Just received a Costco SSA or Kirkland Signature sustainability questionnaire? Emissa imports your QuickBooks data, maps every Scope 1, 2 & 3 category to Costco's requirements, and generates a complete, submission-ready report — without hiring a consultant.
Costco's Supplier Sustainability Assessment (SSA) is a mandatory annual questionnaire for Kirkland Signature and key vendors. It requires documented data across greenhouse gas emissions, packaging sustainability, water usage, and social compliance. Suppliers who submit complete, high-quality data avoid compliance flags that can delay or terminate buyer relationships.
Costco requires a GHG Protocol-aligned inventory covering direct emissions (Scope 1), purchased electricity (Scope 2), and supply chain emissions (Scope 3) — particularly purchased goods (Cat 1), upstream freight (Cat 4), and waste (Cat 5). Methodology documentation is expected.
Costco tracks recyclable content percentages, packaging weight reduction initiatives, and Kirkland Signature-specific packaging standards. The SSA requests material type, recycled content, and end-of-life pathway data per product line.
Facility-level water withdrawal and consumption data is required, along with any water stress region assessments. Costco benchmarks water intensity against revenue and production volume — Scope 3 water upstream from suppliers is increasingly tracked.
Social compliance attestations covering labor standards (wages, hours, child labor prohibition), worker health & safety, and audit history. Costco cross-references SSA responses against third-party audit results (SMETA, BSCI, or equivalent).
No ESG team required. No consultant engagement. No spreadsheet wrestling.
Connect QuickBooks Online via OAuth or download the standard transaction detail report from QuickBooks Desktop. Emissa parses your vendor spend, utility GL codes, and freight invoices automatically — no reformatting required.
Emissa maps each GL code to the correct GHG Protocol category using EPA eGRID, GHGRP, and USEEIO v2.0 emission factors. Scope 3 Cat 1 is calculated from vendor spend; Cat 4 from freight invoices; Cat 5 from waste disposal records. Most users review and confirm in under 5 minutes.
Select "Costco SSA" format. Emissa outputs a complete GHG inventory in Costco's required format: Scope 1/2/3 totals, category-level breakdown, emission factor documentation, methodology narrative, and SHA-256 audit fingerprint. Covers packaging and water data captured in your QuickBooks categories.
Send your Costco buyer a secure, tamper-evident verification link. They can confirm report authenticity and mark it verified directly in the portal — no Excel attachments, no PDF email chains. The verification is logged in an immutable audit trail.
No long-term contract required. Most suppliers complete their first Costco SSA in the same session they sign up.
Automated Scope 1, 2 & 3. All 18 report formats. Buyer Verification Portal. Unlimited QuickBooks imports. $7,800/year billed annually.
Everything in Core plus ESG Supplier Profiles, Document Vault, Consent Ledger, SSO & team management, up to 20 facilities. $14,400/year billed annually.
Everything you need to know about Costco Sustainability Audit reporting with Emissa.
The Costco Sustainability Audit (SSA — Supplier Sustainability Assessment) is a mandatory annual questionnaire for Kirkland Signature and key Costco vendors. It covers Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, packaging sustainability, water usage, social compliance, and supplier code of conduct alignment. Costco uses SSA scores to evaluate supplier eligibility and Preferred Vendor status.
All Kirkland Signature suppliers and direct import vendors are required to complete the Costco SSA annually. Branded product suppliers are increasingly required to participate as Costco expands its sustainability program. If you've received a request from your Costco buyer or Costco Wholesale merchandising team, your company is in scope.
Costco's SSA window typically opens in Q2 and closes before Q4 buyer reviews. Exact deadlines are communicated by your Costco buyer contact. Missing the window risks a compliance flag on your vendor profile. Emissa can generate a complete, submission-ready report in a single session — no consultant engagement required.
Yes — your underlying GHG inventory (Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions data) is the same for both. Costco and Walmart both require GHG Protocol-aligned reporting. Emissa generates both formats from the same QuickBooks data import, so if you've already done Walmart Gigaton, the Costco SSA takes under 10 minutes.
Costco's SSA focuses on Scope 3 Category 1 (purchased goods and services), Category 4 (upstream transportation and distribution), and Category 5 (waste generated in operations). For food and CPG suppliers, packaging materials and water consumption are also prioritized. Emissa covers all 15 Scope 3 GHG Protocol categories automatically.
Emissa's Costco SSA output covers the GHG inventory section completely (Scope 1, 2, 3 with EPA-sourced factors). For packaging and water sections, Emissa pulls any packaging and waste data captured in your QuickBooks categories, and generates a pre-filled questionnaire you can complete in under 30 minutes. The emissions section — typically the hardest — is fully automated.
Emissa uses a spend-based method aligned with USEEIO v2.0 (EPA's supply chain emission factors) and DEFRA 2024 for freight. You upload your QuickBooks transaction export — Emissa maps each vendor GL code to the correct GHG Protocol category and applies the appropriate emission factor. The result is a defensible, methodology-documented Scope 3 inventory that meets Costco's data quality expectations.
The Emissa Costco SSA output includes a Scope 1/2/3 summary table, category-level breakdown, emission factor documentation, methodology narrative, and a SHA-256 report fingerprint for audit verification. Buyers can be invited to a secure Buyer Verification Portal to confirm report authenticity — no Excel attachments required.
Get a free compliance readiness scorecard and roadmap. We'll analyze your buyer exposure and tell you exactly what needs to be done before your next deadline.
No credit card. No commitment. 100% free.