Business Travel emissions relate to those which arise from the transportation of employees (not goods) for business-related activities in vehicles owned or operated by third parties. For instance, this could be travelling between offices for events or travelling to a client's office.
Business Travel also includes any accommodation (e.g. Hotel rooms) stayed in whilst travelling as well as parking or valet services used, however, according to the GHG Protocol, these are optional.
There are 5 Business Travel calculation methods for journey-related emissions to choose from:
Distance travelled uses the distance travelled in km per mode of transport, numbers of travellers, and travel class. (Recommended)
Origin and destination of travels uses the location of the origin and destination of the trip for flight, train or car trips.
Long- vs. short-haul travels uses the number of long- and short-haul trips per mode of transport.
Spend uses the business travel expenditure and the travel type to calculate emissions. Accommodation and parking-related emissions can also be calculated using this calculation method.
Bring Your Own Emissions allows you to upload your own pre-calculated emissions to the Plan A platform. For more information, see here.
There are 3 calculation methods for accommodation-related emissions:
Accommodation uses accommodation type, number of nights, and number of rooms. This method can be used in addition to calculating emissions from travel, in order to gain a comprehensive picture of your Business Travel emissions.
Spend uses accommodation-related expenditure to calculate emissions. Journey and parking-related emissions can also be calculated using this calculation method.
Bring Your Own Emissions allows you to upload your own pre-calculated emissions to the Plan A platform. For more information, see here.
There are 2 calculation methods for parking-related calculation methods:
Spend uses parking-related expenditure to calculate emissions. Journey and accommodation-related emissions can also be calculated using this calculation method.
Bring Your Own Emissions allows you to upload your own pre-calculated emissions to the Plan A platform. For more information, see here.
Check out our step-by-step guides to formatting data for all calculation methods.
Step-by-Step: Format Distance Travelled Data (Recommended)
Step-by-Step: Format Distance Travelled Data (Recommended)
There are several ways to enter your data. Regardless of which method you choose, you must include all required information to ensure accurate emissions calculations. Below, we’ve listed the key data points you need to include.
Column A: start_date
The first day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
This field is mandatory.
Column B: end_date
The last day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
It can be the same as the start date if you are entering data for just one day.
This field is mandatory.
Column C: location
The ISO-3166 alpha-2 code of the country where the business trip started (e.g., DE).
Please use 'GLOBAL' if you don't know where the trip originated.
This field is mandatory.
Column D: facility_name
The facility that the respective emissions should be allocated to.
Make sure to apply exactly the same names you set in ‘Organisational Data’.
Column E: value
The distance travelled during the business trip.
Numbers can be formatted with periods, commas, or spaces as separators. Full list here.
This field is mandatory.
Column F: value.unit
The measurement unit used in the distance data.
Choose from:
km
mi
This field is mandatory.
Column G: travel_type
The mode of transport used for travel.
Choose from:
flight
train
car (non-electric)
This field is mandatory.
Column H: flight_class
If flight was chosen in travel type please choose a flight class from:
first
business
economy
unknown
If any other mode of transport was selected you can leave this column empty.
Column I: greater_than_400km
If flight was chosen in travel type please state if the distance flown was greater than 400km.
Choose from:
yes
no
If any other mode of transport was selected you can leave this column empty.
Column J: domestic_or_international_flight
If flight was chosen in travel type please state if it was a domestic or international flight.
Choose from:
domestic
international
If any other mode of transport was selected you can leave this column empty.
Column K: number_of_passengers
The amount of employees who travelled on this trip.
This field is mandatory for travel types "flight" and "train".
Leave empty for travel type "car".
Column L: route
When uploading your data we recommend adding the route.
This data can provide valuable insights into your travel patterns, such as which routes and modes of transport are frequently used.
With this information, you can take targeted decarbonisation actions to reduce emissions on those routes.
This field is optional but recommended.
Optional tags
As always, you can add optional columns for company specific tags.
Learn more about how tags work: Tag Your Data.
Step-by-Step: Format Origin and Destination Data
Step-by-Step: Format Origin and Destination Data
There are several ways to enter your data. Regardless of which method you choose, you must include all required information to ensure accurate emissions calculations. Below, we’ve listed the key data points you need to include.
