VSME is a voluntary sustainability standard for unlisted SMEs. The European Commission recommended it in July 2025 to cut down on the different questionnaires sent out by large clients and financial institutions. It does not automatically bring an SME into the scope of the CSRD, nor does it require replicating the full ESRS: it offers a proportionate, comparable baseline that must be backed by real data and evidence.
What it is for
VSME helps you respond to requests about:
- Emissions and energy.
- Pollution, water and biodiversity.
- Circularity and waste.
- Workforce, health and training.
- Human rights.
- Business conduct.
- Policies, actions and targets.
It can be used for supplier approval, financing, insurance, tenders and internal management.
Who it is aimed at
EFRAG states that it is designed for unlisted micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, including micro-entities, and that it has not been tested for more complex companies with over 250 employees.
The company must confirm that it is not within the mandatory scope of another framework and must state that the report is voluntary.
Modules
The standard is structured around a basic module and a more comprehensive one for additional needs. Which to select depends on the requests received and the company's maturity.
| Situation | Starting approach |
|---|---|
| Micro-enterprise with its first requests | Basic module |
| Supplier to a large company | Basic module plus gaps from the full one |
| ESG financing | Data requested by the bank and the relevant module |
| SME with a mature system | Fuller coverage |
Do not collect everything if no one will use it; but do not omit a material data point requested by a business relationship either.
Project governance
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Management | Scope, objectives and approval |
| Finance | Consistency and control |
| Environment | Energy, emissions, water and waste |
| HR | Workforce, safety and training |
| Procurement | Value chain |
| Compliance | Conduct and rights |
| Operations | Physical data and actions |
One person coordinates the project, but every data point has an owner.
Step 1. Inventory of requests
Gather the questionnaires from clients, banks, EcoVadis, tenders and insurers. Map each question against VSME and identify duplicates.
This makes it possible to build a master response and cut down on the workload, without answering automatically out of context.
Step 2. Scope and period
Define:
- Entity or group.
- Sites.
- Period.
- Currency and units.
- Consolidation.
- Estimates.
- Changes compared with the previous year.
The scope must match the financial statements or explain any differences.
Step 3. Environmental data
Energy and emissions
Fuel, electricity, refrigerants and other necessary data are collected. Emission factors, boundaries and estimates are documented. If an ISO 14064 or GHG Protocol inventory already exists, it is reused by mapping it across.
Water and biodiversity
Relevance depends on location and activity. "No impact" should not be claimed simply because nothing has been measured. Consumption, sensitive areas and dependencies are identified where relevant.
Circularity and waste
Materials and waste are recorded by type and destination, along with prevention or reuse actions. "Recovered" requires evidence from the waste manager.
Step 4. Social data
- Workforce by relevant category.
- Turnover.
- Accidents and health.
- Training.
- Diversity where relevant.
- Collective bargaining.
- Policies and channels.
HR must protect personal data and avoid publishing breakdowns that could identify individuals in small teams.
Step 5. Business conduct
This covers policies on ethics, anti-corruption, conflicts of interest, the whistleblowing channel, training and incidents. A policy that is not put into practice does not demonstrate management.
"There were no cases" and "there is no mechanism to detect them" are treated as two different things.
Step 6. Policies, actions and targets
For each topic:
- Approved policy.
- Owner.
- Actions.
- Coverage.
- Indicator.
- Target.
- Result.
- Evidence.
Targets are not invented retroactively. If none exist, this is stated and a plan is created.
Quality and evidence
Every data point must have:
- Definition.
- Source.
- Owner.
- Unit.
- Period.
- Calculation.
- Review.
- Limitation.
The supporting file can include invoices, aggregated payroll data, reports, certificates, contracts and other documents. Access is controlled.
Digital template and XBRL
EFRAG has published a digital template and an XBRL taxonomy to support structured reporting. A company can start with a controlled spreadsheet and migrate to digital format later, keeping the same definitions.
The tool does not fix poor-quality data.
Responding to banks
Banks may ask for specific indicators for risk assessment and financing. The SME should:
- Confirm the entity and the period.
- Use consistent definitions.
- Explain the estimates.
- Separate targets from results.
- Keep evidence.
- Update annually.
It should not promise emission reductions or Taxonomy alignment without a methodology behind them.
Responding to clients
Create a pack containing:
- VSME report.
- Indicator table.
- Key policies.
- Certificates.
- Contact and date.
- Confidential annexes on request.
Avoid sending full sensitive documents when a summarized piece of evidence is enough.
Relationship with EcoVadis and other frameworks
VSME can serve as a data repository for EcoVadis, B Corp, carbon footprint reporting or other questionnaires, but it does not replace their methodologies. A mapping matrix should be built.
Nor is it equivalent to a CSRD report or an assured statement.
Managing claims
Avoid:
- "Sustainable company" without a defined scope.
- "Zero emissions" through offsetting alone.
- "100% recyclable" without proof.
- Targets presented as results.
- Expired certificates.
- Figures without a stated period.
Every claim must have an owner and supporting evidence.
12-week plan
Weeks 1-2
Requests, scope, module and team.
Weeks 3-6
Environmental, social and governance data.
Weeks 7-8
Calculations, evidence and gaps.
Weeks 9-10
Narrative, targets and review.
Weeks 11-12
Approval, publication and the pack for third parties.
Common mistakes
- Treating VSME as a CSRD obligation.
- Copying the report of a large company.
- Not defining the perimeter.
- Mixing data from different years.
- Using estimates without explaining them.
- Publishing personal data.
- Confusing policies with results.
- Making absolute claims.
- Not keeping evidence.
- Creating yet another isolated repository.
Checklist
- Eligibility and objective.
- Appropriate module.
- Entity, period and sites.
- Data owners.
- Definitions and evidence.
- Privacy in social data.
- Policies, actions and results kept separate.
- Claims reviewed.
- Mapping against questionnaires.
- Approval and update.
Frequently asked questions
Is VSME mandatory?
It is voluntary for the SMEs it targets, although clients or banks may request it as contractual information.
Does it replace the CSRD?
No. It is a simplified, voluntary framework for unlisted SMEs that fall outside the corresponding scope.
Does it need to be verified?
Not always. If a third party requires it, or where significant claims are made, independent assurance can be considered.
Can it reduce the number of questionnaires?
That is one of its goals, but it depends on clients and banks accepting the standardized information.
Official sources consulted
- EFRAG: VSME and sustainability reporting for SMEs.
- VSME Standard.
- Digital template and XBRL taxonomy.
- European Commission: VSME recommendation.
Summum Calidad can prepare the first report, the evidence repository and the mapping to clients and banks.