Sustainability Audit According to the VSME Standard
An independent evaluation of whether your sustainability report complies with the VSME standard and whether its figures withstand scrutiny from customers, financiers, and other stakeholders.
A sustainability report is a promise that must hold up under examination. In a sustainability audit, an experienced auditor reviews your report against the VSME standard's disclosure requirements, verifies the sources of the figures, and assesses whether the claims made are justifiable. You will receive a clear picture of what is accurate in the report, what is missing, and what needs correction before the report is shared with customers or financiers. The same standard is referred to as Voluntary Standard or VS in the newest regulatory texts.
A sustainability report that withstands scrutiny.
How the Sustainability Audit Proceeds
Initial Discussion and Defining Audit Scope
Review of Report and Data
Audit Day and Evidence Verification
Report and Development Plan
- No unverifiable figures
- No vague claims
- No risk of greenwashing
What Sustainability Audit Means
A sustainability audit is an independent assessment of your sustainability report and its background data. The report is reviewed against the VSME standard's disclosure requirements with the same precision as a management system audit is carried out against an ISO standard.
Standard Compliance
We review your report following the structure of the VSME standard and check which disclosure requirements the report meets, which are missing, and which are presented so imprecisely that the reader does not get an accurate picture.
Evidence-Based Figures
Each key figure must be traceable to its source. We spot-check how energy consumption, emissions, personnel numbers, and other key metrics are calculated and whether the calculation bases are valid.
Independent Perspective
The expert performing the audit has not been involved in preparing your report nor in delivering reporting systems. The audit is separated from our product side, and the outcome does not depend on whether you implement any system. We evaluate the report as read by your stakeholders.
Errors in sustainability reports are usually not noticed within one's own organization because the figures appear familiar and correct. An external auditor asks for each figure the same question that a critical stakeholder would: what is the basis for this?
Why You Should Audit Your Sustainability Report
Sustainability information is no longer requested just as a courtesy. Large customers, financiers, and public procurers use it in decision-making, so the information must withstand scrutiny.
The Omnibus I directive's value chain cap will limit what CSRD-obligated customers can require from partners with up to 1,000 employees. The cap is not yet in force in Finland, so there is time to prepare. A standard-compliant report can be prepared now and will be the same document with which information requests are answered once the cap is enforced.
Unsubstantiated sustainability claims pose a reputational risk. The audit reviews which claims withstand scrutiny and which must either be better verified or removed from the report.
VSME provides a common structure for reporting, making your data comparable with that of other companies. The audit ensures that the structure has also been followed.
The audit does not end with the report. You will receive a list of what data to start collecting now to make next year's reporting easier and more comprehensive.
An audited sustainability report is a tool that allows you to respond to customer data requests once instead of compiling figures separately for every inquiry. When the value chain cap eventually comes into force, the same report will also clarify its limits.
How the Sustainability Audit Proceeds
We carry out the sustainability audit as a clear process timed according to your reporting period and stakeholder data requests.
Initial Discussion and Defining Audit Scope
We assess where you stand in your sustainability reporting and agree on the audit scope, schedule, and focus areas.
- Reporting period and applicable VSME module
- Sustainability topics relevant to your industry
- Schedule allowing time for corrections before report publication
The audit is scoped to cover the key parts of the report without unnecessary work.
Review of Report and Data
We review your report and its background data against the VSME standard’s disclosure requirements before the audit day.
- Report content and structure against the standard’s disclosure requirements
- Calculation bases and data sources of key figures
- Comparative data from the previous period and its consistency
Most deficiencies are found at this stage, allowing the audit day to focus on essential matters.
Audit Day and Evidence Verification
We go through the report’s claims together and verify by spot checks that the presented figures are traceable to their sources.
- Interviews with responsible persons and management
- Spot checks of key figures and their source material
- Evaluation of the basis for sustainability claims and targets
The audit day reveals how well the report’s figures are practically verifiable.
Report and Development Plan
You receive an audit report with findings categorized by severity and a plan for improving reporting in the next period.
- Findings classified into what must be corrected before publication and what can wait
- Concrete correction recommendations for the report
- Recommendations for improving data collection for the next period
You will know exactly what needs correction in the report and what to start measuring now.
It is advisable to schedule the sustainability audit so that the draft report is ready but there are still a few weeks before publication. Usually, one to two audit days are needed depending on company size and reporting scope.
Who Is the Sustainability Audit For
This service is designed for companies with up to 1,000 employees that report on sustainability according to a voluntary standard and want to ensure their report withstands stakeholder scrutiny. The value chain cap protection applies to companies whose average employee count during the financial year does not exceed one thousand, regardless of whether the company is small, medium-sized, or already quite large.
Do you recognize your situation from these?
