Import shipping data

If you sent or received shipments through a third-party service (such as a courier) during your inventory period, you might want to upload a CSV or Excel file to enter your data all at once. This includes goods that were delivered by planes, ships, trains, or motor vehicles (such as trucks or cars).

Note: If you owned the vehicles that delivered your goods, you might have access to your fuel consumption data. We recommend importing activity data for the relevant Scope 1 activity (transporting goods in vehicles you own) instead.

Here’s how to import shipping data into Climate Smart.

On this page:

• Prepare spreadsheet
• Upload spreadsheet
• Results of import
• Fix common errors

Prepare spreadsheet

Before you start an import, prepare a spreadsheet with the data you want to upload into Climate Smart. You have two options to make a spreadsheet: download a template or format your own.

Download template to edit

Downloading a template to sort your data is highly recommended. These templates give you the editable columns you need, reducing the chance of missing information or unsuccessful uploads.

Get the template for locations data when you start a new import.

You can also create your own spreadsheet to sort your data, just make sure it’s formatted correctly and saved as a CSV or Excel file.

Format spreadsheet

Here are some tips when formatting spreadsheets.

Technical requirements

• Spreadsheet must be in a supported format (.csv, .xlxs)
• Spreadsheet must be 1 GB or less in size

Column headers

Your spreadsheet should include columns with the following headers:

• Location*
• Shipping Date*
• Start Location*
• End Location*
• Weight*
• Weight Unit*
• Vehicle You Own?*
• Shipment Type*
• Service Type
• Inbound/Outbound
• Cost*
• Currency*
• Cost is Estimate

Headers with an asterisk (*) are mandatory. Missing mandatory columns will result in an error message and you’ll have to start the process of importing shipping data all over again.

Row data

To prevent errors, here’s how to format the data you enter into your spreadsheet.

Header	Description	✓ Do this	X Don’t do this
Location*	The location the shipment or delivery relates to. Location names must match your inventory. These names are case sensitive.	If a location is named Calgary Head Office in your inventory, enter Calgary Head Office in your spreadsheet.	If a location is named Calgary Head Office in your inventory, don’t enter calgary head office or Calgary Office in your spreadsheet.
Shipping Date*	The date your shipment was sent or received.	Dates must be in YYYY-MM-DD format, for example: 2023-12-21	Don’t use another date format, for example: 21-12-2023 Dec 21, 2023
Start Location*	The city, province or region, and country where a shipment began. If you sent a delivery, this is the address of your inventory location.	Examples of correct locations: 90210 CA, 90210 123 Street, Beverly Hills, California, 90210 YYC airport	Don’t use coordinates, for example, (51.0443° N, 114.0631° W) Don’t use airport codes alone, for example, YYC Don’t use PO boxes in the address
End Location*	The city, province or region, and country where a shipment was delivered to. If you received a package, this is the address of your inventory location.	Examples of correct locations: 90210 CA, 90210 123 Street, Beverly Hills, California, 90210 YYC airport	Don’t use coordinates, for example, (51.0443° N, 114.0631° W) Don’t use airport codes, for example, YYC  Don’t use PO boxes in the address
Weight*	The weight of your package, shipment, or delivery. Convert this number into metric tonnes.	Only enter the numeric value in this field, for example: 1000	Don’t enter the unit of measurement (for example, 1000 tonnes).
Weight Unit*	The unit of measurement must be in metric tonnes.	Tonnes	Don’t abbreviate tonnes (t) Don’t enter another unit of measurement (for example, grams)
Vehicle You Own?*	Indicate if the vehicle that delivered the shipment was owned by you or someone else (for example, a rental company or a courier service).	Enter either: True False	Don’t enter other options, for example: Yes, No Y, N
Shipment Type*	Tell us how the goods were transported: by road, rail, water, or air. You can have multiple shipping types in one spreadsheet, but only include one type per row.	Enter one of the following options in each row: Road Rail Water Air	Don’t enter multiple shipping types in one row.
Service Type	Name of the third-party shipping company or name of the service you used. This field is optional.	Enter the company name. Any format is acceptable here.	Don’t enter the name of your organization.
Inbound/Outbound	Indicate if the shipping was outbound (a package you sent) or inbound (a package you received).	Enter either: Inbound Outbound	Examples of incorrectly formatted data: In, out Sent, received
Cost*	Tell us how much you paid for shipping per delivery. If you don’t know the cost of a shipment, enter 0.	Write all numbers as digits instead of spelling them out. For example: 200	Don’t spell out the cost, for example, thirteen dollars Don’t include the dollar sign ($) in this field
Currency*	Indicate if your cost was in CAD (Canadian dollars) or USD (United States dollars).	Enter either: CAD USD	Don't enter any other options, for example: CDN $ €
Cost is Estimate	Tell us if you estimated the cost of your shipment.	If you’re estimating the cost of this activity, enter Yes. If you have the actual amount this activity cost, enter No.	Don't enter any other options, for example: Y N X N/A

Missing data

Headers with an asterisk (*) are required information. Enter exact information into your spreadsheet to get the most accurate measurement of your emissions.

Leaving rows in your spreadsheet blank or using the wrong data format (for example, entering N/A for data you don’t have) might result in an error message. This means you might have to start the process of importing your shipping data all over again.

If you’re missing data you need for a required column, choose one of the following options based on the data you have.

