How to Set Up ESG Data Tracking in 20 Minutes
Every supplier knows the feeling. A customer sends an ESG questionnaire, and suddenly you're scrambling through old emails, digging through filing cabinets for utility bills, and asking your accountant for numbers they sent you six months ago. You spend two days pulling together data that should have taken an hour.
The problem isn't the data. You have it. The problem is that it's scattered across invoices, emails, HR files, and your waste contractor's portal. What you need isn't more data. You need a system.
Here's how to set one up in 20 minutes.
Why You Need a System, Not a Spreadsheet
Most suppliers start with a spreadsheet. That works until the second questionnaire arrives and you realize you've been entering data in slightly different formats, the formulas broke when someone added a row, and you can't remember which version is the latest.
A tracking system is different. You enter data once, in a consistent format, on a regular schedule. When a customer questionnaire arrives, your data is already organized and ready. No scrambling. No late nights before a deadline.
The goal is simple: spend 15 minutes a month entering data so you never spend two days reconstructing it.
The Essential 8 Metrics to Track
You don't need to track everything. These eight metrics cover the vast majority of what customers ask for in ESG questionnaires. They align with the EU's VSME standard and most major assessment platforms.
1. Energy consumption (kWh) Where to find it: Monthly electricity bills or your utility provider's online portal. Most providers let you download 12 months of data as a CSV.
2. Natural gas usage (m3) Where to find it: Gas utility bills. Check whether your provider reports in cubic meters, therms, or kWh, and stay consistent.
3. Fuel consumption (litres) Where to find it: Fuel receipts, fuel card statements, or fleet management records. Track diesel and petrol separately since they have different emission factors.
4. Water usage (m3) Where to find it: Water utility bills. If you're on a flat rate without metered usage, contact your provider for actual consumption data or estimate from industry benchmarks.
5. Waste generated (tonnes) Where to find it: Invoices from your waste management contractor. Most haulers can provide annual tonnage if you ask.
6. Waste recycled (tonnes or percentage) Where to find it: Same waste contractor invoices. If they don't break out recycling, ask them. They track it for their own reporting.
7. Employee headcount Where to find it: HR or payroll system. Use the average for the reporting period, not a single point in time.
8. Health and safety incidents Where to find it: Internal incident reports, your safety log, or OSHA/equivalent records. Track recordable injuries and lost-time incidents.
That's it. Eight numbers, updated monthly, and you can answer 80% of the questions on any ESG questionnaire.
Where the Data Lives
One of the biggest barriers to ESG tracking is simply knowing where to look. Here's a quick reference:
Utility bills (electricity, gas, water) -- These arrive monthly or quarterly. Most providers have an online portal where you can download historical data. If you've been throwing away paper bills, call your provider and ask for a 12-month consumption summary.
Fuel receipts or fleet records -- If you use company vehicles, check fuel card statements. If employees buy fuel and expense it, pull fuel expenses from your accounting software.
Waste management contractor invoices -- Your waste hauler sends invoices that typically list the number of collections, bin sizes, and tonnage. If they don't list tonnage, ask for an annual waste summary.
HR or payroll system -- Headcount, turnover, and demographics are already in your payroll system. Most HR platforms can export this data.
Incident reports -- If you have a formal safety management system, pull from there. If not, check your internal records or insurance claims for workplace injury data.
Step-by-Step Setup with ESG Passport
You can track all of this in a spreadsheet if you prefer. But if you want a system that auto-calculates emissions, tracks trends, and connects directly to questionnaire responses, here's how to set it up with ESG Passport.
Step 1: Create your account (2 minutes)
Go to ESG Passport onboarding. It's free to start, no credit card required. Enter your email and create a password.
Step 2: Enter your company profile (2 minutes)
Fill in your company name, industry sector, country, and employee count. This information sets up your baseline and ensures emission factors are correct for your region.
Step 3: Enter your first month of data (10 minutes)
Start with whatever period you have bills for. Pull up last month's electricity bill, gas bill, water bill, and waste invoice. Enter the numbers. The system converts units and calculates emissions automatically.
Don't worry about getting historical data in right now. Start with one month and build from there.
Step 4: Import historical data if you have it (5 minutes)
If you've been tracking in a spreadsheet or can download consumption history from your utility provider, use the CSV bulk import feature to load multiple months at once. This gives you a baseline for year-over-year comparisons.
Step 5: Set a monthly reminder (1 minute)
Add a recurring calendar event for the 1st or 15th of each month: "Enter last month's ESG data." That's 15 minutes a month to stay current.
Total setup time: about 20 minutes. After that, it's maintenance.
The Monthly Habit
The system only works if you keep it fed. Here's what the monthly routine looks like:
On the 1st or 15th of each month, sit down for 15 minutes with last month's utility bills and enter the numbers. Update headcount if it changed. Log any safety incidents. That's it.
If you miss a month, don't panic. Enter it when you catch up. Imperfect data entered late is infinitely better than no data at all.
The payoff comes when a customer questionnaire arrives. Instead of two days of scrambling, you open your dashboard, check that everything is current, and start responding. Your energy data, emissions calculations, and workforce metrics are already organized and ready to go.
What You Get From Consistent Tracking
Once you've been tracking for a few months, the data starts working for you:
Auto-calculated emissions -- The system converts your energy and fuel consumption into Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions using up-to-date regional emission factors. No manual calculations needed.
Year-over-year trends -- After 12 months, you can show customers whether your energy use, emissions, and waste are going up or down. This is what they actually care about: the direction of travel.
VSME-aligned metrics -- Your data maps directly to the EU's Voluntary Standard for SMEs, which is becoming the default framework for supply chain ESG reporting in Europe. Understanding double materiality helps you see why customers request this data.
Faster questionnaire responses -- When you're ready to respond to a customer questionnaire, upgrade to Pro to upload the questionnaire and generate draft answers directly from your tracked data. What used to take days takes hours.
Next Steps
If you're not ready to set up a full tracking system yet, start with these:
Assess your current readiness. Take the VSME readiness assessment to see where your gaps are. It takes five minutes and shows you exactly which metrics you're missing.
Estimate your carbon footprint now. Use the carbon footprint calculator to get a rough estimate of your emissions based on the data you already have. This gives you a starting point even before you set up monthly tracking.
If you're a startup or early-stage company, check out our startup guide for advice on building ESG tracking into your operations from day one. Our guide on what investors actually ask for covers ESG expectations at each funding stage.
The companies that handle ESG well aren't the ones with the biggest sustainability teams. They're the ones that built a simple system early and stuck with it. Twenty minutes now saves you days later. Start with one month of data and build the habit from there.