How do we count emissions when goods are bartered instead of bought?
Emissions follow the physical goods and services, not the payment. Count goods you receive as purchased goods by quantity, using a factor per kg or unit. Goods you give away were already counted when you made or bought them. A spend-based estimate needs a fair market value, so record one.
Received
- Quantity and type from the delivery challan.
- Supplier figure or a named factor per unit.
- Category 1, or Category 2 if it is a capital item.
Given
No new emissions are created by the swap; the goods' production stays where it was counted.
What Senseible does here
Senseible keeps purchase invoices on the Scope 3 trail with the category, method and factor source on every line, so spend-based estimates are labelled as estimates and can be replaced with supplier data later.
Sources: GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard
Last reviewed 2026-10-22.