Summary

  • A spreadsheet, a consultancy or a software platform will each get you a carbon number. Terrascope gets you one that passes audit first time, in weeks, with specialists doing the hard parts alongside your team.

  • Speed is only part of it. The routes also differ at audit time, when each figure has to trace back to its source, and every year after that, when the exercise is repeated.

  • We put nine questions to each route, from how long it takes to reach an audit-ready baseline to whether the number can carry you on to product footprints and a decarbonisation plan. The answers show what each gives you as part of the deal, and what you add yourself.

  • If a reporting deadline is in view, a 45-minute working session with a Terrascope specialist shows the gap between your current number and an audit-ready one, using your own data. 

Companies typically measure their carbon footprint one of a few ways: a spreadsheet built in-house, a consultancy engagement, or a carbon management software. They differ on how fast you get to your number, what each annual refresh costs, whether figures trace back to source data when an auditor asks, and how far beyond disclosure the result takes you. Terrascope's combination of platform and experts gives you a unique path. The comparison below helps you weigh the options.

Each route can get you a number. The differences show up later: when an auditor asks to see the workings, when a regulator or a customer wants the figure by a fixed date, and when the whole exercise has to be repeated next year. Terrascope does all three inside a single subscription, with specialists on hand.

What each route does best

Each column is an option you have for carbon accounting; each row is a question to ask of your current setup. Filled dots mean coverage; fewer dots mean extra spend or manual work. Read down the column you use today to assess your options.

Four options for carbon accounting side by side: in-house spreadsheet, consultancy-led, software-only platform, and Terrascope, a platform with experts built in.

Nine questions to put to your current setup

The first four questions are about getting to a defensible number: how long it takes, whether it survives an audit, what it costs to repeat, and who you call when the methodology needs a judgment. The remaining five are about what the number lets you do next: bring in data in any format, engage suppliers, account for land and agriculture, footprint products, and turn measurement into a plan.

Table comparing in-house spreadsheet, consultancy, software-only platform and Terrascope across nine questions, from time to an audit-ready baseline to decarbonisation planning, rated on a three-dot scale.

Ratings reflect what each route typically covers as standard for an enterprise with a complex supply chain; individual providers vary. Baseline timing applies to standard corporate measurement; supplier data collection takes longer. 

On time to an audit-ready baseline, Terrascope delivers standard corporate measurement in 4 to 6 weeks, with full lineage from every figure to raw data on an EY-assured methodology. On the cost of a refresh, data pipelines are built once at onboarding and reused, so measurement repeats monthly or quarterly inside the subscription, in days of your team's time rather than weeks.

If land emissions sits anywhere in your supply chain, the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals (LSR) Standard covers accounting: from 1 January 2027 it applies to any company with significant land sector activities in its value chain, even one doesn't directly control land. Not sure if it applies to you, then start with: Does the Land Sector and Removals Standard apply to your company? 

What customers achieve after switching

Three customer results after switching to Terrascope: Dyno Nobel passed its first global assurance audit a year early, Japan Tobacco International calculated two years of emissions in one month, and Kellanova mapped its entire Scope 3 footprint.

Every Terrascope customer that has gone through external assurance and SBTi validation has passed. If your next milestone is an SBTi submission, SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2: what's changed for large companies sets out what the validators will be looking for.

See your gap in 45 minutes

A 45-minute working session 
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How long does it take to get an audit-ready carbon footprint with Terrascope?

Four to six weeks for standard corporate measurement, against months for a consultancy engagement and an open-ended timeline for a spreadsheet. Every figure carries full lineage back to raw data on an EY-assured methodology, so the audit trail exists the day the number does. Japan Tobacco International completed two years of global supply chain calculations in a single month; Dyno Nobel passed its first global assurance audit a full year ahead of the deadline.

Is a spreadsheet good enough for carbon accounting?

It gets you a first number. It rarely survives a second look. Every audit question means rebuilding the trail by hand, every refresh costs weeks of internal time, and the whole model depends on one person's calendar. Land, agriculture and product footprints are rarely attempted at scale. Terrascope replaces that with pipelines built once at onboarding and reused, so measurement repeats monthly or quarterly inside the subscription, in days of your team's time.

What is the difference between carbon accounting software and Terrascope?

Software-only platforms sell you a login. The methodology, the documentation and the decarbonisation plan are still on you, and expert help means a support ticket. Terrascope is a platform with experts built in: climate and carbon specialists guide you through measurement, target-setting and audit, on demand, inside the subscription. That is why every Terrascope customer that has gone through external assurance and SBTi validation has passed.

Do I still need a consultancy if I use Terrascope?

Not for measurement, reporting or planning. Terrascope gives you the methodology expertise and board-ready credibility a consultancy brings, without the hourly rate or a fresh invoice each cycle. Reduction opportunities come ranked by impact and feasibility, into a plan a CFO can back. MUI Group used that plan to find 5 to 10% emissions cuts alongside a 56% cost reduction.

Can Terrascope handle land, agriculture and FLAG emissions?

This is where Terrascope is strongest. The GHG Protocol LSR Standard and SBTi FLAG come as standard, with 200,000+ emission factors, land-use change and removals included, and the only productised FLAG module on the market. Princes went from deadline crunch to SBTi-validated FLAG targets in three and a half months. Product carbon footprints are PACT-conformant and run at scale: Pokka footprinted around 5,000 products without supplier data, 92% accurate against actuals, and Vitasoy proved emissions 16% below the industry benchmark and sold on it.

What happens in the 45-minute working session?

A Terrascope specialist works through your own data and shows you the gap between your current number and an audit-ready one: which figures would not survive an auditor, what is missing, and how long closing the gap would take. You leave knowing exactly where you stand.