Carbon Manager by Cogo

Core Features

Carbon Manager is positioned as a practical bridge between financial data and climate action. Cogo’s methodology is aligned with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and relies on a hybrid of spend-based and activity-based data, pulled via read-only connections to SMEs’ accounting systems and refreshed regularly to keep footprints up to date. Some of its key capabilities include:

• Automated footprinting from accounting data - Carbon Manager connects to cloud accounting platforms and uses categorised spend to estimate emissions per transaction, supplementing this with activity data (for example, kWh of electricity) in key categories to improve accuracy.

• Dashboards and emissions hotspots - SMEs and their partners can view dashboards that break down emissions by category and Scope 1–3, surfacing hotspots and trends that support data-driven decisions.

• Targets, actions, and guidance - The tool allows businesses to set reduction targets (Cogo commonly recommends aiming to halve emissions by 2030) and then provides action guides and resources to help translate insights into operational changes.

• Supply-chain and financed-emissions support - For banks and corporates, Carbon Manager helps SMEs measure and report emissions so that supplier-level data can be aggregated into Scope 3 and financed-emissions reporting across the value chain.

• Reporting and audit-ready outputs - SMEs can export reports summarising their footprint, methodological assumptions and data completeness; Cogo notes that these outputs are designed to be auditable by third parties and to support customer or tender requests.

Closing Insights

Carbon Manager builds on Cogo’s origins as “Conscious Consumers” in New Zealand and its mission to help individuals and businesses measure, understand and reduce their climate impact at scale. Over time, Cogo has shifted toward working with financial institutions and corporates so climate tools can be distributed through existing financial channels, with Carbon Manager embodying this model for SMEs and their suppliers. Its footprinting methodology is aligned with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and uses a hybrid of spend-based and activity data to offer decision-useful estimates rather than purely manual inventories.

Different users highlight distinct carbon-accounting needs addressed by the platform. Vistr uses Cogo’s Carbon Manager platform for regional tourism and hospitality, combining individual business footprints with aggregated sector-level insights. Professional services firm BDO points to the platform’s role in helping SMEs respond to growing carbon-reporting expectations. Moreover, case studies such as Awwa Period Care show how using Cogo makes their Scope 3 measurement more manageable.

Carbon Manager is present on the Xero App Store in the UK, where SMEs can start for free and access premium features from around £15 per month, and ongoing feature updates such as audit-ready reporting and updated emissions factors. For many users, Carbon Manager will be encountered via their bank or accounting platform, with subscriptions billed monthly through Xero and no minimum term, or bundled as part of bank partnerships.