Option 1: Estimate missing data

If you’re missing data but these details are consistent throughout your inventory period, you can use existing information to estimate. For example, if you don’t have a record of the shipping type for several entries, but you know that product is typically delivered by truck, you can enter Road under Shipping Type for those rows.

You need to mention that you estimated data in the Notes for those shipments. Keeping track of estimated data is important for consistency and transparency.

To add notes:

1. After your data is successfully imported, navigate to your Emissions Manager. You can scroll to this section on your dashboard, or in your top navigation, click Track & Reduce and select Emissions Manager to jump there.
2. Click your inventory’s name to open it.
3. Under GHG Inventory, find the location name, and click ENTER DATA.
4. In the menu on the left, under Transporting Goods > Vehicles owned by others, click the relevant shipping type.
5. When you arrive at the next page, scroll to the chart at the bottom. Under Description, click the relevant entry to open it, and then click EDIT.
6. In the Note box, enter details about the data you estimated (for example, if you estimated the shipping type, mention how you decided on the type you chose).
7. To finish, click SAVE. You have successfully updated your entry.

Option 2: Use another import method

If you’re missing data but details such as your shipping types, weights, or locations are not consistent throughout your inventory period, you don’t have enough information to use this feature. Try another calculation method based on the data you have. Learn more about tracking deliveries or ask your Climate Smart Advisor (if applicable).

Upload spreadsheet

To upload a spreadsheet:

1. In your top navigation, click Toolbox and then select Import Data.
2. When you arrive at the Import Inventory Data page, under Start a New Import, click IMPORT SHIPPING DATA.
3. Select the inventory you want to enter data into from the drop-down list, then click NEXT.
4. If you need one (we recommend it!), click DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE for a spreadsheet we’ve designed to sort your data. Learn how to format your spreadsheet.
5. When your spreadsheet is ready, click UPLOAD FILE.
6. In the window that opens, drop or select the file with your data.
7. Select the row with your column headers and click Continue, or Skip and use alphabets as headers to manually choose your columns.
8. The columns in your spreadsheet are automatically matched with the columns required to import data. Review the list to make sure your columns are matched correctly.
   If a header was excluded (found at the bottom of the list), you can add it back and select its corresponding column from the drop-down list. When you have all required columns, click Continue.
9. Review and finalize the data. Fix any errors and then click Import record.
10. Click Submit and wait for an email from us to find out if you successfully imported data or if you need to try again.

View results of import

Once your upload is finished, you’ll get an email from us letting you know if you imported data successfully or if you need to try again. You can review the file you uploaded under Recent imports on the Import inventory data page.

Complete import

If your entire import was successful, your upload status will change to Complete. You’ll find new entries for shipments in your inventory. Depending on your shipping type, your data appears in your Emissions Manager under the matching activity:

• Transporting goods > Vehicles owned by others > Road
• Transporting goods > Vehicles owned by others > Air
• Transporting goods > Vehicles owned by others > Water
• Transporting goods > Vehicles owned by others > Rail

Download the file under Upload History to review your Successful Uploads.

Incomplete import

If your import was incomplete, you’ll receive an email letting you know. This means that some or all of your data couldn’t be imported. Your upload status will also change to Incomplete.

To find and fix errors:

1. In the top navigation, click Toolbox and select Import Data.
2. On the Import Inventory Data page, under Upload history, find the relevant import with an Incomplete status. The most recent import is listed first by default.
3. In this row, click DOWNLOAD.
4. Open the downloaded file.
5. Click the Errors tab. On this sheet, review each line of data and the reason it could not be imported.
6. Learn how to fix common errors. Create a new spreadsheet with the corrected data from the Errors tab and upload it.

Note: In your downloaded file, the Successful Uploads tab lists data that was imported. This information has been added to your inventory and you do not need to upload it again.

Undo import

If you want to retract the data you added to your inventory (for example, if you realized you made a mistake in your spreadsheet), learn how to undo your import.

Fix common errors

Here are common errors and their solutions when importing activity data.

Error	Solution
Unmatched required fields.	Make sure your spreadsheet has all required columns. Check if any headers were excluded and need to be added back manually.
Missing values.	Enter data in all required columns.
No travel route found between start and end locations.	Here are a few ways to fix this error: Check ZIP or postal code for missing digits (for example, if your ZIP code begins with a 0, make sure it hasn’t been removed by Excel) Start and end locations must have different addresses, including ZIP or postal codes Make sure the shipping type you entered is possible (for example, you can’t enter Road as the shipping type for a package sent from Vancouver to Paris because you can’t drive overseas)
Location name doesn't match your records. Check spelling and try again.	Make sure you’re importing activity data for a location you already added to your inventory, and that the names are written the same way. Location names are case sensitive. Learn how to import new locations.
Your date needs to be entered in this format: YYYY-MM-DD	All dates must be in YYYY-MM-DD format (for example, 2023-01-23) before submitting your file. Make sure your spreadsheet software isn’t automatically reformatting your dates.
Dates must be within your inventory start and end dates.	Your shipping dates must be within the start and end dates you entered for your inventory. For example, if your inventory period is January 1 to December 31, 2024: March 2, 2024 is a valid date July 3, 2023 is not a valid date
Postal or ZIP code not found.	Climate Smart isn’t able to locate the postal or ZIP code you entered. For example, sometimes, spreadsheet software removes the 0 at the beginning of a ZIP code. Double-check that the postal or ZIP codes in your spreadsheet are complete and try again.

Contact our Customer Success team if you need more help.