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Verification User Guide Climate Registry Information System

Version 4.0

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Table of Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 2

Deadlines ................................................................................................................................................... 3

My Account ........................................................................................................................................................ 3

Update Contact Information and Reset Password .......................................................................................... 4

User Roles ......................................................................................................................................................... 4

Permissions ................................................................................................................................................... 4

Manage Verification Admin ................................................................................................................................ 5

Create a New User ........................................................................................................................................ 6

Grant User Access ......................................................................................................................................... 8

Remove User Access ..................................................................................................................................... 9

Change User role ........................................................................................................................................... 9

Private Reports, Documents and Forms .......................................................................................................... 10

View Reports for Verifiers ............................................................................................................................ 10

Manage Documents ..................................................................................................................................... 13

Self-Defined Inventory Boundary Form ........................................................................................................ 14

Exclusion of Miniscule Sources Form ........................................................................................................... 14

Other Documents ......................................................................................................................................... 15

Verify Inventory ............................................................................................................................................... 17

Workflow History Report and Quality Assurance Log ................................................................................... 17

Submit Verification Findings or Corrective Action Requests ......................................................................... 18

Appendix A: Instructions for Members ............................................................................................................. 19

Moving an Inventory to Verification in Progress ............................................................................................ 19

Opening an Inventory for Edits ..................................................................................................................... 22

Important Note on Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) ................................................................................ 23

Manage Entity .......................................................................................................................................... 23

Introduction This user guide will help you understand how to use the Climate Registry Information System (CRIS) to

verify annual greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories reported by The Climate Registry’s Members.

My Account > Update Contact Information and Reset Password

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CRIS enables Member organizations to calculate and report their annual GHG inventories in accordance with

the requirements and methodologies laid out in the General Reporting Protocol. This comprehensive reporting

tool is used by Registry Members and staff, verification bodies and members of the general public. With CRIS:

• Registry Members calculate and report their annual GHG emissions to The Climate Registry,

• Registry staff efficiently manage, review and track Members’ GHG emissions data and annual reports,

• Verification bodies (VBs) review and verify Members’ GHG reports and submit their verification opinions

(when applicable),

• The general public views verified emissions reports.

The Verification User Guide provides a general overview and introduction to the key features of the software

related to verification. It follows the general workflow of reporting to The Climate Registry, which means that

you can read it through front to back or refer to sections that contain information pertinent to a specific step in

the process.

Deadlines

The reporting deadline for entering data into CRIS is June 30th and the verification deadline is December 15th.

If a Member you are working with is unable to meet the verification deadline, the Member will need to complete

a verification extension request form and return it to help@theclimateregistry.org. Extension request forms

can be found on our website at www.theclimateregistry.org.

My Account This is where you will access information about your own account and user roles in CRIS. Click on the “My

Account” hyperlink at the top of the screen to view the list of inventories you have access to and your

respective user roles for those inventories.

Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the section titled “My Entities & Roles.” This section will include a list of

all inventories that you have been assigned to as a Verifier Admin, Lead Verifier or Verifier Viewer. An

inventory consists of a particular entity and emissions year (EY). You can learn more about the permissions

associated with each of these user types in the User Roles section of this guide.

User Roles > Update Contact Information and Reset Password

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Update Contact Information and Reset Password If you need to update your email address or other contact information, you can do that on the “My Account”

page as well. If you’d like to change your password, check the box next to “Reset password?” and enter a new

password. Please keep in mind that your password must be at least six characters in length, and must include

a lower case letter, an upper case letter, and a special character. After you’re done making changes, click the

“Update my information” button at the bottom of the screen.

User Roles There are three types of verification user roles in CRIS: Verifier Admin, Lead Verifier and Verifier Viewer. Users

can access multiple inventories in CRIS through a single username and password, but may have different

permissions for each inventory.

For example, Carrie Consultant works for a firm called Climate Consultants, Inc. that conducts verifications of

emissions inventories reported to The Climate Registry. Climate Consultants has been selected as the

Verification Body for Association A’s EY 2013 inventory and Business B’s EY 2012 inventory. Carrie’s boss

holds the Verifier Admin user role for Climate Consultants and chooses to assign Carrie as the Lead Verifier for

Association A’s EY 2013 inventory and the Verifier Viewer for Business B’s EY 2012 inventory. When she logs

in with her single username and password, Carrie can access both accounts at once, but her permissions are

different for each inventory.

If at any time you are unsure of your user role for a particular inventory, refer to the My Account portal to

double check.

