Business travel can be one of the more complex categories to measure, but CarbonTrail’s AI makes processing your Xero data a breeze. Because different modes of transport, flight classes, and even hotel locations have unique emissions profiles, reviewing this data accurately is key to building a precise footprint.
Here is how to review, confirm, and add your business travel data synced from Xero.
Before You Begin
As a quick reminder, CarbonTrail works best when your receipts and invoices are attached directly to your transactions in Xero. If you haven't done this yet, head over to Xero to attach them before starting—it makes reconciling your travel data much faster!
Confirming Your Travel Data
Once you navigate to the Business Travel section in CarbonTrail, you will see your Xero transactions ready for review. Here is how to handle the most common types of business travel:
1. Accommodation (Hotels & Airbnb)
When reviewing accommodation invoices, the AI will automatically detect the location and calculate the room nights.
Check the Location: Ensure the country is correct. A hotel stay in New Zealand has a different emissions profile than a stay in another country!
Verify Room Nights: Double-check the AI's math. Room nights are calculated by the number of nights multiplied by the number of rooms booked. For example, if an invoice shows 2 adults staying for 3 nights in separate rooms, you would manually update the field to 6 room nights.
2. Air Travel
CarbonTrail's AI automatically reads your flight tickets, identifies the departure and arrival airports (e.g., Christchurch to Auckland, plus the return leg), and calculates the passenger kilometers for you.
The tool automatically calculates the distance between the airports and multiplies it by the number of passengers on the booking.
Simply review the AI’s calculation to ensure the details make sense, and click to accept it.
3. Taxis, Rideshares (Uber), and Rental Cars
Ubers and Taxis: The AI can usually pull the total kilometers traveled directly from your digital receipts. Review the extracted number and accept the line item.
Rental Cars: Currently, CarbonTrail cannot automatically calculate rental car distances because the invoice doesn't show exactly where the car was driven during the rental period. For these transactions, you will need to estimate the distance traveled manually (using online mapping tools) and enter the total kilometers yourself.
Tip: Once you have reviewed and corrected the details for a specific transaction, don't forget to click accept to save your data!
Need help?
If you are having trouble estimating your rental car distances, calculating complex room nights, or if the AI is misreading a travel receipt, please reach out to the CarbonTrail team by clicking the chat icon in the bottom right corner. We are more than happy to help you get your travel data sorted!