare Your Footprint platform. 

3. Add Tracking Options 

You will see a list of Tracking Options.

Source: Compare Your Footprint platform. 

Click the green + next to the ones you want to use. Click ‘Save Xero Settings’ before leaving the page. 

Source: Compare Your Footprint platform. 

4. Update Xero 

Go back to Xero and refresh your Tracking Categories page. The selected tracking options will now appear in the tracking category you set up. 

5. Apply Tracking Categories

Open a Xero Bill. In the Tracking Category Section (e.g. ‘Carbon Category’), select the appropriate Compare Your Footprint tracking option. 

Source: Compare Your Footprint platform. 

Using Carbon Category in this example, you will be able to select which Compare Your Footprint tracking option you would like to apply to the bill.

Source: Compare Your Footprint platform. 

6. Import bills to convert

Once you have added your categories to the bills that you would like to import, you can import your bills to Compare Your Footprint by going back into your Compare Your Footprint account, selecting the date period you would like to import your bills for, and then by clicking the “Import spend data from Xero” button.

Source: Compare Your Footprint platform. 

Connect to Sage

1. Access Sage Connection

Go to the "Organisations" tab in Compare Your Footprint and find your organisation. Click the "View/Edit" button.

Scroll down and click the "Connect to Sage" button.

2. Login with sage credentials 

You'll be redirected to a page where you can log in with your Sage credentials. Once connected, the "Connect to Sage" button will be replaced by integration settings.

Map Tracking Options

1. Select Tracking Categories 

In the Sage integration settings, you can map Sage account codes to Compare Your Footprint's tracking options. For each tracking option, click the dropdown to see a list of your Sage Ledger Accounts.

2. Save Sage Settings

After selecting the appropriate Sage Ledger Accounts, scroll down and click "Save Sage Settings" to save your changes.

Import Bills

1. Choose Date Range

To import bills, choose the date range for the period you want to import.

2. Import data from Sage

Click the "Import spend data from Sage" button to complete the process.

 Next up: now that you have set up your Xero or Sage account, learn how to set up your facilities by reading our Setting Up Facilities article.