# ESGCast — Corporate User Guide

Audience: Corporate users (Sustainability Managers, ESG Analysts, Compliance Officers, Operations Leads) Platform: ESGCast Enterprise ESG Management Platform Version of this guide: 1.0 — captured from a live instance on 2026-05-30

This guide walks you through every screen a corporate user touches, from first login through reporting. Every screenshot was captured directly from the running application — what you see in this document is what you will see on screen.

# Table of Contents

1. Getting Started
   • 1.1 The Landing Page
   • 1.2 Pricing & Plans
   • 1.3 Knowledge Base
   • 1.4 Signing In
2. The Corporate Dashboard
   • 2.1 Layout & Navigation
   • 2.2 Top KPI Cards
   • 2.3 ESG Score Breakdown
   • 2.4 Compliance Status
   • 2.5 Quick Actions & Module Access
   • 2.6 Smart Insights & Recent Activity
3. Carbon Management
   • 3.1 Carbon Overview
   • 3.2 Carbon Dashboard
   • 3.3 Carbon Footprint Calculator
   • 3.4 Emissions Tracking
   • 3.5 Emission Factors
   • 3.6 Carbon Credits
   • 3.7 Carbon Credit Marketplace
   • 3.8 Carbon Intelligence
4. Activities & Operations
   • 4.1 Activities Log
   • 4.2 Logging a New Activity
5. Analytics & Reporting
   • 5.1 Analytics
   • 5.2 Advanced Analytics
   • 5.3 Scenario Modeling
   • 5.4 Geospatial Analytics
   • 5.5 Custom Reports
6. Assessments & Anomalies
   • 6.1 Self-Assessments
   • 6.2 Anomaly Detection
7. Advisory & AI
   • 7.1 Advisory Hub
   • 7.2 AI Recommendations
   • 7.3 ESG AI Copilot
   • 7.4 AI Assistant
   • 7.5 AI Credits
8. Appendices
   • 8.1 Role & Permissions
   • 8.2 Troubleshooting
   • 8.3 Demo Credentials

# 1. Getting Started

# 1.1 The Landing Page

When you reach https://esgcast.com (or your local deployment), the public landing page introduces the three ESG pillars — Environmental, Social, Governance — and the AI augmentation that sits across all three.

What you can do here:

• Start Your ESG Journey — primary call-to-action for sign-up
• Explore the Pillars — drill into each pillar's coverage
• Sign In (top-right) — go to the login screen if you already have an account
• Get Started Free — opens the registration flow

Below the hero, the page highlights platform coverage: Scope 1–3 emissions, GRI · TCFD frameworks built-in, SASB · CDP, and "10× faster reporting."

# 1.2 Pricing & Plans

The Pricing page lays out the subscription tiers and feature comparison.

Use this page before going live to choose the right plan. Once subscribed, your plan tier controls which advanced modules are available (e.g., CBAM, EU Taxonomy, IFRS S2/TCFD). Locked features will show a "Free Plan" badge in-app and link back to upgrade.

# 1.3 Knowledge Base

Public knowledge base with how-tos, framework explainers, and FAQs.

You can also reach the knowledge base from inside the app via the user menu.

# 1.4 Signing In

Click Sign In on the landing page or go to /login directly.

Form fields:

• Email Address — your corporate email (must match what your administrator registered)
• Password — minimum 8 characters; case-sensitive
• Remember me — keeps you signed in for 30 days on this browser
• Forgot password? — link to reset by email

Single sign-on:

• Continue with Google — uses Google Workspace SSO if your tenant has it enabled
• Continue with Microsoft — uses Microsoft 365 / Azure AD SSO

Don't have an account? — corporate users are normally invited by an administrator; the public sign-up creates a free-tier company.

After successful login, you land on the Corporate Dashboard (/corporate).

# 2. The Corporate Dashboard

The dashboard is your home screen. It surfaces the metrics that matter for the current reporting period and gives you fast access to every module.

# 2.1 Layout & Navigation

There are three navigation surfaces:

a) Top bar (blue)

• Company name and avatar on the left (e.g., "ESGCast · Demo Corp")
• Quick links: Dashboard, ESG Reports, Carbon Management
• Language selector
• Notification bell (red badge shows unread count)
• Company switcher (if you belong to more than one company)
• User menu (avatar + your name)

b) Left sidebar — Corporate Portal

• Dashboard
• ESG Reports
• Carbon Management
• CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment)
• CSRD / ESRS
• EU Taxonomy
• IFRS S2 / TCFD
• Anomalies
• Supplier Engagement
• Setup Wizards
• ESGCast Copilot
• ESG AI Assistant
• Self Assessments
• KPIs
• Compliance
• Projects
• Team

The currently-active item is highlighted with a blue background. Sub-items appear nested under the parent (e.g., "Carbon Management" expands to Overview / Calculator / Emissions / Credits / Targets when active).

c) Right-side context column — shows insights, related modules, and quick actions for whatever you're looking at.

