Overview
This article walks you through the essential navigation of the KEY ESG platform, so you can find your data collection, reports, and settings quickly. It covers your Home screen, selecting the right reporting year, using the left and right navigation panels, and getting the most out of Ask KEY and Data Validation.
1. Select Your Reporting Year
In the top-left panel, choose the correct reporting year before you begin. Your Home screen, data collection, and reports are all tied to the selected year, so always confirm you're working in the right period before entering or reviewing data.
2. Your Home Screen
Click the Home button in the left-hand corner at any time to return to your Home screen. This is your at-a-glance view of ESG performance and progress:
Progress: shows how far along you are in your data collection for this year's reporting cycle. To the right of the progress chart, you can see whether your data has been signed off (only Admins can sign off or unlock data: see Data Review and Sign-Off for the full workflow).
Carbon footprint card: your Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions with year-on-year comparisons, so you can see how your footprint is trending at a glance.
Next target: a quick view of your closest upcoming target, with a link straight through to Targets if you want to dig deeper.
Open action plans: a summary of your in-progress action plans, linking through to Action Plans under 'Improve'.
Data collection summary: at-a-glance insight into data collection activity, including the number of entities and users contributing to the current reporting period.
If you scroll to the bottom of your Home screen, you'll also find a few resources, including getting started with materiality assessments, talking to our experts, and checking if you're data-ready.
3. Use the Left-Hand Navigation Panel
The left-hand panel is your main way to move around the platform. Depending on your licence with KEY ESG, you'll find the following sections:
Home: Your main dashboard, described above.
Data: A section for collecting and managing your data, including bulk uploads and Data Validation
Analytics: Reports and dashboards. For the full guides, see Using KEY ESG's Reports or Getting started with dashboards.
Improve: Where you can store your policies, targets, and action plans.
Setup: For setting up new companies, users, custom metrics, or integrations.
4. Ask KEY: Your In-Platform Agent
Ask KEY is an in-app AI assistant that answers questions about your ESG data in plain language, no exports, no external tool, no setup required. Ask it how a metric has changed year-on-year, which targets are at risk, or for a breakdown of your data by entity, and it responds instantly using your live, verified platform data.
To use it: click Ask KEY in the menu, type your question (or pick a suggested prompt), and read the answer as it's generated. You'll get follow-up suggestions after each answer, and every conversation is saved so you can pick up where you left off.
Note: Ask KEY is available to organisations with AI Capabilities enabled. It can only read data: it cannot create, edit, or delete records. If you don't see it, contact your platform admin or support@keyesg.com.
For the full guide, including example prompts and data privacy details, see here
5. Data Validation Tab
The Data Validation tab (under the Data section) shows the status of automated checks that flag anomalies in your data, such as unexpected year-on-year swings, or metrics that fall outside a defined threshold. Rules run continuously in the background, so you don't have to manually review every submission.
Each rule shows a status: Passing, Failing, Incomplete Data, Not Run, Mixed, or Suppressed. Expand any rule to see why it's passing or failing.
For failing GHG Scope 1, 2, or 3 year-on-year rules, you can also click Find Root Cause to get an AI-generated explanation of the variance (requires AI Capabilities to be turned on in company settings).
For full setup steps and rule types, see Data Validation rules.
6. Manage Your Profile (Top Right)
Click the Profile icon in the top-right corner to:
Configure basic company settings
Manage users and their access
Log out of the platform
Need Help?
Reach out via the in-app chat or email support@keyesg.com — our team is happy to help.