Completeness Completeness refers to an accounting of all applicable sources and sinks. In the context of a Kyoto Protocol accounting system, the sources and sinks that are applicable would be defined by the provisions of the Protocol. Accuracy Accuracy refers to the general validity of the reported numbers from an accounting system. Accurate estimates are unbiased in that they do not systematically under- or overstate the true number. A related issue is precision.
Precise estimates have small standard errors.
Accuracy and precision can be independent. On the other hand, extremely precise estimates can be biased if the system is not well designed. The accounting system should enable a third party to verify the reported numbers. Verifiability requires that the accounting system is built on proper data collection, measurement, and reporting procedures. In short, claims should be able to withstand reasonable scrutiny.