Tracking Emissions in Document Capture with Continia Sustainability

• 03/10/2024
• 8 minutes to read

This article describes the integration between Continia Document Capture and Continia Sustainability, which allows you to track your company's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Emission-related data captured in Document Capture can be imported into your environmental journals in Continia Sustainability, where you can also verify the source document of a specific data point. For more information on environmental journals, see Working with Environmental Journals.

Continia Sustainability template fields

When Continia Sustainability is activated in an environment where Document Capture is already active (or vice versa), the following header and line fields are made available across all master templates in the purchase category:

• Environmental Account Type - key business areas and associated activities. For example, Facility.

• Environmental Account No. - the number of the environmental account related to the type of emission activity. For example, 10110 (Electricity).

• Emission Type - common sources of emissions related to a company’s activities. For example, Electricity or Fuels.

• Emission Code - the code assigned to the related type of emission. For example, EL-UK for Electricity type.

• Emission Unit Type - the measurement unit associated with the type of emission. For example, Energy or Distance.

• Emission Unit Code - the code assigned to the measurement unit associated with the type of emission. For example, KWH (kilowatt-hour) or KCAL (kilocalorie).

• Emission Quantity - the actual quantity related to the emission. For example, 100 (miles, or MI), 25 (kilowatt-hour, or KWH), etc.

• Total Emission Quantity - the result of the value in the Emission Quantity field(s) multiplied by the quantity of the related item. For example, if you purchased 20 copy paper packs, the total emission quantity is 20 multiplied by the emission quantity assigned to the item, such as its weight.

  Note

  If you've already added environmental data to an item, including a weight or other metric, make sure to leave the Total Emission Quantity field empty when populating the Continia Sustainability fields on the line level.

You can configure these fields in a G/L account, on an item card, or directly in a template. All three methods are covered in this article.

To configure Continia Sustainability fields in a template

Before you can configure Continia Sustainability fields in a template, you need to add them to it:

1. Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
2. Select the PURCHASE code to open the document journal.
3. In the document list, select the document whose template you want to add the Continia Sustainability fields to.
4. In the action bar, select Template > Add Template Fields.
5. Select the field(s) you want to add to the template, then select OK.

You can then either manually populate these fields with the corresponding values, or capture the required information from the document itself.

To configure Continia Sustainability fields in a G/L account

To configure Continia Sustainability fields in a G/L account:

1. Choose the icon, enter Chart of Accounts, and then choose the related link.
2. Select the account you want to configure.
3. On the Environmental Accounting FastTab, assign values to the Environmental Account Type and Environmental Account No. fields. For example, Facility and 10110.
4. The Emission Type, Emission Code, Emission Unit Type, and Emission Unit Code fields are populated automatically.

Once the Continia Sustainability fields are added to a template, their values are automatically populated based on the preconfigured G/L account when you select the Account Type and Account No. in the document header. The same can be accomplished by entering a G/L account in Accounts for Amounts, though currently this approach requires that you select Home > Recognize Fields after entering the values.

When using line recognition, configure Translation to Type and Translation to No. to apply the default values from G/L accounts or items to the related template line fields. Alternatively, enter the required values directly in the template line fields.

To configure Continia Sustainability fields on an item card

To configure Continia Sustainability fields on an item card:

1. Choose the icon, enter Items, and then choose the related link.
2. Select the number of the item you want to configure. For example, 1920-S.
3. On the Environmental Accounting FastTab, assign values to the Environmental Account Type and Environmental Account No. fields. For example, Goods and Services and 10003.
4. In this case, only the Emission Unit Type and Emission Unit Code fields are populated automatically. You can then enter a value for the Emission Quantity, if it's always the same. Otherwise, add the corresponding values to each document.

Once the Continia Sustainability fields are added to a template, their values are automatically populated based on the preconfigured item card when you select the Account Type and Account No. in the document header. The same can be accomplished by entering an item in Accounts for Amounts, though currently this approach requires that you select Home > Recognize Fields after entering the values.

When using line recognition, configure Translation to Type and Translation to No. to apply the default values from G/L accounts or items to the related template line fields. Alternatively, enter the required values directly in the template line fields.

To import emission-related data into Continia Sustainability

When you post documents with data related to emissions, this data becomes available to Continia Sustainability. For more information, see Importing Emission-related Lines from Document Lines.

See also

Creating an Emission Factor Set
The Basic Concepts in Continia Sustainability
Continia Sustainability and Document Capture
The Assisted Setup Guide for Continia Sustainability
Adding a Predefined Emission Factor Set Managed by Continia