# 2.2 Top KPI Cards

Four colour-coded cards at the top of the dashboard:

Click any card to drill into the underlying detail screen. For the demo company shown above, scores are 0% because no data has been ingested yet — your view will populate as you log activities and submit reports.

# 2.3 ESG Score Breakdown

A three-ring panel breaks the composite score into pillars:

• Environmental — Carbon & Resources
• Social — People & Community
• Governance — Ethics & Leadership

Each ring shows the current score and trend arrow. Click a pillar to jump to the relevant scoring detail and the KPIs feeding it.

# 2.4 Compliance Status

Four indicator chips show how you're tracking against major frameworks:

• GRI Standards — Global Reporting Initiative
• SASB Standards — Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
• TCFD — Climate-related Financial Disclosures
• CDP — Carbon Disclosure Project

Below the chips, a colour-coded ladder shows what fraction of items sit at each compliance level: 0% Overall Compliance · High · Medium · Low. The View Compliance Dashboard button on the right takes you to the full compliance workspace.

# 2.5 Quick Actions & Module Access

Two side-by-side panels:

Quick Actions (left) — single-click shortcuts to create things you do most:

• New Report — start a new ESG report
• Carbon Calc — open the calculator
• Assessment — start a self-assessment
• Analytics — jump to analytics
• Team — manage members
• Projects — view portfolios
• Compliance — open the compliance dashboard
• KPIs — view KPIs

Quick Module Access (right) — links the modules you use across reporting cycles:

• Targets · KPIs · Projects · Assessments · Supply chain

# 2.6 Smart Insights & Recent Activity

Smart Insights (right column) — coloured cards generated from your data:

• Great Progress! (green) — positive movement, e.g., subscription utilization
• Upcoming Deadline (yellow) — reports due soon
• Action Required (orange) — items needing your input
• New Recommendation (purple) — AI-generated next steps

Recent Activity (right column) — chronological feed of meaningful events:

• ESG report created
• Carbon footprint updated
• Team member added

Click any item to navigate to that record.

# 3. Carbon Management

The Carbon Management workspace is where you measure, manage, and reduce emissions. It groups everything from data entry to credit purchase under one sidebar item.

# 3.1 Carbon Overview

Reached via the left sidebar → Carbon Management → Overview.

Top tiles:

• Total Emissions — annual tCO2e across Scope 1, 2, and 3
• Carbon Intensity — tCO2e per unit of revenue or per employee, depending on what you've set; the dial shows where you sit between Low / Medium / High
• Renewable Energy — % clean energy in your mix
• Science-Based Targets — whether you've set a target (with a button to Set Recommendation if not)

Target Performance — radar/score showing how you track against the target. If you haven't set one yet, you'll see a placeholder with Set Science-Based Target.

AI Reduction Opportunities — auto-surfaced ideas for cutting emissions (requires AI provider configured).

Climate Scenario Analysis — climate-pathway modelling output (e.g., 1.5 °C aligned scenario) — opens via Run Detailed Analysis.

Export & Reporting — one-click report exports:

• Generate CDP Response
• GHG Protocol Report
• ISO 14064 Report
• TCFD Disclosure

# 3.2 Carbon Dashboard

The deeper analytics view at Carbon Management → Dashboard.

This screen is where most operational work happens. The top tiles match the overview but with live drilling and the four export buttons sit prominently in a single row.

# 3.3 Carbon Footprint Calculator

Path: Carbon Management → Calculator.

This is a guided, multi-step calculator. The header lets you switch between two modes:

• Itemized Calculator — line-by-line entry with full audit trail
• Back to Carbon Management — return to overview

Step 1 — Select Reporting Framework:

• Reporting Framework — dropdown (GHG Protocol, ISO 14064, etc.)
• Calculation Period — Annual (Full Year), Quarterly, Monthly, or a custom date range

Step 2 — Enter data by Scope:

The four tabs across the middle correspond to the GHG Protocol scopes plus Results:

Scope 1 — Direct Emissions (shown above):

• Fuel Combustion: Natural Gas (m³/year), Diesel (L/year), Gasoline (L/year)
• Company Vehicles: Fleet Size, Average Distance (km/year per vehicle)
• Other Direct Sources: Refrigerant Leakage (kg/year), Other Direct Emissions (tCO2e/year)

Scope 2 — Indirect (Energy): purchased electricity, steam, heating, cooling Scope 3 — Value Chain: business travel, employee commuting, purchased goods, downstream transport Results: computed totals with the breakdown by scope, intensity metrics, and benchmark vs industry average

Right-side panels:

• Quick Stats — Intensity (tCO2e/employee) and "vs Industry Avg"
• Emission Factors Used — which factors apply (e.g., Natural Gas 2.03 kgCO2e/m³, Diesel 2.68 kgCO2e/L). These come from a vetted factor library and are auto-updated.
• Calculation Tips — best-practice guidance ("Use actual meter readings when available", etc.)

