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PCAF data quality score worksheet for SME loan books
This worksheet gives every business loan a PCAF data quality score from 1 (best) to 5 (worst), computes the book's weighted score, and ranks which borrowers to ask for better data first. It also carries a one-page data-request letter, in English and Arabic, that moved a fictional 20-loan book from a score of 4.1 to 2.6.
Who uses it: climate and sustainability analysts building a lender's financed emissions inventory; credit officers who collect borrower data at annual review; non-bank lenders preparing for DFI reporting; and DFI staff reviewing a partner's first PCAF numbers.
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On this page
- Why the score matters
- The ladder for business loans
- The three formulas
- The worksheet
- Worked example 1 (fictional): a 10-loan book
- Worked example 2 (fictional): one letter, 20 loans
- Why SME books in this region start at the bottom
- The data-request letter
- Disclosure: three figures, side by side
- Rules
- Sources
- Cite this page
- Related pages
- Glossary terms on this page
Why the score matters
Two lenders each report 5,000 tonnes of financed emissions. One built the figure from borrowers' verified emissions reports. The other multiplied loan balances by sector averages. Both are legitimate under PCAF. Only one says much about the borrowers.
The score is how a reader tells them apart. PCAF has asked institutions to publish it, weighted by outstanding amount, or explain why not, since its second edition. The third edition, published in December 2025, keeps that rule: institutions "should publish a weighted score by outstanding amount of the data quality of reported emissions data or should explain why they are unable to do so". Scope 3 gets its own score, reported separately.
The ladder for business loans
Table 5.2-1 of the standard (page 60) sets the score by what the lender knows about the borrower. For listed companies, total equity plus debt is replaced by EVIC, PCAF's denominator for listed companies, which starts from market capitalisation.
| Score | Option | What the lender has | Typical SME evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1a | Outstanding amount and total equity plus debt known; "verified emissions of the company are available" | GHG report with a third-party verification statement; audited financials |
| 2 | 1b | As 1a, but "unverified emissions calculated by the company" | Company GHG calculation |
| 2 | 2a | Outstanding amount and total equity plus debt known; emissions from "primary physical activity data for the company's energy consumption", plus process emissions | 12 months of electricity and fuel invoices (Scopes 1 and 2 only, note 87) |
| 3 | 2b | As 2a, but from primary physical data on the company's production | Annual production records |
| 4 | 3a | Outstanding amount, total equity plus debt and revenue known; sector emission factor per unit of revenue | Audited income statement |
| 5 | 3b | Only the outstanding amount known; sector factor per unit of assets | Loan system |
| 5 | 3c | Only the outstanding amount known; sector factor per unit of revenue and sector asset turnover ratio | Loan system |
Source: PCAF, Part A, 3rd edition (2025), Table 5.2-1.
Read it from the bottom. Score 5 needs only a balance the lender already holds. Score 1 needs the borrower to measure its emissions and have them checked. Every score better than 5 also needs total equity plus debt: without a current balance sheet, a loan stays on the bottom rung whatever the borrower knows.
The three formulas
For a loan to a private company (pages 57 and 58):
Attribution factor = Outstanding amount / (Total equity + debt)
Financed emissions = Σ (Attribution factor × Company emissions)
For the book (Box 6.1-6, pages 167 and 168):
Weighted score = Σ (Outstanding amount × Score) / Σ Outstanding amount
Negative book equity is set to zero. If debt or equity cannot be read from the balance sheet, the standard allows total balance sheet assets as a transitional fallback. At score 5 (option 3b) the attribution factor drops out: Annex 10.1 gives financed emissions as outstanding amount times sector emissions per unit of sector assets.
The worksheet
One row per loan, per scope. Keep Scope 3 rows separate.
