# Should a small company set an internal carbon price?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/internal-carbon-price-small-company

It helps if you face carbon costs soon, for example EU buyers paying CBAM or a CCTS target. Use a shadow price per tonne in investment decisions, near the cost you expect to face. Many companies use the CBAM certificate price as a reference. CDP also asks whether you use one.

## How to use it

1. Pick a price per tonne and a date to review it.
2. Add price × tonnes saved to each project's savings.
3. Compare projects on cost with and without the carbon value.

## Shadow price or fee

A shadow price changes decisions without moving money. An internal fee charges departments and funds projects; it is harder to run in a small firm.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads bills, fuel invoices and production records into dated, fingerprinted records, so the figure you send a buyer can be traced to its documents.

- [CBAM carbon price proof](https://senseible.earth/answers/cbam-carbon-price-paid-what-proof-is-needed)
- [PAT ESCerts after CCTS](https://senseible.earth/answers/pat-escerts-after-ccts)

Sources: [European Commission, price of CBAM certificates](https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism/price-cbam-certificates_en), [CDP](https://www.cdp.net)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.