Answering Customer ESG Questionnaires With One VS (VSME) Report
By Morten Rosén, Co-founder & CEO, Future Fluent
One report under the Voluntary Standard (VS, formerly VSME) can answer most of the sustainability questionnaires your customers send. Build the report once, then map each questionnaire to it. Questions it does not cover you can answer separately or, in many cases, decline.
Quick facts
- The Voluntary Standard exists partly so suppliers can answer many requesters with one report.
- Most customer questionnaires driven by CSRD reporting map onto the VS Basic Module.
- For suppliers with 1,000 or fewer employees, a customer cannot require more than VS covers for its CSRD report.
- Customers often still use their own forms, because their procurement systems are built around them.
- One consistent dataset avoids giving two customers two different numbers for the same thing.
- The EU has asked the Commission to report on standardised digital formats for sharing such data, explicitly including what it calls digital VSME reports.
Can one VS (VSME) report answer several customers' questionnaires?
Yes, for most of the content. A VS report covers the disclosures that CSRD-reporting customers typically need from suppliers, starting with emissions and energy. Each questionnaire is then a matter of copying answers from one consistent source rather than researching from scratch.
This is the job the standard was built for. Before it existed, a supplier with three large customers could easily answer three questionnaires in three formats, with three slightly different emissions figures. The Directive behind the value chain cap names meeting the data needs of companies that request sustainability information from their suppliers as one of the standard's core objectives.
Why do customers still send their own questionnaires?
Because their systems are built around them. Large companies collect supplier data through procurement platforms and standard forms, and those forms existed before the Voluntary Standard (formerly VSME) did. A customer that accepts VS data may still ask you to enter it into its own template.
That is a format problem, not a substance problem. The underlying questions are largely the same, and they are converging on VS because the law now caps what a CSRD reporter can require from suppliers with 1,000 or fewer employees at what the standard covers. Expect the forms to keep changing faster than the questions do.
How do you map a questionnaire to your VS report?
Go through the questionnaire once and tag every question with the VS disclosure that answers it. Most will map to the Basic Module: emissions and energy to B3, workforce questions to the workforce disclosures, policies and practices to B2. Whatever remains untagged is what genuinely needs separate work.
A simple three-column working sheet is enough:
| Customer question | VS disclosure | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Total Scope 1 and 2 emissions, last financial year | B3 | Copy from report |
| Energy consumption by source | B3 | Copy from report |
| Number of employees | Basic Module workforce disclosures | Copy from report |
| Do you have a climate transition plan? | Comprehensive Module, if applied | Answer if you have one |
| Supplier code of conduct audits | Not in VS | Decide whether to answer |
Do this once per questionnaire format, not once per year. Customers rarely change their forms entirely, so next year's mapping is mostly already done. The full list of Basic Module disclosures to map against is in what the Basic Module requires.
What do you do with questions your VS report does not cover?
Decide case by case. If the question is for the customer's CSRD report and goes beyond VS, you may decline it. If it is for due diligence or procurement, the value chain cap does not apply, but answering is still a commercial choice, not a legal obligation.
The useful middle ground is to answer what you can easily answer and say so for the rest. A customer that has asked for more than VS for its CSRD report is required to tell you which questions exceed the standard and that you may decline them. If you received no such notice, that is worth raising. The rules are explained in full in the value chain cap explained.
Should you send the report, or fill in the questionnaire?
Both, if the customer allows it. Fill in the form, because that is what their process expects, and attach or reference your VS report, because it shows the numbers come from a structured, recognised standard rather than from a one-off estimate.
The report also does work the form cannot. It shows your reporting period, your methodology and the basis for your figures in one place. When a sustainability team at a large customer has to defend its supplier data to an assurance provider, a recognised standard behind your answers makes their job easier, and makes you an easier supplier to keep.
How often should you update your VS report?
Once a year is the natural rhythm. A VS report covers a reporting period, which for most companies is the financial year, and customers reporting under CSRD collect value chain data on an annual cycle. Updating in line with your financial year keeps every answer current.
The first report is the expensive one. After that, the work is mostly collecting a new year of the same figures, which is far less than answering every questionnaire from scratch. That is the economic case for building one report: the cost is paid once, and every subsequent request gets cheaper. The broader picture of what to do when a request arrives is in a customer asked for your VS (VSME) data: what now?
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Frequently asked questions
Will my customers accept a VS (VSME) report instead of their questionnaire?
Some will. Others will ask you to transfer the figures into their own form. Either way, the report is the source you answer from.
Do I have to answer questions that go beyond the Voluntary Standard?
Not if they are asked for the customer's CSRD report and you have 1,000 or fewer employees. Questions asked for due diligence fall outside that protection.
How long does it take to answer a questionnaire once I have a VS report?
Far less than without one, because most answers are copied rather than researched. The mapping takes longest the first time you see a given customer's form.
Is there a standard digital format for sharing VS (VSME) data?
Not yet. The Directive asks the Commission to report on standardised digital formats for sharing such data between companies, explicitly including what it calls digital VSME reports.