Permissions As noted in the example above, Verifier Admins will administer the verification activities in CRIS by assigning

Lead Verifiers and Verifier Viewers to each entity that has moved its emissions inventory to Verification in

Manage Verification Admin > Permissions

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Progress and selected your organization as its VB for the emissions year (instructions for doing so can be

found in Appendix A). The Climate Registry must create the Verifier Admin for your organization. If you do not

know who your organization’s Verifier Admin is, please contact us at help@theclimateregistry.org.

The Verifier Admin may assign one Lead Verifier and multiple Verifier Viewers to each inventory.

Verifier Admins will not be able to view reported data, unless they assign themselves as the Lead Verifier or

Verifier Viewer for a specific entity. It is also important to note that Verifier Admins do not have access to a

VB’s own emissions data. If your organization is a VB who also measures and reports an emissions inventory

to TCR, please be sure that you have selected an Entity Administrator to complete your inventory. The Entity

Administrator will not be able to view any aspects of the software related to verification, unless given

permissions by the Verifier Admin. Entity Administrators should follow the instructions provided in the general

CRIS User Guide for Members in order to complete reporting of your organization’s inventory.

The Lead Verifier for an inventory has access to all data submitted by the Member for the assigned emissions

year and previous emissions years that have been submitted for verification or have completed verification.

The data include private and public reports, quality assurance logs, workflow history reports, and public and

private documents and forms. For assigned inventories, the Lead Verifier has the ability to issue a Verification

Statement or request corrective action. The Lead Verifier must upload a corrective action request before a

Member can unlock their data for editing.

Verifier Viewers have read only access to Members’ public and private reports, documents and forms. Please

refer to Table 1 below for a detailed comparison of the permissions associated with each verifier user role.

Table 1: CRIS User Roles and Permissions

Permissions

Verifier Admin

Lead Verifier

Verifier Viewer

Create new users •

Grant, remove and change Verifier access to Member accounts •

Search public reports • • • View private Member documents • •

View private Member reports • •

View Workflow History Reports and Quality Assurance Logs

•

Submit a Verification Statement or Corrective Action Request •

Manage Verification Admin Please note: Only Verifier Admins have access to this section of CRIS. The Climate Registry must create a

Verifier Admin for your VB. If you do not know who your organization’s Verifier Admin is, please contact us at

help@theclimateregistry.org.

Manage Verification Admin > Create a New User

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In the Manage Verification Admin portal, Verifier Admins can manage the Verifiers associated with the entities

that have selected your organization as their VB for a particular emissions year. To see a list of the users

associated with your organization’s account in CRIS and the user roles that they’ve been assigned, navigate to

“Admin” and “Manage Verification Admin”.

Then, select your entity and click "View users" to see which members of your team are assigned to each

inventory and what their specific user roles are for those inventories.

Create a New User Before you can grant any user access to an inventory, she needs to have an account in CRIS. She can create

an account for herself by clicking the button on the CRIS login page that says “I’d like to register for a new

account.”

Manage Verification Admin > Create a New User

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Alternatively, you can create an account for her. To do that, navigate to “Admin” and “Manage Verification

Admin,” select your entity and click “View users” (outlined above). Then click "Create new user" and a new

window will open. (Note: Please be sure that pop-ups are enabled for this site in your web browser).

Then, accept the disclaimer in the new window…

... fill in the appropriate information on the next page and then click “Sign me up.”

Manage Verification Admin > Grant User Access

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The new user will receive an automated email notifying her that her account has been created, but you will also

need to pass along the password you chose for her. She will then be able to reset this password by navigating

to the “My Account” portal. At this point the user’s account has been created but she still doesn’t have access

to any inventories until you explicitly grant her access.

Grant User Access To grant a Verifier access to an inventory, navigate to “Admin,” then “Manage Verification Admin.” Select your

entity and click “View users,” then “Grant user access.”

Next, make sure the appropriate entity and emissions year are selected, search for the appropriate Verifier

using her email address, and click “Find User.” Please note that the list of entities and emissions years

displayed in the dropdowns will only include Members who have specified your organization as their VB for a

particular emissions year (instructions for completing this process can be found in Appendix A).

Select the Verifier role you’d like to assign them, then click “Save.”

Manage Verification Admin > Remove User Access

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This user will then receive an automated email notifying her that she has been granted access to that

inventory.

Remove User Access After a Verifier has completed verification, you can also remove their access to an entity’s inventory. To do this,

navigate to “Admin,” then “Manage Verifier Admin.” Select the appropriate entity and click “View users.” Then

select the user you’d like to remove and click "Remove user access." If the user has access to multiple

inventories in CRIS, this action will only remove the permissions associated with the inventory selected.

