Standards and reporting
ISO 14064 Software
ISO 14064 software selection should test whether an inventory remains explainable through boundary changes, corrected calculations and a separate verification handover.
What should ISO 14064 software support?
Begin with the intended GHG statement rather than treating the standard’s name as a software feature badge inventory scope verification scope.
Module 01 / 04
Statement
Name the inventory being prepared.
Module 02 / 04
Boundary
Preserve decisions about included operations.
Module 03 / 04
Version
Keep inputs and accepted results reproducible.
Module 04 / 04
Handover
Export evidence for a separate review engagement.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
ISO 14064-1 addresses organisation-level inventories, while ISO 14064-3 addresses verification and validation of GHG statements, so our buyer test separates preparation controls from the reviewer’s conclusion Part 1 Part 3.
Use the sustainability reporting standards hub to identify the other outputs that may need a distinct bridge from this inventory.
What should the version register contain?
The application should distinguish the published basis from development material rather than silently updating an approved statement.
| Decision | Working record | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Published criteria | ISO 14064-1:2018 in the pilot brief | Can the accepted basis be retained? |
| Revision watch | Separate entry for the working-draft project | Can proposed text be kept out of live calculations? |
| Application guidance | ISO/TS 14064-4:2025 reference | Can the methodology note identify its supporting guidance? |
| Engagement basis | Separate verification criteria and scope | Can preparation and review versions be distinguished? |
How should boundary decisions survive imports?
ISO’s application guidance describes organisational and reporting boundaries, which makes the decision trail a useful software test boundary guidance.
Module 01 / 04
Identity
Keep a stable facility identifier.
Module 02 / 04
Decision
Record inclusion and its explanation.
Module 03 / 04
Period
Attach evidence to the correct reporting period.
Module 04 / 04
Change
Show how later decisions affect the statement.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Ask the demonstrator to import a source record for a facility outside the accepted list and show whether it is rejected, held for review or silently included.
Our suggested acceptance condition is a visible unresolved decision with a named owner rather than an automatic assumption based on the supplier name.
The ISO 14064 guide explains the statement types, while ESG data collection provides the contributor and evidence context for this test.
What should an original error fixture include?
Fictional Calder Equipment gives each shortlisted supplier the same deliberately imperfect file before any product demonstration.
| Decision | Working record | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Facility record | Site C is absent from the approved population | Hold its activity until the inclusion decision is reviewed. |
| Duplicate import | The same invoice arrives through two connectors | Show the duplicate and preserve the resolution. |
| Unit error | A source marked kilograms is read as tonnes | Expose the unit mismatch before approval. |
| Missing estimate | A blank consumption cell is imported | Keep missing information distinct from a measured zero. |
What should the worked pilot prove?
Calder’s fictional inventory starts with accepted contributions of 90 and 60 tonnes, then receives a corrected 15-tonne source on an explicitly matching basis.
Module 01 / 04
Opening
Retain the accepted 150-tonne version.
Module 02 / 04
Correction
Add the reviewed 15-tonne contribution.
Module 03 / 04
Revised total
Explain the resulting 165 tonnes.
Module 04 / 04
Comparison
Keep the reason for the 10% increase visible.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
The invented arithmetic is 90 plus 60 equals 150 tonnes, followed by 150 plus 15 equals 165 tonnes, making the correction 10% of the earlier total.
This is a correction to the illustrated inventory population, not evidence that the company’s real-world emissions increased by 10% between reporting periods.
Ask the supplier to reconstruct both versions and show who accepted the new source, which evidence supported it and which exported statement carries the revised total.
What should a sampled calculation export show?
A downloadable calculation record should remain intelligible to a reviewer who has no access to the demonstration environment.
| Decision | Working record | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Source identity | Facility, activity and evidence reference | Can the reviewer find the underlying record? |
| Quantity | Value, unit and covered period | Is a unit conversion explicit? |
| Method | Factor, version and calculation expression | Can the result be independently reproduced? |
| Decision | Estimate, correction and approval history | Can the reviewer distinguish original and revised inputs? |
How should different GHG objects be separated?
A software workspace should not merge an organisation inventory, a project forecast and a product study simply because each result is expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent.
Module 01 / 04
Organisation
Associate sources with the inventory basis.
Module 02 / 04
Project
Retain project and baseline assumptions.
Module 03 / 04
Product
Identify the relevant study and coverage.
Module 04 / 04
Bridge
Explain any reuse of underlying activity evidence.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
ISO 14064-2 describes project performance against a baseline scenario, whereas ISO 14067 concerns product carbon-footprint quantification and reporting project scope product scope.
For Calder’s pilot, load a separately labelled forecast of eight tonnes avoided and verify that it does not automatically reduce the accepted 165-tonne inventory.
The product carbon footprint guide and carbon accounting guide provide separate decision contexts for these outputs.
How should preparation and review permissions differ?
Our procurement test assigns actions to distinct roles without assuming every organisation uses the same staffing structure.
| Decision | Working record | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Contributor | Upload evidence and explain a missing quantity | Cannot silently replace an accepted source. |
| Inventory owner | Resolve the boundary and calculation decision | Records the basis for accepting the change. |
| Internal reviewer | Challenge the calculation and request revision | Can see the earlier version and unresolved issues. |
| External reviewer | Access the agreed engagement evidence | Does not inherit responsibility for the company’s input decisions. |
What should the verification handover contain?
Part 3 applies to organisation, project and product GHG statements, so the export needs to identify the particular statement being examined applicable statements.