Column A: start_date
The first day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
This field is mandatory.
Column B: end_date
The last day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
It can be the same as the start date if you are entering data for just one day.
This field is mandatory.
Column C: facility_name
The facility that the respective emissions should be allocated to.
Make sure to apply exactly the same names you set in ‘Organisational Data’.
Column D: travel_type
The mode of transport used for travel.
Choose from:
flight
train
car (non-electric)
This field is mandatory.
Column E: number_of_passengers
The amount of employees who travelled on this trip.
This field is mandatory for travel types "flight" and "train".
Leave empty for travel type "car".
Column F: origin
The starting location of the trip.
For flights enter either:
IATA airport code (3-letter code commonly used for airline timetables, reservations, and baggage tags)
ICAO airport code (4-letter code designating aerodromes and mainly used by air traffic control and airline operations for flight planning)
For train and car trips enter any of the following:
city name, country name
postal code, country name
postal code, city name, country name
This field is mandatory.
Note on city name: If the city is a common name, please include the country or postal code to be certain that the correct location is tracked.
For car trips that took place within the same city, adding a postal code is required.
Column G: destination
The ending location of the trip.
For flights enter either:
IATA airport code (3-letter code commonly used for airline timetables, reservations, and baggage tags) or
ICAO airport code (4-letter code designating aerodromes and mainly used by air traffic control and airline operations for flight planning)
For train and car trips enter any of the following:
city name with or without postal code
station name
full address
Destination can not be the same as origin.
City names (without postal codes) should only be used if the origin and destination cities are different.
This field is mandatory.
Note on city name: If the city is a common name, please include the country or postal code to be certain that the correct location is tracked.
For car trips that took place within the same city, adding a postal code is required.
Column H: flight_class
If flight was chosen in travel type please choose a flight class from:
first
business
economy
unknown
If any other mode of transport was selected you can leave this column empty.
Column I: one_way_or_return
Indicate if the trip is a roundtrip journey by entering:
return
Indicate if the trip is a one-way journey by entering:
one way
This field is mandatory if you want the trip to be calculated as a roundtrip.
If the cell is left empty, the journey will be defaulted to one way.
Note: If your flight journey has a layover stop before reaching the final destination, please enter each leg of the trip as separate trips in different rows of data.
If your raw business travel data contains multi-stop flight information with routing, or is an export of one of Navan, TravelPerk, or Egencia, you can contact Customer Support to process the data for you.
Step-by-Step: Format Long vs Short Haul Data
Step-by-Step: Format Long vs Short Haul Data
There are several ways to enter your data. Regardless of which method you choose, you must include all required information to ensure accurate emissions calculations. Below, we’ve listed the key data points you need to include.
Column A: start_date
The first day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
This field is mandatory.
Column B: end_date
The last day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
It can be the same as the start date if you are entering data for just one day.
This field is mandatory.
Column C: location
The ISO-3166 alpha-2 code of the country where the emissions occurred (e.g., DE).
This field is mandatory.
Column D: facility_name
The facility that the respective emissions should be allocated to.
Make sure to apply exactly the same names you set in ‘Organisational Data’.
Column E: value
Number of business trips: The number of business trips within the time frame that have the same travel type, flight class and length
This field is mandatory.
Column F: travel_type
The mode of transport used for travel.
Choose from:
flight
train
car (non-electric)
This field is mandatory.
Column G: flight_class
If flight was chosen in travel type please choose a flight class from:
first
business
economy
unknown
If any other mode of transport was selected you can leave this column empty.
Column H: short_haul_or_long_haul
Indicate the distance travelled on this trip.
Choose from:
long (greater then 1000km for flights, 30km for cars, 200km train)
short (shorter then 1000km for flights, 30km for cars, 200km train)
This field is mandatory.
Column I: route
When uploading your data we recommend adding the route.
This data can provide valuable insights into your travel patterns, such as which routes and modes of transport are frequently used.
With this information, you can take targeted decarbonisation actions to reduce emissions on those routes.
This field is optional but recommended.
Optional tags
As always, you can add optional columns for company specific tags.
Learn more about how tags work: Tag Your Data.