Change User role You may also change a user’s role for a particular inventory. Select the appropriate user and click “Change

user role.”

You may change the emissions year or the role from Lead Verifier to Verifier Viewer and vice versa. Only one

Lead Verifier may be assigned to an inventory, so you will need to change or remove access to the current

Lead Verifier’s role before assigning a different Lead Verifier.

Private Reports, Documents and Forms > View Reports for Verifiers

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Please note: In accordance with the General Verification Protocol, if there are any changes to the verification

team after the COI form has been submitted you must send an email to COI@theclimateregistry.org notifying

us of the change.

Private Reports, Documents and Forms Please note: Only Lead Verifiers and Verifier Viewers have access to Members’ private reports, documents

and forms.

Reports and supporting documents play an important role in the GHG inventory review process. Running a

report is how you will view a Member’s GHG emissions data all at once. There are many different reports

available; the primary difference between them is the level of detail included and the inventory boundary

chosen.

View Reports for Verifiers In this portal, Lead Verifiers and Verifier Viewers can access private reports for the inventories that they are

reviewing. You can view private reports for the entity’s emissions year that you are assigned to verify and all

prior emissions years, as long as the inventories have already been submitted for verification or verification has

been completed. To get started, navigate to “Reports” and “View Reports for Verifiers.”

Then, select the appropriate entity and emissions year from the blue panel and click “Show reports.” The

reports are divided into two categories called “Popular Reports” and “Other Reports.” After the two categories

display, select the report that contains the level of detail you wish to view (i.e., which geographic boundary,

which organizational boundary and either a detailed or summary report), then choose “View Popular Report” or

“View Other Report.”

Private Reports, Documents and Forms > View Reports for Verifiers

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The document viewer will then display a preview of the report in CRIS. Use the grey bar that appears above

the report to navigate through various pages or to export the report and save it locally. Each report can be

downloaded as an XML, CSV, PDF, Excel, TIFF or Word file. Most users will find the PDF file most useful for

all reports with exception of the Data Extract report, which is best exported as an Excel file. Data Extract

reports that are downloaded as Excel files allow for data manipulation across an entire inventory. By selecting

the radio button next to “Facility Report” you will be given the option to choose a facility from a dropdown list.

“Other Reports” display information based on the region, organizational boundary and level of detail specified.

These reports can help you to view an inventory through a particular lens.

Tables 2 outlines the differences between the “Popular” private reports that are available for download from

CRIS.

Private Reports, Documents and Forms > View Reports for Verifiers

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Table 2: Private CRIS Report Types – Popular Reports

Name

Description

Ideal Format

Difference from Public Version

Data Extract Single, unformatted list of all source level info, free manipulation in excel

Excel Not publicly available

Detail Report –Control

All emissions under entity’s control (financial or operational), organized by facility

PDF Source level details not included

Facility Report All emissions under the facility’s control (financial or operational) OR if the facility reports according to equity share – equity share emissions

PDF Not publicly available

SEMs Report – Control

Provides a summary of SEMs emissions under entity’s control.

PDF Not publicly available

SEMS Report – Equity Share

Provides a summary of SEMs emissions according to an entity’s equity share.

PDF Not publicly available

In the “Other Reports” category, you can choose the region, level of detail, and organizational boundary

according to the data you would like to view. Tables 3 through 5 describe the “Other Report” categories.

Private Reports, Documents and Forms > Manage Documents

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Table 3: Private CRIS Report Types – Table 4: Private CRIS Report Types –

Other Reports – Region Other Reports – Organizational Boundary

Region

Description

Organizational Boundary

Description Global Entity’s North American and

Non-North American emissions, organized by facility

Control All emissions under entity’s control (financial or operational), organized by facility

North America Only

Entity’s North American emissions, organized by facility

Equity Share Entity’s equity share emissions, organized by facility

Non-North America Only

Entity’s Non-North American Emissions, organized by facility

Table 5: Private CRIS Report Types – Other Reports – Level of Detail

Level of Detail

Description Available to

Public? Detail (Private) Summary of entity-level

emissions, facility-level emissions and source-level emissions

Not publicly available

Detail (Public) Summary of entity-level emissions and facility-level emissions.

Publicly available

Summary Summary of entity-level emissions

Publicly available

Manage Documents Please note: Only Lead Verifiers and Verifier Viewers have access to Members’ documents and forms.