We always tailor the audit to your situation: from checking a single report to a comprehensive review of your entire sustainability reporting and data collection.
What You Receive
The outcomes of the sustainability audit are concrete documents that help you finalize your report and develop your reporting over the long term.
Audit Report
A clear report recording observations justified by the VSME standard’s disclosure requirements. Each finding shows which disclosure requirement it relates to and the basis of the assessment.
Classified Findings
Each finding is classified by what must be fixed before publication, what should be supplemented later, and what is a development suggestion for future periods.
Development Plan
A prioritized plan for report corrections and recommendations on what data to collect and how to make the next reporting period smoother.
Once corrections are made, you can send the report to customers or financiers knowing its figures will stand up to questions.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sustainability Audits
- VSME is a voluntary sustainability reporting standard. It was developed by EFRAG and endorsed by the Commission with recommendation (EU) 2025/1710 on 30.7.2025. Reporting according to the standard has been possible since then, and no further regulation is required. On 3.7.2026, the Commission issued a delegated regulation establishing voluntary reporting standards for companies protected by the value chain cap, and in this context, the standard is increasingly referred to as Voluntary Standard or VS. The content and structure do not significantly differ from VSME, so your customers will encounter both terms for the same thing. However, the numbering of disclosure requirements has partially changed, so we always check which version your customer’s request refers to. The standard provides a ready structure and content for reporting: the basic module covers fundamental information on environment, personnel, and good governance, and the comprehensive module adds emission reduction targets, climate transition plans, climate risks, and human rights issues. Scope 3 emissions are not included in the basic module’s disclosure requirements but are additional information depending on the sector.
- The Omnibus I directive introduced the value chain cap: a company within the scope of CSRD cannot require a value chain partner with up to 1,000 employees to provide data beyond what the voluntary standard defines. In practice, the standard-compliant report is the document used to respond to data requests. There are three key points to know about the cap’s limits. First, the cap applies only to data collection intended for CSRD-required sustainability reporting: a client’s own supplier evaluation, EcoVadis questionnaires, bank credit processes, or tender scoring are not covered by the cap. Second, the cap does not follow the boundary between the basic and comprehensive modules but is precisely defined in Annex II of the delegated regulation. The list differs for companies with up to 10 employees and those with 11–1,000 employees, with micro-enterprises having a narrower cap and broader protection. We check during the audit which list applies to you and which disclosure requirements in your size category fall under the cap. Third, the cap does not apply to requests based on other EU legislation, such as CSDDD. Also note that the cap does not prevent the client from requesting data beyond the cap; in that case, the requester must clearly indicate which part of the request exceeds the cap and inform you of your right to refuse. The cap thus does not prevent inquiries but shifts the burden of justification to the requester.
- The Omnibus I directive (EU) 2026/470 was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 26.2.2026 and entered into force on 18.3.2026. However, the cap is not yet in force law in Finland: it is a directive, not a regulation, so national implementation is required with a deadline of 19.3.2027, and the government bill is being prepared at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. The delegated regulation defining the cap’s content was issued on 3.7.2026 and will enter into force after the Council and Parliament handle it. The cap applies to CSRD-obligated value chain reporting for financial years starting 1.1.2027 or later. Nevertheless, waiting is not necessary. The regulation applies from its entry into force to companies with up to 1,000 employees that wish to report according to it, so voluntary reporters can use the new version of the standard immediately after its adoption rather than waiting until 2027.
- No. VSME reporting is voluntary and does not require statutory assurance. The sustainability audit is an independent expert assessment where the report is reviewed against the standard’s disclosure requirements and figures are spot-checked. It adds credibility to the report and reveals deficiencies but is not an auditor’s assurance statement.
- The ideal time is when the draft report is ready but there are still a few weeks before publication. At that stage, figures and texts are in their final form but there is realistic time for corrections. If reporting is just starting, it is advisable to start the discussion before data collection to ensure the right data is collected from the outset.
- We need the sustainability report or its draft and access to the source data from which the report figures are derived: for example, energy and water consumption data, waste amounts, personnel statistics, and occupational safety statistics. We do not require pre-processed material but the data you have actually used.
- Yes, and it is often advisable. The data for sustainability reporting largely overlaps with what is monitored in ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 systems. Conducting the audits in the same visit saves your staff time and provides a unified picture of how the system data and reported figures correspond.
- The price depends on the reporting scope, your company size, and the number of key figures to be checked. We always provide a clear quote in advance so that you know the costs before starting work. In a free initial discussion, we assess your situation and give an estimate with no obligation.
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Updated 8/2026. Sustainability reporting regulations are currently changing, and we update the page content accordingly.
Discuss Auditing with an Expert
We will review your situation and goals and agree on the audit that will bring you the most benefit. You will receive an impartial expert assessment you can trust.
