Can I compile the VSME sustainability report myself?
Yes, the VSME standard is specifically designed so that smaller and medium-sized enterprises can compile the report themselves, without an accountant or external audit beforehand. VSME stands for Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed SMEs: a voluntary, simplified format with which a company presents sustainability data in a fixed manner, usually because a larger customer or bank requests it.
Whether doing it yourself is also practically feasible depends on what you already maintain. If you have energy bills, personnel data and a few basic policy documents in order, you can create a first version with half a day to a full day of work. If you still need to map out scope 1, 2 and 3 and the data comes from multiple systems, it will take more time and the risk of errors is greater.
What the VSME standard exactly requires
The standard is structured in modules: a core module with key figures and optional modules for those who want or need to share more. The core module asks, among other things, about energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, staff composition and a description of the sustainability policy. Scope 1 and scope 2 are usually mandatory to complete; scope 3, emissions from suppliers and customers, is not mandatory in the core module but is increasingly requested by clients. You can read what this distinction exactly entails in the knowledge base.
It is important that VSME does not yield a quality mark and does not require external approval. You enter the figures, support them with the data you already have, and submit the document to whoever requests it. There is no body that stamps the report for you.
What you must collect yourself
Most of the time is not spent filling in the format, but in gathering the underlying figures: energy invoices, an overview of the vehicle fleet, staff numbers from payroll administration, and possibly existing policy documents on sustainability or working conditions. Those doing this for the first time often notice that the data exists somewhere, but is not compiled in one overview.
A second bottleneck is interpretation: which emissions belong to scope 1 and which to scope 2, and does a leased company car count? The standard provides guidelines for this, but applying it to your own situation sometimes requires explanation. A separate overview is available for the most frequently asked questions about this. answers to frequently asked questions about sustainability reporting.
When does doing it yourself become more difficult
With one location, a manageable vehicle fleet and one type of product, compiling it yourself is usually manageable. It becomes more complex with multiple locations, an international supply chain, or when different customers each send a slightly different format. Then much time is spent repeatedly filling in largely the same data in a different layout.
Also, those dealing with scope 3 for the first time notice that this requires more than filling in a number: insight into the supply chain is needed, and that insight is often not yet there in a first report. In such cases, it may be wise to consult an adviser who is familiar with the standard, or to find a structured way to record the underlying data once and then reuse it.
Doing it yourself or outsourcing: the consideration
In practice, the choice comes down to two questions: how often do you receive these kinds of lists, and how well are your underlying figures already in order. If you receive a request once a year and the data is manageable, doing it yourself is often a good option. If you receive dozens of similar questionnaires per year from different customers, it is worthwhile to record the answers once rather than search for them repeatedly.
Supplia.eu is built for that second situation: the system recognizes questions from an uploaded list and fills them from one supply chain file with answers you have already recorded, after which you confirm and submit them to your customer yourself. Nothing is assessed or approved on your behalf; the substantive choices and final submission remain with you. How that process works in detail is explained on the page about the method of operation how the system compiles your answers.
If you want to know whether this is relevant for your own situation, you can check that without obligation. The free recognition check provides an initial indication in a few questions which questionnaires are likely to apply to your company in a few questions see which lists apply to you, and the knowledge base bundles the explanation per topic, from scope classification to evidence the knowledge base with explanations by subject.
For your own, specific situation, it applies that the official text of the standard and, where necessary, an adviser or the competent authority have the final say. This article describes the standard in general terms and is not a replacement for it.