| # | Column | What goes in it | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loan ID | Internal reference | Never the borrower's name in shared extracts |
| 2 | Asset class | Business loan, project finance, CRE, mortgage, motor vehicle and so on | One class per exposure; record anything out of scope and why |
| 3 | Sector | Activity code from the trade licence | Maps the loan to a sector factor |
| 4 | Outstanding amount | Balance at the reporting date | Same date for every row |
| 5 | Balance sheet date | Date of the accounts used | Older than 18 months: flag it (my threshold) |
| 6 | Total equity plus debt | From audited or tax-filed accounts | Blank means score 5 |
| 7 | Attribution factor | Column 4 / column 6 | Above 1 means a data error: check both inputs |
| 8 | Data held | Verified emissions, company emissions, energy, production, revenue, none | The best item on file |
| 9 | PCAF option | 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 3c | From Table 5.2-1 |
| 10 | Score | 1 to 5 | Follows from column 9 |
| 11 | Scope | 1 and 2, or 3 | Score each scope separately |
| 12 | Emissions basis | Company figure, or activity data × factor | Name the factor and its year |
| 13 | Financed tCO2e | Column 7 × company emissions, or the option 3 formula | tCO2e |
| 14 | Evidence reference | Where the source document sits | Findable in five minutes |
| 15 | Next request | What would move this loan up one score | Item number from the letter below |
Asset-class map (chapter 5)
| PCAF asset class | Section | Attribution factor |
|---|---|---|
| Listed equity and corporate bonds | 5.1 | Outstanding / EVIC; bonds to private companies: outstanding / (total equity + debt) |
| Business loans and unlisted equity | 5.2 | Private: outstanding / (total equity + debt). Listed: outstanding / EVIC |
| Project finance | 5.3 | Outstanding / (total equity + debt of the project) |
| Commercial real estate | 5.4 | Outstanding / property valuation at origination |
| Mortgages | 5.5 | Outstanding / property valuation at origination |
| Motor vehicle loans | 5.6 | Outstanding / vehicle valuation at origination |
| Use of proceeds structures | 5.7 | Investor share of the structure × the structure's attribution to each asset |
| Securitisation and structured products | 5.8 | Look through to the collateral pool, then the investor's share of its tranche |
| Sovereign debt | 5.9 | Exposure / PPP-adjusted GDP |
| Sub-sovereign debt | 5.10 | Exposure / sub-sovereign PPP-adjusted GDP, capped at 1 |
Worked example 1 (fictional): a 10-loan book
The book and the emission factors are invented. Scopes 1 and 2 only; balances in EGP million.
| Loan | Sector | Outstanding | Score | Method | Financed tCO2e |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1 | Food processing | 40 | 2 | 1b, company report | 600 |
| L2 | Plastic packaging | 30 | 3 | 2b, production | 900 |
| L3 | Textile dyeing | 25 | 4 | 3a, revenue | 750 |
| L4 | Cold storage | 20 | 4 | 3a, revenue | 400 |
| L5 | Clay bricks | 35 | 5 | 3b, assets | 1,400 |
| L6 | Metal fabrication | 30 | 5 | 3b, assets | 600 |
| L7 | Commercial printing | 15 | 5 | 3b, assets | 150 |
| L8 | Vehicle repair | 10 | 5 | 3b, assets | 80 |
| L9 | Bakery | 10 | 5 | 3b, assets | 120 |
| L10 | Wholesale trading | 15 | 5 | 3b, assets | 75 |
| Total | 230 | 4.02 | 5,075 |
Weighted score: 925 / 230 = 4.02. Half the book by balance sits at score 5. Seventy per cent of the emissions (3,575 of 5,075 tonnes) rest on sector averages, at scores 4 and 5.
Move three loans from 5 to 3. Rank the score-5 loans by attributed emissions and start at the top: L5, L6 and L7. Collect total equity plus debt and a year of production data, then apply a production-specific factor.
| Loan | Attribution factor | Production | Illustrative factor | tCO2e before | tCO2e after |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L5 Clay bricks | 35 / 70 = 0.50 | 20,000 t | 0.25 t per t | 1,400 | 2,500 |
| L6 Metal fabrication | 30 / 100 = 0.30 | 1,500 t | 1.0 t per t | 600 | 450 |
| L7 Commercial printing | 15 / 45 = 0.33 | 800 t | 0.6 t per t | 150 | 160 |
The book now totals 6,035 tonnes, up 960 tonnes or 19%. The weighted score falls to 765 / 230 = 3.33. The share of emissions on sector averages drops from 70% to 24%. No loan was added and no borrower changed how it operates. The total rose because the sector average understated one brickmaker, and L6 went the other way. Better data can move the total either way; what it moves every time is the score.
Worked example 2 (fictional): one letter, 20 loans
Lender L has 20 SME loans worth EGP 114.0m. Before any request, the file holds a balance sheet and revenue for 17 borrowers (EGP 105.5m, option 3a, score 4) and only an outstanding amount for three (EGP 8.5m, option 3b, score 5). Weighted score: (105.5 × 4 + 8.5 × 5) / 114.0 = 4.07.
