BeginnerChecklist10-minute read
Scope 1, 2, and 3 Data Collection Checklist
Work department by department through the records needed for a complete first inventory.
How to use this checklist
Work through each department once. For every row, capture: does the record exist, who owns it, and how far back it goes.
Facilities and operations
- Utility bills (electricity, natural gas, district heating/cooling)
- Fuel purchase records for owned/leased vehicles and equipment
- Refrigerant purchase and top-up records
- On-site fuel combustion (boilers, generators, process equipment)
Finance and procurement
- General ledger exports by cost category
- Purchased-goods and capital-goods spend
- Business travel and expense reports
- Waste-hauling invoices
Human resources
- Employee commuting patterns (survey or estimate basis)
- Remote-work arrangements, if included in scope
Logistics
- Inbound and outbound freight records
- Third-party logistics invoices
Sales and customer-facing teams
- Product/service lines relevant to downstream use-phase estimates
- Customer sustainability questionnaires already received (a useful signal for which Scope 3 categories matter most)
Mark each row Available, Partially available, or Not yet available — that status is the direct input to a Scope 3 screening exercise.
- Author
- OCEANS™ content team
- Published
- June 2026
- Last reviewed
- August 2026
- Methodology basis
- GHG Protocol Scope 3 Calculation Guidance
- Applicable geography
- General — not jurisdiction-specific
- Material limitations
- A starting checklist, not an exhaustive list for every industry.
Guides provide general educational information. Legal, accounting, assurance, and regulatory decisions should be reviewed with appropriately qualified advisers.