What is VSME, and who is it for?
VSME is a voluntary sustainability reporting standard developed for small and medium-sized businesses whose shares are not listed on a stock exchange. It gives you a set of topics to report on, including energy use, employees and business practices.
A bank may ask for this information when discussing finance. A customer may need it as part of choosing or reviewing suppliers. Using a common structure can help you prepare information you can reuse across requests. Check whether the report covers the questions your bank or customer has asked.
If you have never prepared one, start with the completed report example. You will see a mix of figures from company records and short written explanations. You can begin gathering these from accounts, utility bills, payroll and the people who run your sites.
Choose between Basic and Comprehensive
The Basic Module is the starting set of topics: company details, environmental information, employees and business conduct. This is the reporting option supported by our online tool.
The Comprehensive Module builds on Basic with more information about matters such as business strategy, climate targets and risks, and human-rights policies. It is useful to consider when your recipient asks for that additional detail.
Look at the actual request before choosing. The Basic and Comprehensive comparison uses example questions to show the difference. Comprehensive reporting is not currently available in our questionnaire.
What goes in a Basic report?
The standard groups the information into eleven topics, numbered B1 to B11. It calls these “disclosures”, meaning the information a company reports. Open a topic below to see what it asks and where you will find it in the questionnaire.
Some questions depend on your activities or number of employees. For example, production water use needs extra detail where it applies, while general water and waste questions still cover office-based businesses. The preparation checklist helps you gather the relevant records.
B1. Basis for preparation
What to include. The frame of the whole report: whether you use the Basic Module alone or add the Comprehensive Module, whether you report for one legal entity or a consolidated group, your legal form, NACE sector classification, balance sheet total, turnover, employee count and counting method, and your list of subsidiaries and sites.
Why it matters. The reporting boundary makes the rest of the figures interpretable. Sector, size and employee methodology help a reader understand which operations and people the report covers.
In the questionnaire. Two steps: Report basis & company profile, and Subsidiaries & sites. Company details also asks for a business identifier to identify your company in the digital report.
B2. Practices, policies and future initiatives
What to include. Whether your company has practices, policies or planned initiatives for the transition to a more sustainable economy, which of ten sustainability topics they address (from climate change to business conduct), whether any are public, and whether measurable targets exist.
Why it matters. This explains the practices and intentions behind the figures. Describe what exists, who it covers and how a target is defined where relevant.
In the questionnaire. The Practices & policies step. Selecting no topics is a valid answer if nothing is in place yet. Cooperatives get three extra optional questions about member governance.
B3. Energy and greenhouse gas emissions
What to include. Total energy consumption in MWh, broken down by electricity versus fuels and renewable versus non-renewable, plus gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions in tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. Scope 3 is voluntary in the Basic Module. Emission intensity (emissions per turnover) derives from these figures.
Why it matters. Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions describe different things. Show the activity and the associated emissions, with methods and units that a reader can understand.
In the questionnaire. Two steps: Energy consumption and Greenhouse gas emissions. The built-in calculator turns invoice figures (kWh, litres, m³) into the full breakdown and both emission scopes with editable standard factors. Totals and intensity compute automatically.
B4. Pollution of air, water and soil
What to include. The pollutants your company emits to air, water and soil, in kilograms or tonnes, using the EU's official pollutant list. Applies only if you are already required to report such emissions to authorities (environmental permits, E-PRTR) or do so voluntarily.
Why it matters. This reuses pollutant information already reported under the applicable conditions. A disclosure being not applicable does not establish that the company has no pollution impacts.
In the questionnaire. A yes/no applicability question decides everything. If yes, choose the pollutants you report and enter the amounts. If the relevant information is publicly available, provide the disclosure link.
B5. Biodiversity and land use
What to include. Whether you have sites in or near biodiversity-sensitive areas such as Natura 2000, with their size, plus optional land-use metrics: total land use, sealed area, and nature-oriented areas on and off site.
Why it matters. Site locations and areas help the reader understand the company’s relationship to sensitive natural areas. Review the sites before choosing an applicability answer.