The lender sends the letter below to all 20. Seventeen reply, and fifteen send energy, production or emissions data.
| Reply | Loans | Outstanding (EGP m) | Option | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verified emissions | 1 | 6.0 | 1a | 1 |
| Company-reported emissions | 5 | 42.0 | 1b | 2 |
| Electricity and fuel data | 4 | 15.0 | 2a | 2 |
| Production data | 5 | 33.0 | 2b | 3 |
| Balance sheet and revenue only | 2 | 9.5 | 3a | 4 |
| No reply | 3 | 8.5 | 3b | 5 |
Weighted score: 299.5 / 114.0 = 2.63. Three cautions: the score-2 loans built on energy data cover Scopes 1 and 2 only, and the disclosure should say so; 15.8% of the outstanding amount still sits at score 4 or 5, and that share belongs in the report, not a footnote; and the letter moves the score, not the quality of a sector factor for Egypt.
Why SME books in this region start at the bottom
| Gap | What PCAF asks for | Why it is thin for SMEs in MENA |
|---|---|---|
| Denominator | Total equity plus debt, or EVIC for listed firms | An unlisted SME has no share price, so EVIC does not exist. The fallback is a balance sheet, which needs filed accounts |
| Numerator | Company emissions, or energy and production data | Small firms rarely measure emissions, and I found no emissions reporting duty that reaches them |
| Sector factors | Revenue- or asset-based factors | PCAF's database builds revenue-based factors on the CEDA input-output table, is open to signatories and partners only, and PCAF says it is working to improve Global South coverage |
The scale is large. The CBE's Deputy Governor for Financial Inclusion put the banking sector's SME portfolio at about EGP 630bn in April 2026. The first two gaps close borrower by borrower. Only PCAF and the factor providers can close the third.
In Egypt, one group of borrowers now has better data by law. FRA Decision 36 of 2026 requires non-bank financial companies with issued capital or net equity above EGP 100m to file a verified Scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint report, with the first due by 31 December 2026 (extended by Decision 115 of 2026). If such a borrower shares its verified report, a lender holding its balance sheet can score those scopes at 1. See the FRA Decision 36 guide.
The data-request letter
One page, sent with the annual review. "[Lender]" is in the third person so any lender can adapt it.
English
Subject: Data request for greenhouse gas reporting, facility [reference]
Dear [contact name],
[Lender] reports the greenhouse gas emissions linked to its financing, following the PCAF standard. Data from your company makes that figure more accurate. Please send the items below by [date]. Send what you have; a partial reply is useful.
The data is used only to calculate [Lender]'s financed emissions. It is combined with other borrowers' data before any publication, and your company is not named.
- Latest balance sheet: total equity and total debt.
- Annual revenue for the last financial year.
- Electricity used in the last 12 months (kWh, from bills).
- Fuel used in the last 12 months, by type (diesel, petrol, natural gas, LPG), in litres or cubic metres.
- Main products and the quantity made in the last 12 months, with units.
- Any process emissions (for example cement, lime, chemicals, refrigerant leaks), described briefly.
- If your company has calculated its own emissions: the figure, scopes, period and method.
- If a third party has verified them: the verification statement.
- Your main activity, as on your trade licence.
Contact: [name, role, email]. Thank you.
Arabic
الموضوع: طلب بيانات لإعداد تقرير غازات الاحتباس الحراري، التسهيل [المرجع]
السيد/ة [اسم المسؤول]،
تُعدّ [الجهة المموِّلة] تقريرًا عن الانبعاثات المرتبطة بتمويلها، وفق معيار PCAF. وبيانات شركتكم تجعل هذا الرقم أدق. يُرجى إرسال البنود التالية قبل [التاريخ]. أرسلوا ما لديكم؛ فالرد الجزئي مفيد.
تُستخدم البيانات لحساب الانبعاثات المموَّلة فقط، وتُجمَّع مع بيانات مقترضين آخرين قبل أي نشر، ولا يُذكر اسم شركتكم.
- آخر ميزانية عمومية: إجمالي حقوق الملكية وإجمالي الديون.
- إيرادات السنة المالية الأخيرة.
- الكهرباء المستهلكة في آخر 12 شهرًا (كيلوواط ساعة، من الفواتير).
