Carbon Accounting Software: The Business Case for Consultants

Your carbon accounting practice is growing rapidly, but you're hitting the wall: maxed-out capacity, margins squeezed by corner-cutting competitors, and a team so swamped they can't take on new clients. Every software demo promises solutions, but delivers platforms that are unfit for expert consultants like you.

I get it. I've heard this story from dozens of firms just like yours. The problem? Most carbon accounting software is designed for end-clients with training wheels attached - making it useless for consultants who need flexibility and control, not guardrails that prevent common mistakes that end-clients with little knowledge of the GHG Protocol can be expected to make.

Even if you find the right solution - when your margins are already tight, investing $100K in software feels impossible to justify. But I've helped many firms make this leap successfully using four key ROI metrics. Let me show you how.

Why should you listen to me?

Full disclosure: As Avarni's co-founder, I have a stake in this. But what drives me is witnessing the transformation when consulting teams finally upgrade from spreadsheets to our platform.

The results speak volumes: our clients consistently save 45% of their time compared to manual methods, while delivering higher quality outcomes. And their clients? They're captivated by the interactive emissions dashboards - a game-changer compared to static PowerPoint slides. Presentation matters.

Don't take my word for it though. Our client roster includes industry leaders like Schneider Electric, KPMG, and Jacobs Engineering. You can explore our platform's capabilities through our website, guides, or try it hands-on yourself.

Whether you choose Avarni or another solution, the key is building a solid business case for change. Let me show you how.

Assumptions

This guide assumes a few things that are important to call out:

• You have an incentive to save your consultant’s time.
• You know that if you saved 45% of your consultant’s time, you could fill that saved time with work from new business and generate more revenue.
• You have your numbers in order enough to replace the example numbers in the guide with your real numbers. If you don’t, that should probably be a higher priority!

Data you need

Here are the data points we will consider, and some example values we’ll use:

• Number of annual clients you are currently doing GHG accounting for, and/or projections: 100
• Your current revenue for carbon accounting services: $1.5M
• Average hourly wage of consultants: $60 per hour
• Average annual cost of an outsourced or in-house software engineer: $100,000 p.a.

ROI #1: Revenue from new offers

The simplest assumption we can make here, is that if you can save consultants 45% of that time and fill it with new work, you can increase your revenues by 45% of your current revenue.

In the case where you are making $1.5M from carbon accounting services from 100 clients ($15,000 per client), that means:

(100 clients / 55) * 100 = 181 clients = 81 extra clients = $1.215M in extra revenue at your top line in the first year

Take off an extra 3 months of that for implementation and go-live, and that ends up at $911,000 in new revenue.

However, it’s very unlikely that carbon accounting is the only service you offer, or are thinking about offering. A carbon inventory is the bedrock of a solid sustainability and decarbonisation strategy, and each new client you get for it could unlock further revenue from expanded services such as:

• Climate risks and scenario analysis
• Decarbonisation roadmaps
• Supplier engagement strategy, communications, and execution

You could even begin charging clients a premium for access to the software to view and edit their reports, instead of a static, point-in-time deliverable.

These each have the potential to generate lasting, recurring year on year revenue from any new client you’re able to sign as a result of unlocking time capacity of your consultants.

ROI #2: Savings from operational efficiency

If you charge the same rate of $15,000 per client for carbon accounting services, but save 45% of your consultant’s time per project, that ends up being extra margin for your bottom line.

Let’s assume our current average margin on a client project is 30%. Accounting an extra 10% on the total cost of the client towards other costs, that means 60% of the $15,000 goes to the consultants, or $9,000.

Assuming a rate of $60 per hour, that comes down to 150 hours per client per report. If we then save 45% of that time with software to help delivery, we end up with:

150 x 45% x $60 = $4,050 in extra margin per client, totalling $405,000 in extra margin on existing clients.

ROI #3: Risk of client churn mitigated

Mistakes are bound to happen when developing emissions inventories on Excel. A missed unit conversion, formulas not working correctly, activities mis-categorised. Some of these may make it to the client, and when caught, may erode trust enough for them to look elsewhere to solve problems.

Churn can also happen if a client decides to go with a different provider that has better digital capabilities, which they perceive as a safer option that will provide them a better outcome.

If we assume 20% of your clients per year churn, and we can reduce this by 5% (there will always be some level of churn for a variety of reasons), then that represents $75,000 of business that is retained that otherwise would not have been.

ROI #4: Research & Development savings

Let's explore the DIY approach: building your own tools. The upfront investment? $300,000 for your first year, with three developers at $100,000 each. And this isn't a one-time cost - maintaining and evolving the software means ongoing investment to stay competitive.

While building in-house gives you complete control, the hidden risks often outweigh this benefit:

• Running a software team requires fundamentally different skills and processes than managing consultants. Your first year of R&D investment could evaporate as you navigate this steep learning curve.
• You'll inherit new responsibilities like data security and SOC 2 compliance - complex challenges that distract from your core business.

Even at $300,000, this is an optimistic estimate. For perspective, Avarni has invested millions in R&D over years to build specialized tools for sustainability consultants. The capabilities we offer today would be impossible to replicate in a year with a $300,000 budget - why start from scratch when you could leverage a tested, proven solution?

Total ROI

If we add these all up, it already becomes much clearer why the $100,000 invested into software becomes worth it - assuming that the time savings are realised, and change management & implementation takes 3 months:

That’s the equivalent of your entire revenue of $1.5M added to your top and bottom line in the first year!

Summary

The numbers speak for themselves: imagine giving your team back 45% of their time while delivering even better client outcomes. This isn't just about cutting costs - it's about transforming your consultancy's potential for growth and excellence. I've helped numerous directors turn this vision into reality with this ROI framework.

Ready to unlock your firm's potential? Let's build your business case together. Our clients consistently tell us they wish they'd made the switch to Avarni sooner - don't let another quarter go by at reduced capacity. Book a conversation with us today through our website, and let's map out your path to higher margins and happier clients:

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