Step-by-Step: Format Spend Data
Step-by-Step: Format Spend Data
There are several ways to enter your data. Regardless of which method you choose, you must include all required information to ensure accurate emissions calculations. Below, we’ve listed the key data points you need to include.
Column A: start_date
The first day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
This field is mandatory.
Column B: end_date
The last day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
It can be the same as the start date if you are entering data for just one day.
This field is mandatory.
Column C: location
The ISO-3166 alpha-2 code of the country where the trip started (e.g., DE).
This field is mandatory.
Column D: facility_name
The facility that the respective emissions should be allocated to.
Make sure to apply exactly the same names you set in ‘Organisational Data’.
Column E: value
The gross spend amount on the business travel expenditure, in the selected currency.
Numbers should be formatted using numeric values only and using a dot as the decimal separator (e.g. 2534.20).
This field is mandatory.
Column F: value.currency
Enter the currency your spend data is in.
Format: Three letter currency code (EUR, USD, GBP, etc).
This field is mandatory
Column G: travel_type
The type of travel used. Choose from:
flight
car
train
bus
This field is optional but recommended for journey-related data as it enables you to aggregate Scope 3 Category 6 emissions calculated using different methods on your dashboards.
Column H: plana_category
The Plan A category that your business travel expenditure falls under. Choose from:
Air transportation for travel type flight
Rail transportation for travel type train
Transit and ground passenger transportation for travel type car and bus
Accommodation for stays in hotels or similar
Other personal services for parking or valet services
This field is mandatory.
Column I: route
When uploading your data we recommend adding the route.
This data can provide valuable insights into your travel patterns, such as which routes and modes of transport are frequently used.
With this information, you can take targeted decarbonisation actions to reduce emissions on those routes.
This field is optional but recommended.
Optional tags
As always, you can add optional columns for company specific tags.
Learn more about how tags work: Tag Your Data.
Step-by-Step: Format Accommodation Data
Step-by-Step: Format Accommodation Data
There are several ways to enter your data. Regardless of which method you choose, you must include all required information to ensure accurate emissions calculations. Below, we’ve listed the key data points you need to include.
Column A: start_date
The first day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
This field is mandatory.
Column B: end_date
The last day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
It can be the same as the start date if you are entering data for just one day.
This field is mandatory.
Column C: location
The ISO-3166 alpha-2 code of the country where the accommodation is located (e.g., DE).
This field is mandatory.
Column D: facility_name
The facility that the respective emissions should be allocated to.
Make sure to apply exactly the same names you set in ‘Organisational Data’.
Column E: value
Number of nights: The total number of nights spent in the given accommodation
This field is mandatory.
Column F: accommodation_rating
The number of stars of the given accommodation.
Choose from:
up to two stars
three stars
four stars
five stars
unknown
This field is mandatory.
Column G: accommodation_rooms
The number of rooms booked.
This field is mandatory.
Optional tags
As always, you can add optional columns for company specific tags.
Learn more about how tags work: Tag Your Data.
Step-by-Step: Format BYOE Data
Step-by-Step: Format BYOE Data
There are several ways to enter your data. Regardless of which method you choose, you must include all required information to ensure accurate emissions calculations. Below, we’ve listed the key data points you need to include.
Column A: start_date
The first day of your data period.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
This field is mandatory.
Column B: end_date
The last day of your data period. It can be the same as the start date if you are entering data for just one day.
The suggested date format is YYYY-MM-DD, but check the Accepted Formats article to see a full list of formats you can use.
This field is mandatory.
Column C: location
The ISO-3166 alpha-2 code of the country where the emissions occurred (e.g., DE).
This field is mandatory.
Column D: facility_name
The facility that the respective emissions should be allocated to.
You can leave this column empty if you wish to calculate emissions on a company-level basis.
Make sure to apply exactly the same names you set here to all the other templates asking for a "facility_name" input.
Column E: value
Your own emissions in kg CO₂e.
Numbers can be formatted with periods, commas, or spaces as separators. Full list here.
This field is mandatory.
Optional tags
As always, you can add optional columns for company specific tags.
Learn more about how tags work: Tag Your Data.
Reminder: It is not Plan A’s responsibility to ensure the calculation of those 3rd parties are in accordance with the GHG Protocol. There is no verification or validation of BOYE emissions through Plan A.