I receive a different sustainability questionnaire from each customer, do I have to figure this out each time

Every list differs in form, not in substance

Yes, that can be faster — because beneath the differences often lies the same question. One customer asks about "scope 3 emissions", another about "indirect emissions in the supply chain", a third sends the basic module of EFRAG VSME. The wording differs, the requested fact is usually the same: how much CO2 is released in your supply chain, and have you substantiated that figure. Whoever documents that fact once with source and date does not need to look it up again per questionnaire — only fill it in again in the format that customer wants.

Where it does differ is the evidence that must accompany it. A customer who themselves reports under the CSRD (Directive (EU) 2022/2464) often asks further into underlying data, because they themselves must account for it again. A customer who only does an initial inventory is often satisfied with a statement without detailed figures. If you do not have the requested figure — for example because you do not yet measure scope 3 — then "no, not yet available" is a more honest answer than an estimate you cannot substantiate. Some lists also ask for the sector in which the enterprise operates, because expected emissions differ by sector — this too is a fact you need to document only once.

Why reuse of facts works: one dossier, many formats

The underlying facts — emissions, energy consumption, number of employees — do not change per customer, only the structure and wording of the questionnaire. EFRAG VSME is intended as one basic module that larger customers often refer back to, even if their own portal uses a different structure. Whoever uses the basic module as a starting point recognises more quickly which question in another list requests the same fact. Also the number of employees of the undertaking is such a fact that appears in virtually every sustainability list, regardless of the precise wording.