What is a sustainability report for an SME
If you search for an example of a sustainability report for an SME, you are probably looking for guidance: what does such a document look like, and what exactly should be in it. The short answer is that a sustainability report for an SME is a structured overview of data you usually already have in-house — energy consumption, fuel use, personnel data — translated into the structure that the VSME standard provides. It is not an annual report with policy texts and ambitions, but a factual overview of what has been measured and recorded.
There is no legally prescribed format for this type of report, and that is precisely why many entrepreneurs search for an example. The VSME standard does provide a module structure that serves as a guide: general company information, environmental data (energy and emissions), and social data (personnel). A report that follows this structure aligns with what suppliers, banks and insurers are used to receiving.
Which sections should a report contain
Company data and context
A report typically begins with who you are: name, commercial register number, sector, number of employees and the period covered by the report. This seems obvious, but it is exactly what a supplier needs to place your figures in the right context — an installation company with twenty employees reports differently from an office organisation with one hundred.
Energy and emissions
The focus of most reports is on energy consumption and the resulting CO2 emissions, usually scope 1 (own fuel consumption, for example company vehicles) and scope 2 (purchased electricity and heat). These figures come from the energy invoice and fuel receipts you already have, converted using established emission factors. How that conversion works exactly is explained in the article on calculating CO2 emissions from your energy bill; here it suffices to know that these figures form the core of every report.
Personnel data
The VSME standard also requests basic social information: number of employees, breakdown by type of contract, and sometimes absenteeism or diversity, depending on what the supplier asks for and what fits within the voluntary standard. You usually obtain this data directly from payroll administration.
Policy and measures, only if they exist
If your company has already taken measures — solar panels, electric company vehicles, an energy savings plan — this can be included in the report. It is important that you only describe what has actually been implemented or documented. An intention is not a measure, and the difference is not always obvious to a reader of the report if you do not make that explicit.
What a sustainability report is not
A sustainability report for an SME is not an audit and not an assurance statement. There is no independent party that has checked the figures and there is, for this type of SME reporting, also no recognised body that could confirm it — not for esgia, and not for any other provider. The report is also not a certificate and not a mark of approval: it shows what you have entered and which data it is based on, nothing more and nothing less.
It is also not legal advice or sustainability advice. A report describes your situation based on the data you provide; it does not assess whether your company does enough, and it does not give recommendations about what you should change. For that assessment, and for questions about your specific obligations, a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority remains the appropriate contact point.
Claims you should better avoid
The biggest pitfall in a sustainability report is the temptation to go further than the figures support. Terms like "CO2-neutral", "climate-positive" or "fully sustainable" are claims that require specific substantiation, often including compensation mechanisms and verification that are not present in a basic report. A report that says "in 2025 this company consumed X kWh of electricity, converted to Y tonnes CO2 based on the emission factor with reference date Z" is factual and defensible. A report that says "we are sustainable" is a claim you cannot substantiate with only an energy bill.
The same applies to the use of logos, marks or the suggestion of certification. As long as there is no recognised body for this type of SME reporting, any suggestion of a mark is misleading, even if unintended.
How such a report is produced
A file with your energy data, fuel receipts and personnel figures forms the basis; you confirm yourself what has been read from it. how your file is processed into a report shows where the data comes from and how it is converted. Once that file is in place, the next questionnaire from another customer takes considerably less time, because the same data can be reused.
If you want an overview before you start working on a report, the free quick-scan provides an indication of where you stand in a few questions. For a broader overview of what is happening around ESG questionnaires, standards and the limits of what may be asked, the overview of all topics is a good starting point, and for practical doubts about what should and should not be in a report, the list of frequently asked questions often provides an answer already.
A sustainability report for the SME does not need to be a complicated project as long as you stick to what you have actually measured. Start with the data you already have, follow the structure of the VSME standard, and leave out claims you cannot substantiate.