In the questionnaire. The Biodiversity step. The first question asks about sites near sensitive natural areas; the land-use fields stay available to everyone and are optional.
B6. Water
What to include. Water withdrawn across your sites, the share taken at sites in high water-stress areas, discharge from production processes, and net water consumption, all in cubic metres.
Why it matters. Water availability depends on location. Withdrawal, high water-stress exposure and relevant production consumption need their own records and definitions.
In the questionnaire. The Water step includes withdrawal for every company, including shared offices. Only production water consumption is conditional. Use water bills or a documented estimate.
B7. Resource use, circular economy and waste
What to include. Whether you apply circular-economy principles and how, your waste by type from the EU waste catalogue split into recycled/reused versus disposed, totals by hazardous status, and the material flows where significant, such as in manufacturing, construction or packaging.
Why it matters. The waste breakdown shows how materials leave the business, while the narrative explains actual circular-economy practices. Keep waste classification and units consistent.
In the questionnaire. The Circular economy & waste step. Every company reports waste; only significant material flows are conditional. Search the EU waste catalogue and enter recycled/reused and disposed quantities from records or documented estimates.
B8. Workforce: general characteristics
What to include. Employees by contract type (permanent, temporary), by gender, by country for multi-country workforces, and the employee turnover rate, all using the counting method declared in B1.
Why it matters. The breakdowns should reconcile to the employee total and counting method. A consistent basis makes the numbers useful for comparing reporting periods.
In the questionnaire. The Workforce step. The tool warns when the splits do not add up to the B1 headline, and a mini-calculator derives the turnover rate from your leaver count. Turnover is required from 50 employees.
B9. Workforce: health and safety
What to include. The number of recordable work-related accidents, the accident rate relative to hours worked, and work-related fatalities including those from work-related ill health.
Why it matters. Accident counts and rates provide different views of the reporting period. Check incidents and hours worked rather than using a default zero.
In the questionnaire. The Health & safety step. Both the accident count and rate are required. A calculator uses accidents and hours worked; documented estimates of hours can be used if records are unavailable.
B10. Remuneration, collective bargaining and training
What to include. Whether all employees earn at least the applicable minimum wage, the gender pay gap (mandatory from 150 employees), collective bargaining coverage, and average annual training hours by gender.
Why it matters. These disclosures describe pay practices, collective bargaining and training. Use payroll and training records, with clear denominators for percentages and averages.
In the questionnaire. The Remuneration, bargaining & training step. Below 150 employees the pay gap is clearly marked optional so you can decide whether to include it.
B11. Convictions and fines for corruption and bribery
What to include. The number of convictions and the total amount of fines for violations of anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws during the reporting period.
Why it matters. Explicit figures distinguish a checked zero from missing information. Confirm the period and underlying records before entering the result.
In the questionnaire. The Corruption & bribery step records the conviction count and fines. Enter zero only when the records support it.
Is this the same as mandatory sustainability reporting?
VSME is voluntary. Receiving a sustainability questionnaire from a customer does not by itself mean your company must report under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Companies covered by CSRD use the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). If you are preparing a legally required report, establish which rules apply to your company. A VSME report does not replace a required ESRS report or other legal obligations.
The Commission’s corporate reporting overview explains the legal framework. For a bank or customer questionnaire, our request guide helps you clarify what to provide.
Sources and the version this tool supports
Our questionnaire and report example use the Basic Module in Commission Recommendation (EU) 2025/1710. The digital files use EFRAG Digital Template 1.3.0 and XBRL taxonomy 2026-05-01.
There are newer voluntary-standard materials. The Commission adopted a delegated act on 3 July 2026. As reviewed on 6 September, its acts page lists it as not in force until Official Journal publication. EFRAG plans updated digital resources for Q4 2026. Our tool does not yet implement those later materials.
If your recipient specifies a standard or digital-file version, compare it with the version above before preparing your report.
Start your Basic report with guided questions.
Answer questions about your company and download a VSME Basic Module report to share with banks and customers. You can start with what you know and return as you gather the remaining information.
Start your reportFree during early access. No account needed.