Outbound transactions reconciliation
This article explains how to reconcile outbound registry transactions (cancellations and outgoing transfers). This is the step that links the certificates that left your registry account to the customers or contracts they were delivered to, and that finalises your allocations.
What is this about?
When certificates leave your registry account, either because you cancelled them on behalf of a customer or transferred them to a counterparty, the platform needs to know which delivery those certificates relate to. This process is called outbound transaction reconciliation. While Inbound reconciliation tells the platform where certificates came from. Outbound reconciliation tells it where they went.
Until an outbound transaction is reconciled, the platform registers that certificates have left your account, but it does not know who they were delivered to. Your allocations to those customers stay provisional. Reconciling outbound transactions serves three main purposes:
- Turning provisional allocations into finalised allocations, with a firm and auditable link between a registry transaction and the customers or contracts it delivers to
- Keeping your inventory in the platform consistent with your registry balances, so certificates that have already been delivered are not counted twice
- Where certificate IDs are available, recording exactly which certificates went to which customer, which you can then use in customer reports
There are two ways to reconcile an outbound transaction:
- Against an allocation batch. Use this for certificates cancelled or transferred to deliver on allocations you made in the platform.
- Without an allocation. Use this to process certificate outflows that are not tied to any demand captured in the platform.
We recommend reconciling outbound transactions as soon as they appear in the platform, ideally in the same cycle in which you performed the cancellation or transfer in the registry.
Key concepts
Where outbound reconciliation sits in the delivery process
Delivering certificates to a customer is a multi-step journey, and is linked with the finalisation of allocation batch:
- Initiate finalisation (in the platform). You select the allocations you want to deliver on and batch (group) them. The platform generates the registry instructions (which certificates to cancel or transfer, and in what quantity).
- Execute the transaction (outside the platform). You perform the cancellation or transfer in the registry portal. This process is also available in a fully automated way.
- Complete finalisation (in the platform). Once the resulting registry transaction is uploaded, you reconcile it against the allocations it delivers. This is what this article covers.
Supply types: contracted, inventory and dispatched
The platform tracks your supply in three different states. Outbound reconciliation moves volumes from one state to the next.
| Supply type | What it represents | How volumes get there |
|---|---|---|
| Contracted | Certificates you expect to receive (from a buy deal, a PPA or an own asset) but that have not yet been delivered to your registry account | Captured through deals or metered production data |
| Inventory | Certificates you hold in your registry accounts and that have been reconciled | Inbound reconciliation of an issuance or incoming transfer |
| Dispatched | Certificates that have left your registry account through a cancellation or outgoing transfer | Created automatically when an outbound transaction is uploaded |
When you reconcile an outbound transaction against an allocation batch, the allocations in that batch move from inventory to dispatched supply. Your reconciled inventory balance goes down by the same amount.
Allocation batches
An allocation batch is a group of allocations that you finalise together, typically everything you intend to deliver with one registry cancellation or transfer. A batch waiting for its registry transaction has the status Pending finalisation. Once reconciled, its status changes to Finalised.
Certificate IDs
Some registries issue certificates as individual units with serial IDs (unit-based registries). Others only track volumes. When certificate IDs are included in your registry data, the platform assigns specific certificate IDs to each customer during reconciliation. Certificate IDs are optional. Reconciliation works without them, but they give you certificate-level traceability in customer reports.
How to reconcile an outbound transaction
Before you start
Make sure that:
- The outbound transaction has been uploaded to the platform.
- Only allocations from inventory supply can be finalised.
You can start from either the transaction or the allocations batch, depending on your workflow.
From the transaction
- Go to Certificates > Registry Transactions.
- Find the outbound transaction you want to reconcile (type: Cancellation or Transfer, direction: Out).
- Click the reconcile button on the right of the transaction.
From the allocations
- Go to Allocation > Allocated volumes.
- in the Actions menu, either Lock a batch and finalise it later, or lock and reconcile with transactions in one go, if the transactions are already uploaded into the platform.
- Select the allocations batch from the Allocation batches page and perform the actions
Note: The expected workflow is that you create a batch for the purpose of one registry operation, and then reconcile that operation back to the same batch. If one batch was delivered across several transactions, start from the batch and select all the relevant transactions.
From the transaction
Option A: Reconcile against an allocation batch, or against a sell deal tranche
Use this path when the transaction was made to deliver on allocations you have in the platform, or to a sell contract. This is the most common case.
- Select the allocation batch that the transaction delivers on. The platforms offers potential match based on same assets and vintages found in the transaction.
- The transaction volume must be equal to or greater than the allocated volume in the batch.
- Confirm the reconciliation.
Once confirmed, the platform:
- Marks the allocations in the batch as Finalised
- Links the transaction to the customers and contracts the allocations point to
- Moves the delivered volumes from inventory to dispatched supply and reduces your reconciled inventory balance
- Assigns certificate IDs to each customer, if certificate IDs are available for the transaction
Why the transaction can be larger than the batch
Many registries only transact whole certificates (for example, 1 MWh each). When the platform generates the registry instructions, it rounds allocated volumes up to the nearest whole certificate. The transaction can therefore be slightly larger than the allocated volume. The platform handles this difference automatically.
Option B: Reconcile without an allocation
Some certificate outflows are legitimate but do not relate to any demand captured in the platform.
- In the reconciliation flow, select the option to reconcile without an allocation.
- Confirm.
The platform reduces your reconciled inventory by the transaction volume and marks the transaction as reconciled. No customer or contract is linked to it.
Note: Only use this option when you are sure that the certificates are not delivering on any allocation in the platform. Otherwise, your inventory goes down while the related customer allocations stay provisional.
Explore the allocation results in the Outbound delivery monitoring. The Recognised volumes tab in is the joint record of your outbound reconciliations. It shows every confirmed link between an outbound registry transaction and the demand it delivered to.
In the page Dispatched certificate IDs attribution, you will find the certificates IDs (if available in registry) that have been allocated to the demand contracts, following the reconciliation of the transaction. Filter by the transaction identifier and add columns on the demand contract side to explore the results.
Expirations and revocations
Outbound transactions of type expiration or revocation do not require any choice. When you process them, the platform simply removes the corresponding volume from your reconciled inventory.
Tips & things to know
- Reconcile inbound first. An allocation can only be finalised once the certificates behind it are in your reconciled inventory. If a batch cannot be selected, check that the related inbound transactions have been reconciled.
- Volumes must cover the batch. The transaction volume must be equal to or greater than the allocated volume, per asset and vintage. If it is smaller, or if the assets or vintages do not match, the platform flags the batch as incompatible.
- Certificate IDs are optional. They add certificate-level traceability to customer reports but are not required for reconciliation to succeed.
- Internal transfers between two of your own registry accounts also need to be reconciled, so that the platform moves the inventory from one account to the other. Allocations made from the source account are removed in the process, so re-run your allocations afterwards.
- Transactions from before your onboarding date are recognised without reconciliation. Only transactions completed after the onboarding date need to be reconciled.
- Complex delivery scenarios (one transaction delivering several contracts, one contract delivered across many transactions, or a large backlog of historical outbound transactions) cannot always be handled through the standard reconciliation UI. Contact the Granular Energy support team, as these cases can be processed in bulk using a CSV-based approach.
- Processing note: Reconciliation is an asynchronous process and may take some extra time for large transactions. You can monitor the progress in the Operations log (icon in the top right corner of the platform).