- الوقود المستهلك في آخر 12 شهرًا بحسب النوع (سولار، بنزين، غاز طبيعي، غاز البترول المسال)، باللتر أو المتر المكعب.
- المنتجات الرئيسية والكمية المنتَجة في آخر 12 شهرًا، مع الوحدات.
- أي انبعاثات من العمليات الصناعية (مثل الإسمنت أو الجير أو الكيماويات أو تسرب غازات التبريد)، مع وصف موجز.
- إن كانت شركتكم قد حسبت انبعاثاتها: الرقم والنطاقات والفترة والمنهج.
- إن راجعها طرف ثالث: بيان التحقق.
- نشاطكم الرئيسي كما في الترخيص التجاري.
للتواصل: [الاسم، الوظيفة، البريد الإلكتروني]. شكرًا لكم.
Field map
| Item | Accepted evidence | What it supports | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Balance sheet | Audited or tax-filed statements | Denominator for every option above score 5 | Needed for 1 to 4 |
| 2 Revenue | Same statements or tax return | Option 3a | 4 |
| 3 and 4 Electricity and fuel | Bills and invoices | Option 2a, Scopes 1 and 2 only | 2 |
| 5 Products and quantities | Production records | Option 2b, with matching factors | 3 |
| 6 Process emissions | Short description | The "plus process emissions" part of option 2a | 2 |
| 7 Own emissions figure | The company's report | Option 1b | 2 |
| 8 Verification | Third-party statement | Option 1a | 1 |
| 9 Main activity | Trade licence | Maps the loan to a sector factor | 4 or 5 |
Disclosure: three figures, side by side
- Absolute financed emissions, by scope.
- The weighted data quality score, by asset class.
- The share of emissions, and of outstanding amount, at scores 4 and 5.
A total without its score is half a disclosure. The IFRS S2 amendments of 11 December 2025 let an entity limit Category 15 to financed emissions, for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, and none of them touches data quality. The score stays the place to say how good the numbers are.
Rules
- Send the letter with the annual review, not as a separate project.
- Keep every reply, with the date received and the period it covers.
- Score each loan on the best option the reply supports.
- Never fill a gap with a guess. Leave the loan at its fallback option and say so.
- Review loans still at 5 once a year and note why: no reply, no accounts, no data.
Sources
- PCAF, The Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard Part A: Financed Emissions, 3rd edition, December 2025 (Table 5.2-1, pp. 30, 57 to 58, 167 to 168, Annex 10.1) carbonaccountingfinancials.com
- PCAF, "PCAF launches updated GHG accounting standard", 2 December 2025 carbonaccountingfinancials.com
- PCAF Database information sheet, 3 September 2025 carbonaccountingfinancials.com
- IFRS Foundation, "ISSB issues targeted amendments to IFRS S2", 11 December 2025 ifrs.org
- FRA Board Decision 36 of 2026, Egyptian Gazette, issue 39 (b), 17 February 2026 fra.gov.eg
- FRA Board Decision 115 of 2026 (deadline extended to 31 December 2026), Egyptian Gazette, issue 130 (a), 17 June 2026 fra.gov.eg
- Business Today Egypt, "Egypt SME lending grows strongly as financial inclusion reaches 77.6%", 28 April 2026 businesstodayegypt.com
All views are my own, written in a personal capacity. They do not represent my employer or any other institution. The books and factors on this page are fictional. This worksheet explains a published standard; it is not advice.
Cite this page
Hamdy, O. (2026) "PCAF data quality score worksheet for SME loan books". omarhamdy.com, 2 November 2026. https://omarhamdy.com/toolkit/pcaf-data-quality-worksheet/
Related pages
- PCAF for non-bank lenders
- FRA Decision 36
- IFRS S1 and S2 readiness
- Toolkit: working files
- ESDD checklist for lenders
- IFC vs EBRD exclusion list
- Grievance mechanism template for borrowers
- COP31 for lenders
Glossary terms on this page
- PCAF
- Data quality score
- Financed emissions
- Attribution factor
- Emission factor
- Scope 1 / 2 / 3
- tCO2e
- Verification / validation
- Greenhouse gases
Condition Precedent ends every issue with a working tool like this one. The pieces behind this page are “Data quality scores are the honest part of PCAF” and “PCAF's data problem is regional”.