Rules of Proper Accounting

Having defined the data structures, we can now define the rules of proper accounting.

The units of account are grams (not kilograms) of CO₂eq, and they must be expressed in non-negative integer numbers.

• The total values going out are listed after "sink" and "give" keys.
• The total values coming in are listed after "source" and "take" keys.
• The total values reserved are listed after "margin" and "spare" keys.

Numerical consistency assumes non-negative values:

• No "units" value may be less than zero.

Internal consistency of accounting requires:

• The total values going out plus the total values reserved must not exceed the total values coming in.

Extenal consistency of accounting requires:

• The total values coming in from a party must not exceed the total values that this party has in their administration as going out towards our party.

Documentation trails are to be used to audit the local environmental sanity:

• Documents must validate any values after "source" keys.

• Any "take" keys must reference the same documentation, with at least one matching secure hash that this document and its follow-ups consider sufficiently secure against crypto-analytic attacks as the matching "give" keys.