Action buttons at the bottom:

• Calculate Emissions — compute and show Results tab
• Save as Template — reuse this profile in later periods
• Reset — clear all inputs
• Next — advance to the next scope

# 3.4 Emissions Tracking

Path: Carbon Management → Emissions (/corporate/carbon/emissions).

Lists every emission entry your team has logged with filters by scope, period, source, and verification status. Each row can be opened, edited, attached to evidence, and locked once verified.

# 3.5 Emission Factors

Path: Carbon Management → Emission Factors.

A read-only catalogue of the factors the calculator uses, grouped by scope and source. You can filter by region (factors differ by country grid mix) and view the source/citation for each factor.

# 3.6 Carbon Credits

Path: Carbon Management → Credits.

Top-right buttons:

• Marketplace — browse credits for sale
• Sell Credits — list credits you hold
• Buy Credits — quick-buy flow

AI-Powered Credit Recommendation (red banner) — based on your footprint, suggests how many credits to buy, what project type (e.g., Forestry & REDD+), the estimated market price (e.g., $18.50/tCO2e), and total cost. Click Buy Credits Now to act on it.

Below: a summary strip showing Total Emissions, Total Credits held, Offset Coverage (% of emissions covered), and Gap/Excess.

If you have no credits yet you'll see No Carbon Credits Found with a Purchase Your First Credits call-to-action.

# 3.7 Carbon Credit Marketplace

Path: Carbon Management → Credits → Marketplace (/corporate/carbon/credits/marketplace).

Browse third-party verified credits. Each listing shows project type, verification standard (VCS, Gold Standard, etc.), vintage year, location, price per tCO2e, and quantity available. Click a listing to see project documentation and proceed to purchase.

# 3.8 Carbon Intelligence

Path: Carbon Management → Carbon Intelligence (/corporate/carbon/carbon-intelligence).

AI-powered insights: anomaly explanations, forecasting (12 months ahead), industry benchmarking, and reduction opportunity prioritisation. Opens deeper sub-pages for Emission Patterns, Finance Insights, and Equipment Health.

# 4. Activities & Operations

# 4.1 Activities Log

Path: left sidebar → not always visible by default; route is /corporate/activities.

The activity log is a chronological record of every ESG-relevant event in your organisation — data uploads, report submissions, target updates, team changes, and audit trails. Use the filters to narrow by user, module, date, or event type.

# 4.2 Logging a New Activity

Path: /corporate/activities/create.

The new-activity form supports several activity types (data update, sustainability initiative, training event, audit, etc.). Required fields differ by type — the form re-renders as you choose. Attach files for evidence; everything attached is hashed and (if blockchain is enabled) anchored on-chain.

# 5. Analytics & Reporting

# 5.1 Analytics

Path: /corporate/analytics.

The standard analytics workspace: charts for emissions trend, score evolution, energy mix, compliance over time. Filter by date range, location, business unit, or scope. Export writes the current view to PDF / Excel / CSV.

# 5.2 Advanced Analytics

Path: /corporate/advanced-analytics.

Hub for the three advanced sub-modules (Scenario Modeling, Geospatial, Custom Reports). Requires a Professional or Enterprise plan.

# 5.3 Scenario Modeling

Path: /corporate/advanced-analytics/scenario-modeling.

Run "what-if" scenarios:

• Decarbonization pathways — what does it take to hit Net-Zero by 2050 vs 2030?
• Energy mix shifts — impact of switching X% of grid energy to renewables
• Operational changes — fleet electrification, facility consolidation, etc.

Save scenarios for stakeholder presentations; export to your custom report.

# 5.4 Geospatial Analytics

Path: /corporate/advanced-analytics/geospatial.

Map-based view of facilities, suppliers, and physical climate risk. Layer climate-hazard data (flood, drought, heat-stress) over operational sites. Export generates a geo-tagged PDF.

# 5.5 Custom Reports

Path: /corporate/advanced-analytics/custom-reports.

Drag-and-drop report builder. Pick data sources, choose visualisations, brand with your logo, and schedule recurring delivery to stakeholders.

# 6. Assessments & Anomalies

# 6.1 Self-Assessments

Path: left sidebar → Self Assessments.

The four KPI tiles summarize your assessment portfolio: Total Assessments, In Progress, Completed, Average Score.