As a Lead Verifier or Verifier Viewer, you can access private documents and forms that are uploaded by the

entities that you are assigned to. You can view private documents and forms for the entity’s emissions year

that you are assigned to verify and all prior emissions years, as long as the inventories have already been

submitted for verification or verification has been completed. To get started, navigate to “Manage Documents”

and select either “Self-Defined Boundary Form,” “Miniscule Sources Form” or “Other Documents.” Next, select

the appropriate entity and emissions year from the blue panel and click “View.”

Private Reports, Documents and Forms > Self-Defined Inventory Boundary Form

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Self-Defined Inventory Boundary Form Members who are reporting historical or transitional data are required to complete and submit the Self-Defined

Inventory Boundary Form. To review this document, navigate to “Manage Documents,” then “Self-Defined

Boundary Form.”

Then select the entity and appropriate emissions year from the blue panel and click "View" to view completed

forms. Please note that if a form has not been submitted for a particular emissions year, the “View” button will

be grey. The document viewer will then display a preview of the form in CRIS. Use the grey bar that appears

above the report to navigate through various pages or to export the form and save it locally. Exporting the form

as a PDF works best. Each field should be completed.

Exclusion of Miniscule Sources Form Members who are disclosing rather than reporting for miniscule sources in their inventory are required to

complete and submit the Exclusion of Miniscule Sources Form. To review this document, navigate to “Manage

Documents,” then “Miniscule Sources Form.”

Then, select the entity and appropriate emissions year from the blue panel. To view completed forms, click

"View." Please note that if a form has not been submitted for a particular emissions year, the “View” button will

Private Reports, Documents and Forms > Other Documents

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be grey. As with the other reports and forms, a preview will display in CRIS and you have the option to export

the form and save it locally. Exporting the form as a PDF works best. After a Member fills out the Exclusion of

Miniscule Sources Form once it is carried over into each subsequent reporting year, although it may require

editing in future years.

Other Documents There are many documents that organizations should submit to support the information included in their

emissions inventories. Inventory Management Plans, Climate Action Plans, and calculations spreadsheets are

just a few general examples, and sector specific reporters often have metrics that they are required to disclose

as well. In this section, you can review those supplemental documents. Verification Statements and Corrective

Action Requests that Lead Verifiers submit through the workflow are also saved to this section. To get started,

navigate to “Manage Documents,” then “Other Documents.”

Next, select the appropriate entity and emissions year and click “View.”

After clicking “View,” you’ll see a list of all uploaded documents. (Please note: If the entity you’re reviewing

hasn’t uploaded any documents for the emissions year you selected in the blue panel, the list won’t have any

entries in it).

Private Reports, Documents and Forms > Other Documents

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You can filter the results by document type or search by title, facility or source. The example in the figure below

shows a search for all documents with the word “Management” in their name. Once you’ve set your filters, click

“Search.”

To view an existing document, select the document and then click “View.” Then, click on the hyperlink that

says “Download File.” Be sure to double check that each document is marked appropriately as “public” or “not

public” in line with program requirements.

Verify Inventory > Workflow History Report and Quality Assurance Log

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Verify Inventory Please note: Only Lead Verifiers have access to this section of the platform.

In order for you to conduct your verification, Members must assign your organization as their Verification Body

BEFORE moving their inventory to the Verification in Progress status (instructions in Appendix A). Then, your

organization’s Admin Verifier must assign you as the Lead Verifier for an inventory.

The Verify Inventory section of the platform houses the Workflow history report and Quality assurance logs.

This is also where you’ll submit corrective actions requests and verification findings. To access the Verify

Inventory portal navigate to “Submit Inventory,” then “Verify Inventory.”

You can view Workflow history reports and Quality assurance logs for the entity’s emissions year that you are

assigned to verify and all prior emissions years, as long as the inventories have already been submitted for

verification or verification is complete. This will allow you to compare current and past inventory reports to

evaluate the accuracy and consistency of the data. However, you will only be allowed to change the workflow

(i.e., submit verification findings or request corrective action) for the emissions years that you are specifically

assigned to as a Lead Verifier.

Workflow History Report and Quality Assurance Log The Workflow history report contains information on each step of the inventory submission process, including

who changed the workflow and when. To access the Workflow history report for a given emissions year,

navigate to “Submit Inventory,” then choose “Verify Inventory.” Select the appropriate entity and emissions

year and click “Workflow history report.”

You’ll see a preview of the report on your screen. If you’d like to save a copy of the report, click on the export

icon shown below.

Verify Inventory >

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The quality assurance log provides a summary of important details that should be reviewed when verifying an

emissions inventory. This report will provide information on the Member’s SEMs threshold, any sources or

facilities that were added in the most recent emissions year, and any major discrepancies in the amount of

reported emissions from a given source or facility. To run a quality assurance log navigate to “Submit

Inventory,” choose “Verify Inventory,” then select the appropriate entity and emissions year and click “Quality

assurance log.”

