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Sustainability

VSME report: a worked example for an SME

What the basic module of the VSME standard contains, shown on a fictional industrial SME: the 11 disclosures, the data to gather and the traps to avoid.

A key account sends you a sustainability questionnaire, your bank asks for your greenhouse gas emissions, another customer wants your workforce policy. The VSME standard lets you answer all of them with one report. Published by EFRAG in December 2024 and recommended by the European Commission on 30 July 2025, it is voluntary and meant for non-listed companies with fewer than 250 employees.

Here is what the basic module looks like for a fictional SME, built for illustration.

The case: Duval Mécanique

Duval Mécanique (a fictional company) has 42 employees and machines parts for aerospace. Two customers ask it for sustainability data, and so does its bank, for an equipment loan.

The 11 disclosures of the basic module

The basic module has 11 disclosures, numbered B1 to B11:

  • B1 – Basis for preparation: scope (one site), period (the calendar year), module chosen.
  • B2 – Practices, policies and future initiatives: what the company already does, for example a plan to cut metal offcuts.
  • B3 – Energy and greenhouse gas emissions: electricity and gas use, scope 1 and 2 emissions.
  • B4 – Pollution of air, water and soil: only if the company already has to report pollutants.
  • B5 – Biodiversity: sites in or near sensitive areas.
  • B6 – Water: withdrawal, and consumption if the activity uses a lot.
  • B7 – Resource use, circular economy and waste: waste generated and the share recovered.
  • B8 – Workforce, general characteristics: headcount, contract types, breakdown.
  • B9 – Health and safety: workplace accidents.
  • B10 – Pay, collective bargaining and training: pay gap, collective agreement coverage, training hours.
  • B11 – Convictions and fines for corruption: were there any?

The comprehensive module adds 9 disclosures, on strategy, climate risks and workforce in more detail: useful if a bank or a large customer asks for them.

The data to gather

For Duval Mécanique, most of it comes from a few sources:

  • the year's electricity and gas consumption records;
  • vehicle fuel volumes;
  • waste transfer notes from the collection company;
  • headcount, accident and training data;
  • the policies already written, even short ones.

Scope 1 and 2 emissions are calculated from consumption, using public emission factors such as those in ADEME's Base Empreinte.

Traps to avoid

  • Estimating without saying so. Missing data is flagged; an estimate is explained.
  • Copying a large group's report. VSME is designed to stay short and proportionate.
  • Changing scope every year. Keep the same scope so the years can be compared.

We write your VSME report from your documents, calculations included: see our VSME offer.