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Step-by-Step: Format Business Travel Data

How to upload the business travel data.

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Written by Gemma - Plan A Support
Updated over 4 months ago

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)

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

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 with or without postal code

    • station name

    • full address

  • 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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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