Module 01 / 04
Statement
Freeze the agreed information version.
Module 02 / 04
Evidence
Link sampled numbers to supporting records.
Module 03 / 04
Queries
Record questions and accepted responses.
Module 04 / 04
Limitations
Preserve unresolved matters and coverage notes.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Ask the demonstrator to export Calder’s accepted 165-tonne statement, the 150-to-165 reconciliation and the complete evidence references for the corrected source.
UKAS describes accreditation of GHG validation and verification bodies, while ISO 14065 and ISO 14066 address body and team requirements rather than a software product credential UKAS programme body requirements team competence.
Use sustainability assurance software for the broader engagement-support workflow and define the actual reviewer’s role separately.
What should a remote-evidence demonstration test?
Part 5 provides guidance on remote activities in specified verification and validation circumstances, rather than a universal right to replace site work remote-activity scope.
| Decision | Working record | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence access | Open the original file and its metadata | Is a screenshot being mistaken for complete source evidence? |
| Recalculation | Follow an exported calculation outside the tool | Can the reviewer reproduce the selected result? |
| Query trail | Link a question to a particular source version | Does a later edit erase the response context? |
| Visit decision | Leave the engagement decision with the reviewer | Does the sales claim promise remote-only verification? |
How should other reporting outputs be mapped?
ISO describes the series as programme neutral, with applicable programme requirements additional to its own programme neutrality.
Module 01 / 04
Basis
Identify the destination framework.
Module 02 / 04
Coverage
Review population and source differences.
Module 03 / 04
Presentation
Keep output labels and units accurate.
Module 04 / 04
Approval
Accept the destination report separately.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
An export labelled “ISO 14064” is not sufficient evidence that every field in a customer questionnaire or another reporting framework has been completed additional requirements.
The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard is a separate corporate inventory framework, so a buyer should ask the supplier to explain the actual mapping rather than assert that the names are interchangeable Corporate Standard.
The sustainability software guide covers broader platform selection, while this pilot concentrates on the ISO-linked inventory and its reviewer handover.
How should buyers record the decision?
Use observable results from the shared fixture rather than treating presentation quality as evidence of control.
| Decision | Working record | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Boundary exception | Unexpected site held and explained | Keep the exported decision record. |
| Correction | Both 150- and 165-tonne versions reconstructed | Keep the reconciliation and approval history. |
| Evidence portability | Sample reproduced without vendor access | Keep the files and unresolved limitations. |
| Claim discipline | Preparation distinguished from independent review | Reject unsupported certification or compliance promises. |
What should be agreed before procurement closes?
A practical contract brief names the deliverables, the evidence ownership and the work that remains with the company and its chosen reviewer.
Module 01 / 04
Pilot result
Attach accepted tests and outstanding gaps.
Module 02 / 04
Ownership
Identify responsibility for source decisions.
Module 03 / 04
Portability
Agree usable evidence and calculation exports.
Module 04 / 04
Review
Define separate engagement responsibilities.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Calder records the unresolved connector limitation as an open procurement issue.
Part 1 remains current while its revision is under development, so the buyer also asks how future editions will be assessed and introduced without overwriting accepted records published edition revision project.
When help is required to define those decisions, scope the sustainability consultancy engagement around deliverables rather than an assumed provider identity or credential.
How should the team organise the work?
This editorial sequence supports preparation and review; it is not an ISO conformity checklist.
- 101
Write the use case
Name the inventory, period, recipients and review purpose. - 202
Record criteria
Identify published editions and separate development material. - 303
Prepare the fixture
Include boundary, duplicate, unit and missing-data errors. - 404
Run the import
Observe how exceptions are held and resolved. - 505
Reproduce calculations
Export a sampled quantity, method and result. - 606
Test the correction
Reconstruct the 150- and 165-tonne fictional versions. - 707
Test review access
Trace questions, responses and statement versions. - 808
Verify portability
Use the evidence files outside the platform. - 909
Approve the brief
Record accepted capabilities, gaps and human responsibilities.
Frequently asked
Questions people ask
What is ISO 14064 software?
It is a buyer description for tools supporting relevant GHG inventory work, while the standard itself addresses the inventory rather than naming a software certification.
Can software verify the inventory?
Software can support the evidence workflow, but a separate engagement must define the statement and verification work under the relevant criteria.
Should project savings reduce the inventory automatically?
Our pilot keeps the forecast separate because project accounting and organisation inventories have distinct purposes.
Can all verification be remote?
Part 5 applies remote techniques under specified verification or validation circumstances rather than promising that every engagement can omit site work.
Does an ISO logo prove the tool is certified?
ISO says it does not perform certification or issue certificates, so buyers should examine the actual claim and evidence.
What is the most useful export test?
Our suggested test reconstructs an accepted calculation and its correction outside the platform, preserving source identity, method, versions and review decisions.
Sources
Primary sources
Primary provisions and official owner guidance checked on 26 October 2026; historical and draft resources are labelled in the guide.
- ISOISO 14064-1:2018: organisation inventories
- ISOISO 14064-2:2019: projects
- ISOISO 14064-3:2019: verification and validation
- ISOISO/TS 14064-4:2025: application guidance
- ISOISO 14064-5:2026: remote activities
- ISOISO 14065:2020: verification bodies
- ISOISO 14066:2023: team competence
- ISOISO 14067:2018: product carbon footprints
- ISOISO/WD 14064-1.2: revision project
- ISOCertification and ISO’s role
- UKASValidation and verification accreditation
- GHG ProtocolCorporate Accounting and Reporting Standard