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You’ve been assigned as the data holder for Expense Data.
The Virtual Sustainability Officer® uses advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyse company expenses, offering industry-leading precision in carbon impact calculations.
The more detailed and accurate your inputs, the more granular and useful the insights—helping shape more impactful emission reduction strategies.
This guide is here to help you and your team input the most effective expense data for analysis.
We use the {...} syntax to denote data inputs, for example when talking about the an Economy class or Business class flight we would denote this as {ECONOMY} or {BUSINESS}. We’ve put together this guide to help you and your employees to input the most useful information for expenses and to ensure the best actions can be created for emission reduction suggestions.
Typically expenses should be available as a direct download or export from an expense software.
Type | Comments | Suggested Entry |
Flights | Flights should have departure and arrival as a minimum. Flight Class, Single/Return, and number of passengers is also recommended. | FLIGHT {DEPARTURE} to {ARRIVAL} {SINGLE/RETURN} {PERSONS} e.g. FLIGHT LONDON HEATHROW TO VALENCIA RETURN 1 PERSON |
Trains | As a minimum, trains should be categorized explicitly as train journeys. Additional details can be included. | TRAIN {DEPARTURE} {ARRIVAL} {SINGLE/RETURN} {PERSONS} e.g. Travel – TRAIN LONDON to BRISTOL SINGLE x 2 |
Taxis | As a minimum, taxis should be categorized as taxis. Additional details can be included. | TAXI ({DEPARTURE} {ARRIVAL}) e.g. Travel – TAXI (Nice Airport to Hôtel Beau Rivage) |
TFL | TfL travel trips should be categorized explicitly by their type. | TFL (or other mass-transit type) |
Hotel | Hotels should define the location and number of room.nights (room nights take account for multiple rooms on one booking i.e. 2 room.nights could be 1 room for 2 nights, or 2 rooms for 1 night.) | HOTEL {COUNTRY} {ROOM.NIGHTS} e.g. HOTEL DENMARK 1 RN |
Major company events will be completed by the Events Onboarding i.e. Christmas Party etc. We will cross reference expense and financial data with the data inputs to ensure no double counting takes place.
Type | Comments | Suggested Entry |
Meals and Coffee | General company meals can be categorized by their type and quantity. Types include, but aren’t limited to: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Coffee. Additional information can be included such as vegetarian diet, if the user would like to provide this information. | {TYPE} {OUTLET} {QUANTITY} e.g. DINNER NANDOS x 5 PERSONS |
Drinks | Drinks with clients or staff entertainment should be included. The type of drinks (i.e. beer, wine, cocktails, soft drinks) can also be included. | Drinks {QUANTITY} e.g. JAMES’S LEAVING DRINKS X 10 |
Socials | Small scale socials should be included with some relevant description. | {WHAT} {WHERE} {PERSONS} e.g. PRODUCT SOCIAL BOWLING 10 PEOPLE |
Major purchased goods will be added in via the Assets Onboarding. We will cross reference expense and financial data with the data inputs to ensure no double counting takes place. Overall, the more information provided the better.
Type | Comments | Suggested Entry |
Electronics | Electronic items should be given information on the type, make, and model where possible. Include count if more than one. | {TYPE} {MAKE} {MODEL} e.g. 2 x LAPTOP APPLE MACBOOK PRO M1 2022 |
Ad-hoc Purchasing | Anything ordered (especially from Amazon) should have additional information provided on the item type. Include count if more than one. This can include gifts, stationary, food and drink purchases for the office, uniforms, promo items etc. | {VENDOR} {ITEM TYPE} e.g. AMAZON 10 x DESK FANS FOR THE OFFICE |
Provide specific, detailed information using the recommended formats. The more complete your entries, the better the carbon insights and recommendations.
Curly brackets highlight where specific data should be inserted (e.g., {ARRIVAL}, {ROOM.NIGHTS}), helping structure entries clearly for automated analysis.
Categorise each travel type—Flights, Trains, Taxis, TfL, Hotels—according to the guide above. Accuracy in these details directly improves the emissions assessment.
Log the type, outlet, and number of people. Adding info like vegetarian options is optional but helpful.
Yes—include quantities and basic context (e.g., farewell drinks, team socials) to support better categorisation.
List the make/model (for electronics), and item type/vendor for ad-hoc purchases. Always include quantity if more than one.
This information is essential not only for sustainability but also for standard accounting. It should already be available within your company’s finance systems. If it’s missing, the carbon impact for those activities can’t be measured.
