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Set up sustainability in Business Central

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To use the sustainability features effectively, you need to set up some basic controls and instructions. This article explains how to do that.

Role center

If your primary responsibilities involve sustainability processes, we recommend that you use the Sustainability Manager Role Center. It gives easy access to the core features of sustainability, and the finance and procurement processes. It also shows the most important sustainability-related key performance indicators (KPIs).

To configure the Role Center, follow the steps:

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter My settings, and then select the related link.
  2. In the Role field, select the Available Roles page.
  3. Choose Sustainability Manager.
  4. Select OK.

Sustainability setup

Specify some general settings for sustainability, such as the unit of measure for emissions, the decimal places for amounts, and whether some fields are mandatory.

To configure these settings, follow these steps:

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Sustainability Setup, and then select the related link.

  2. On the General FastTab, configure the required fields that are related to sustainability.

    Field Description
    Emission Unit of Measure Code Enter the unit of measure code that you use to register emissions.
    Emission Decimal Places Enter the number of decimal places that show for emission amounts. The default setting, 2:5, means that a minimum of two decimal places and a maximum of five decimal places show for all amounts. You can also enter a fixed number. For example, if you enter 2, two decimal places show for all amounts.
    Country/Region Mandatory Require people to fill in the Country/Region field on journals before they can post. If you don't select this field, you can still specify a country/region in journals.
    Responsibility Center Mandatory Require people to fill in the Responsibility Center field on journals before they can post. You can use a responsibility center as a facility, so that you can measure facility-based emissions. If you don't select this field, you can still specify a responsibility center in journals.
    Block Calculation Foundation Change If Ledger Entries Exist Prevent people from changing the calculation foundation (formula) at the account category level if the formula was applied to sustainability entries.
    Enable Background Error Check Enable Business Central to validate sustainability journal lines in the background.

    Note

    After you turn on or turn off the background error check in journals, you must sign in again before you start the new setup.

  3. On the Procurement FastTab, configure the required fields that are related to usage of sustainability features in the purchase process.

    Field Description
    Use Emissions In Purchase Documents If you enable this field, sustainability related fields and features are available on purchase documents, such as Sustainability Account field or various emissions.

  4. On the Calculations FastTab, configure the required fields for the formulas that calculate emissions.

    Field Description
    Fuel/Electricity Decimal Places Enter the number of decimal places that show for fuel/electricity amounts. The default setting, 2:5, indicates that a minimum of two decimal places and a maximum of five decimal places show for all amounts. You can also enter a fixed number. For example, if you enter 2, two decimal places show for all amounts.
    Distance Decimal Places Enter the number of decimal places that show for distance measurements. The default setting, 2:5, indicates that a minimum of two decimal places and a maximum of five decimal places show for all amounts. You can also enter a fixed number. For example, if you enter 2, two decimal places show for all amounts.
    Custom Amount Decimal Places Enter the number of decimal places that show for custom amounts. The default setting, 2:5, indicates that a minimum of two decimal places and a maximum of five decimal places show for all amounts. You can also enter a fixed number. For example, if you enter 2, two decimal places show for all amounts.

  5. On the Reporting FastTab, complete the setup by configuring the fields that are related to reporting to authorities.

    Note

    In version 24.0, Business Central doesn't support reporting to any authorities. The fields that are related to the configuration of this functionality on the Reporting FastTab are intended for future reporting capabilities. However, partners can also use these fields in localized versions.

    Field Description
    Emission Reporting Unit of Measure Code Enter the unit of measure code that you use to report emissions. You can use a different unit of measure when you report to authorities. This field isn't applicable to the standard reports.
    Reporting UOM Factor Enter the unit of measure factor that you use to register emissions, if you use a different unit of measure when you report to authorities.
    Emission Rounding Precision Enter the size of the interval that you use to round emission amounts when you report to authorities.
    Emission Rounding Type Choose how to round emission amounts when you report to authorities.

Emission fees

To track internal carbon fees or calculate your emissions using carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents, configure the Emission Fees page.

  1. Select the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Emission Fees, and then select the related link.
  2. In the Emission Type field, choose the GHG emission you want to configure. This field is mandatory.
  3. You can also specify the Scope Type. If you leave this field blank, the fees apply to all scopes, but you can configure it for each scope.
  4. You can configure Starting Date and Ending Date. You can use different configurations for different periods.
  5. The Country/Region Code and Responsibility Code are optional fields that you can use if you want to have different carbon fees or carbon equivalent factors per country/region or per facility (responsibility center).
  6. The Carbon Fee field represents the internal carbon fee that a company charges itself for each unit of CO2 equivalent that it emits. You can use this field based on local or regional regulations, or for internal calculations. The carbon fee is calculated every time you post emissions. The information displays on the Sustainability Ledger Entries page, without a posting on G/L Ledger. You can set up a carbon fee for each unit of measure that you have on the Sustainability Setup page. You can fill in this field only for lines where the Emission Type field is set to CO2.
  7. The Carbon Equivalent Factor field specifies the coefficient that converts the impact of various GHGs into the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide based on their global warming potential. If the Emission Type is CO2, the Carbon Equivalent Factor is always 1. You can't change this value because CO2 is the reference gas used to calculate the global warming potential (GWP) of other GHGs. Because CO2 is the baseline, its GWP is set to 1. For other GHGs, you must configure the values manually. Here's an example of how to calculate the carbon equivalent factor. If one kilogram of N2O is equivalent to 298 kilograms of CO2, you divide 1 by 298, and the result you need to populate is 0.00336.

Note

The Carbon Fee field on the Sustainability Ledger Entries isn't calculated based on the CO2 Emission values. Instead, as a foundation for this formula, Business Central uses the CO2e Emission field. The CO2e Emission field is calculated based on all emissions posted to an entry. The Carbon Equivalent Factor is configured for each of the gases on the Emission Fees page.

Tip

To use CO2e for all emissions (CO2e of CO2, CO2e of CH4, and CO2e of N2O), set the Carbon Equivalent Factor field to 1 for all options - CO2, CH4, and N2O. This setting gives you CO2e for all emissions, and the CO2e field displays the total carbon equivalent.

If you didn't configure emission fees before you post sustainability entries, and you want to calculate your carbon fees and CO2e retroactively, run the Calculate Emission Fees action to update the values on the sustainability ledger entries.

Finance
Sustainability management overview
Chart of sustainability accounts and ledger
Record sustainability entries
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