Most carbon inventories are still kept in spreadsheets. That works at small scale, but the same mistakes repeat during audits and growth.
- Mixed units. kWh and MWh, m³ and Sm³ in the same column. Fix: unit validation at entry.
- Outdated factors. Emission factors copied years ago. Fix: a central, version-controlled factor library.
- Double counting. The same invoice in two site files. Fix: a single record per source.
- Untraceable results. Nobody knows which data the total came from. Fix: linking every result to its source.
- Missing months. Totals are taken without noticing the gaps. Fix: automatic missing-data alerts.
- Dependence on one person. When the person who knows the file leaves, the knowledge goes too. Fix: role-based workflows and documentation.
Monitor's bulk import, automatic validation and error flagging features catch most of these mistakes at the moment of data entry.