Materiality is one of the nine principles identified in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and it is identified as one of the verification fundamentals in ISO 14064 3 2 (International Standard for GHG Emissions Inventories and Verification).

Materiality is defined in the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) "Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements" in the following terms:

"Information is material if its omission or misstatement could influence the economic decision of users taken on the basis of the financial statements. Materiality depends on the size of the item or error judged in the particular circumstances of its omission or misstatement. Thus, materiality provides a threshold or cut-off point rather than being a primary qualitative characteristic which information must have if it is to be useful."

In GHG accounting as it allows to set a threshold for validators or verifiers on their level of scrutiny of their assessments, while ensuring there is no omission of relevant data or information that could lead to a significant error or deviation to the expected result.