Submit Verification Findings or Corrective Action Requests Lead Verifiers submit verification findings or request corrective action from a Member by changing the workflow

in the “Verify Inventory” section of CRIS. Please note, in order for a Member to unlock their data for editing,

you must first change the workflow from “Verification in Progress” to “Locked” by uploading documentation of

your corrective action requests. You may upload corrective action requests in the format of your choosing.

Corrective action requests are not publicly available and can be removed from the system by members at any

time. To do this, navigate through “Submit Inventory” to “Verify Inventory” and then choose “Change workflow.”

Appendix A: Instructions for Members > Moving an Inventory to Verification in Progress

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Specify “Request Corrective Action,” or “Submit Positive/Negative Verification Finding” and then “Choose File”.

If you are verifying a Member’s inventory to a limited level of assurance, be sure to check the box that says

“Limited Assurance.” Then, select “Save Verification Document” to upload and save your verification findings or

corrective action request. Both the Member and TCR System Admin will then receive an automated email from

CRIS to alert them that you have uploaded the verification statement.

Appendix A: Instructions for Members

Moving an Inventory to Verification in Progress Please note: Members who are submitting their inventories for verification must assign a Verification Body

BEFORE moving their inventory to the “Locked” or “Verification in Progress” status.

To do this, Members should check the “I plan to verify” box on the “Manage Entity” page and choose their

Verification Body from the drop down at the bottom of the page. Further instructions can be found on page 10

of the general CRIS User Guide.

The following instructions will guide Members through submitting an inventory. To get started, navigate to

“Submit Inventory” (and the “Submit Inventory” sub-menu).

Appendix A: Instructions for Members > Moving an Inventory to Verification in Progress

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Then, select the entity and emissions year from the blue panel and click “Change workflow.”

Initially, the inventory will be in “Draft” status, which you can see next to “Reporting Progress” in the blue panel.

To move it out of “Draft” status, make sure that “Lock Submission” is selected in the field next to “Change To”

and click “Save.”

A warning message will appear to alert Members that they will be locking their inventory. Please keep in mind

that after an inventory is locked no changes can be made. Members should choose “OK” only if they are done

making changes to their submission.

After an inventory is locked, a report will appear on the screen and the Reporting Progress in the blue panel

will read “Locked.”

Appendix A: Instructions for Members > Moving an Inventory to Verification in Progress

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Members who are verifying will need to move their inventory one step further to the “Verification in Progress”

Reporting Progress. To do that, they’ll need to click “Change workflow” again and make sure that “Begin

Verification” is selected in the “Change to” field before clicking “Save.”

A warning message will appear again. Members must choose “OK” before the inventory is moved to

Verification in Progress.

Appendix A: Instructions for Members > Opening an Inventory for Edits

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After beginning the verification process, the Reporting Progress in the blue panel should read “Verification in

Progress.”

Opening an Inventory for Edits If you’ve requested corrective action items, you can instruct the Member to complete the following steps to

make the necessary changes.

To get started, navigate to “Submit Inventory” (and the “Submit Inventory” sub-menu).

Then, select the appropriate entity and emissions year from the blue panel and click “Change Workflow.” (Your

Reporting Progress will be “Locked.”)

In the field next to “Change To,” select “Unlock for Editing” and click “Save.”

Appendix A: Instructions for Members > Important Note on Global Warming Potentials (GWPs)

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A warning message will appear letting them know that they’ll be moving their inventory into an unlocked state.

The Reporting Progress will change to “Draft.” Edits can then be made to the inventory.

After all necessary edits have been made, the Member will need to resubmit their inventory using the

instructions above (Reporting Progress should read “Verification in Progress.”)

Important Note on Global Warming Potentials (GWPs)

Manage Entity

In the “Manage Entity” section of CRIS, Members have the ability to specify the set of GWPs that they would

like to apply to their organization’s inventory for each emissions year. For details on The Climate Registry’s

reporting policies surrounding GWPs, please visit the General Reporting Protocol Section of our website.

Members should choose the appropriate set of GWPs that they would like to apply to their inventory before

they begin reporting for a given emissions year. If Members are required to change the GWP set applied to

their inventory after they have reported data at the source- or facility-level, they will need to recalculate all

reported emissions. Please instruct members who encounter this Corrective Action Request to get in touch

with The Climate Registry’s help desk as soon as possible so that we can walk them through fixing the issue.