+ New Assessment (top-right) — choose a framework (GRI, SASB, TCFD, CSRD, Custom) and walk through the questionnaire. Each section can be saved as draft. Once submitted, the assessment feeds your ESG score and your compliance dashboard.

Related Modules (right column):

• ESG Targets — set targets from assessment results
• Compliance — framework compliance
• Data Collection — assessment data
• KPIs — performance metrics

Quick Actions: + Create New Assessment.

# 6.2 Anomaly Detection

Path: left sidebar → Anomalies (/corporate/anomalies).

A monitored view of anomalies the ML pipeline finds across your emissions data. Each anomaly card shows:

• The metric that deviated (e.g., monthly grid electricity)
• Severity (Low / Medium / High / Critical)
• Suggested cause (e.g., "Reading 3.2σ above expected — possible meter fault or new equipment")
• Actions: Acknowledge, Mark False Positive, Create Task

The carbon-specific anomaly view (/corporate/carbon/anomaly-detection) drills in further with timeline charts.

# 7. Advisory & AI

ESGCast ships with multiple AI surfaces. Each has a slightly different purpose — pick the one that fits your task.

# 7.1 Advisory Hub

Path: /corporate/advisory.

Connect with an external advisor or auditor, or browse pre-purchased advisory hours. Sub-pages:

• Dashboard — summary of active engagements
• Consultations — scheduled and historical sessions
• Recommendations — recommendations queued from your advisor
• AI Chat — a chat thread on advisory topics (separate from the general AI Assistant)
• Select Service — start a new engagement

# 7.2 AI Recommendations

Path: /corporate/ai-recommendations.

System-wide recommendations the platform thinks you should act on, ranked by impact. Three views:

• Index — full list
• Banners — banners that appear above other pages
• Popup — pop-up nudges

You can dismiss, snooze, or convert a recommendation into a task assigned to a teammate.

# 7.3 ESG AI Copilot

Path: left sidebar → ESGCast Copilot (/corporate/ai-copilot).

A conversational copilot scoped to your tenant's data. Ask things like:

• "Where did Scope 2 emissions move most last quarter?"
• "Draft a TCFD response for governance section based on our current policies."
• "What's the cheapest plausible path to 25% reduction by 2027?"

The copilot can read your data, draft text, and create tasks — it does not post or submit without your confirmation.

# 7.4 AI Assistant

Path: left sidebar → ESG AI Assistant (/corporate/ai/assistant).

A multi-provider AI panel. The platform supports several AI providers — CodaNova, Optimal, Gemini, Claude, Mistral, DeepInfra, Mosaic, OpenAI, OpenRouter — and shows their configuration status. If a provider's API key isn't set, it's marked as "(Not configured)" and disabled.

AI Features (right column):

• Performance Analysis — analyses your KPI trends
• AI Recommendations — actionable improvements
• Carbon Analysis — emissions deep-dive
• Compliance Gaps — what's missing for your selected frameworks
• Benchmarking — vs industry peers

Quick chips below the text input: Analyze Performance, Get Recommendations, Carbon Analysis, Compliance Check.

To activate a provider, your administrator sets the corresponding *_API_KEY in the platform's configuration. Once set, "Not configured" becomes a green check.

# 7.5 AI Credits

Path: left sidebar → AI credits area; routes /corporate/ai-credits and /corporate/ai-credits/history.

AI features consume tenant credits. The credits page shows:

• Current balance
• Burn-rate (last 7 / 30 days)
• Buy Credits button
• History — itemised log of every AI call (what feature, which provider, how many credits)

When you run out, AI features return "out of credits" — non-AI features keep working.

# 8. Appendices

# 8.1 Role & Permissions

A corporate user has the corporate role and is scoped to a single company (and through it, a single tenant). What you can see and do is also constrained by three other layers:

1. Plan tier — your subscription decides which advanced modules (CBAM, EU Taxonomy, IFRS S2 …) are even visible.
2. Feature flags — a tenant administrator can disable specific modules globally (e.g., IoT, Smart Buildings).
3. Per-route permissions — granular Spatie permissions (view dashboard, create report, manage credits, …) decide what each user inside your company can do. The corporate-admin role has everything by default; corporate-viewer has read-only.

If you see a 403 "Access Forbidden" on a page, ask your administrator either to upgrade your plan or to grant you the missing permission.

# 8.2 Troubleshooting

Symptom → Likely cause → Fix

# 8.3 Demo Credentials

This guide was generated against a local instance with the following demo account so screenshots are reproducible:

URL:      http://127.0.0.1:8000/login
Email:    demo@esgcast.com
Password: demo12345
Role:     corporate
Company:  Demo Corp
Tenant:   Demo Tenant

Do not ship these credentials to production — they exist only for documentation captures.

Captured on 2026-05-30 from a live ESGCast instance. All screenshots are real renders of the platform; no mockups.