SB 253 deadline 2026 — check which report you owe

A US controller with three covered entities and 1,250 (USD millions) of revenue owes 13,527 in CARB fees and has 50 days left to the 10 November 2026 SB 253 report. That is the finished answer, and nearly every number in it moved during 2026.

SB 253 makes companies formed under the laws of a US state, doing business in California, with more than 1000 (USD millions) of total annual revenue report Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. SB 261 makes companies over 500 (USD millions) file a biennial climate-related financial risk report. Two laws, two thresholds, two different dates.

The first date moved. CARB shifted the first-year Scope 1 and Scope 2 reporting deadline from 10 August 2026 to 10 November 2026. Checklists written before that change still print August. On 2026-09-21 August is behind you and November is 50 days out.

The second date is worse, because it still exists on paper. SB 261's statutory deadline is 1 January 2026. CARB has said it will not enforce that date while a Ninth Circuit injunction is on appeal, and that it will provide an alternate reporting date once the appeal is resolved. Report to 1 January 2026 and you are reporting to a date nobody is holding; ignore SB 261 and you are waiting for a date you have scheduled nobody to watch.

Then there are the fees, which almost no summary mentions. CARB's fees are charged per entity, not per group: 3,106 for SB 253 and 1,403 for SB 261, assessed 10 September 2026. That is 4,509 per covered entity before a single page of either report is drafted. Three covered entities means 9,318 plus 4,209 = 13,527. Groups that budgeted one fee for one consolidated parent have the wrong number.

CA Climate Disclosure Clock 2026 is a browser extension that answers all of this on one screen. It takes five inputs: total annual revenue in USD millions for the whole group, the number of covered entities, whether the filing entity is formed under the laws of a US state, whether the group does business in California, and today's date. It returns eight lines: the reports owed, the next CARB report date, the days left, SB 253 fees, SB 261 fees, the total CARB will bill, the SB 261 status and the Scope 3 lead time.

The answers change with the inputs, which is the point. At 1,250 (USD millions) with three entities you get both laws, 2026-11-10, 50 days and 13,527 in fees. At 620 (USD millions) with one entity you get SB 261 only and 1,403 in fees, with no SB 253 date at all. Change the formation field to an entity formed outside the United States and you get Neither, with the reason named, and zero fees — because both statutes reach US-formed entities doing business in California.

Scope 3 is the next gate, not this one. Scope 3 reporting and assurance are anticipated to begin in 2027, so the inventory work belongs in the same planning quarter as the first Scope 1 and Scope 2 filing, not after it.

Everything above is free, with no key, no entity cap and no watermark. Nothing you type leaves the browser; the only outbound call the extension can make is a licence-key check. The 29 licence key adds ownership and repetition rather than answers: a CSV export of the entity-by-entity fee and date table for the audit file, and a browser alarm that re-checks the SB 253 date and the SB 261 status, because both have already moved once this year.

The yardstick is CARB's own invoice: 4,509 per entity, assessed 10 September 2026, before any consultant or assurance engagement. Knowing which report you owe, and on which date, is the cheapest line in that budget.