We have hundreds of small professional-service suppliers — do we need to classify each one individually?

Not necessarily; group suppliers by the standard classification already used in your accounts payable system (e.g. legal, accounting, consulting, cleaning) and map each group to the closest sub-type, rather than manually reviewing every individual invoice.

Should insurance premiums be recorded as Business services?

Yes, general insurance premiums map to the "Insurance: Average: UK" sub-type here; health insurance has its own separate sub-type, so split health insurance premiums out if your finance system distinguishes them from general commercial insurance.

Our security and cleaning contracts are combined under one facilities-management supplier — what should we do?

Split the invoice by service line if your facilities-management contract itemises security, cleaning and maintenance separately; if it is genuinely a single blended fee, use the closest matching sub-type for the whole amount and note the limitation.

How do we handle a supplier that now reports their own tCO2e figure per invoice?

Use their reported tCO2e figure in place of a spend-based estimate for that supplier's activity, provided you understand and can document their calculation methodology; do not add a spend-based estimate on top, as that would double-count.

Do software subscriptions count as Business services?

Software (SaaS) spend is more commonly recorded elsewhere depending on your platform's IT/digital categorisation rather than Business services; check which entry your organisation has adopted for software spend and apply it consistently.

Activity data·Sector & specialist

How to measure emissions from Business services

Business services activity data covers purchased professional and service-sector spend — legal, accounting, consulting, insurance, cleaning and similar — recorded as spend or supplier-reported tCO2e under Scope 3 Category 1. With dozens of sub-types available, map suppliers to the closest matching category via your accounts payable classification rather than defaulting to a general average. Use supplier-reported tCO2e figures in place of, not alongside, spend estimates.

Scope: Scope 3 Category 1
What activity data you need: tCO2e, $ Spend, £ Spend
Activity data: Sector & specialist

What counts as Business services

Purchased professional and business services — accounting, legal, consulting, insurance, cleaning, security, facilities maintenance, IT repair and a wide range of similar third-party services — recorded as spend or a pre-calculated tCO2e figure. Excludes services with their own dedicated activity entry, such as Advertising or Digital advertising.

Business services is a broad, spend-based catch-all for professional and service-sector purchases where a physical unit of activity is not meaningful — you cannot sensibly measure legal advice in kilograms, so spend (or a supplier-reported tCO2e figure) is the standard unit. Because the sub-type list spans dozens of service types, from accounting to veterinary services, select the closest matching professional-services category to your actual supplier rather than defaulting straight to the general "Business Services: Average", since spend-based factors vary meaningfully by service sector.

How to collect the data

Accounts payable or procurement system exports, filtered to professional and business-service supplier categories, are the primary source, usually reported as annual or period spend by supplier or cost-centre. Where your finance system already codes suppliers to a standard classification, map that coding to the closest matching sub-type here rather than re-classifying each invoice manually; some larger suppliers now provide their own tCO2e-per-pound-spent figure, which can replace a generic spend-based estimate where available.

What activity data you need

Collect the most specific physical unit available. Unit definitions are in Appendix I — Description of Units.

tCO2e
$ Spend
£ Spend

Which emission scope it falls under

Business services activity data typically maps to Scope 3 Category 1 under the GHG Protocol. Confirm organisational boundary and ownership before reporting.

Scope 3 Category 1

By emission scope

Scope 3 Category 1

Compliance frameworks

Compliance & reporting frameworks

Common questions

We have hundreds of small professional-service suppliers — do we need to classify each one individually?: Not necessarily; group suppliers by the standard classification already used in your accounts payable system (e.g. legal, accounting, consulting, cleaning) and map each group to the closest sub-type, rather than manually reviewing every individual invoice.
Should insurance premiums be recorded as Business services?: Yes, general insurance premiums map to the "Insurance: Average: UK" sub-type here; health insurance has its own separate sub-type, so split health insurance premiums out if your finance system distinguishes them from general commercial insurance.
Our security and cleaning contracts are combined under one facilities-management supplier — what should we do?: Split the invoice by service line if your facilities-management contract itemises security, cleaning and maintenance separately; if it is genuinely a single blended fee, use the closest matching sub-type for the whole amount and note the limitation.
How do we handle a supplier that now reports their own tCO2e figure per invoice?: Use their reported tCO2e figure in place of a spend-based estimate for that supplier's activity, provided you understand and can document their calculation methodology; do not add a spend-based estimate on top, as that would double-count.
Do software subscriptions count as Business services?: Software (SaaS) spend is more commonly recorded elsewhere depending on your platform's IT/digital categorisation rather than Business services; check which entry your organisation has adopted for software spend and apply it consistently.

Next step

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