Sustainability (VSME)
The VSME sustainability report for German SMEs, written with AI
Banks, large customers and investors increasingly ask small and medium companies for sustainability information — even when no law compels a report. The EFRAG VSME standard (December 2024) is the voluntary framework built for exactly this situation. Our Nachhaltigkeit module collects the ESG data, calculates your carbon footprint, and uses our own AI to write a clear report you can hand to a bank or a business partner.
What the VSME standard is
VSME stands for the Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed small and medium-sized enterprises, published by EFRAG in December 2024. It is deliberately proportionate: a Basic module (B1-B11) that covers the essentials most SMEs are asked about, and a Comprehensive module (C1-C9) that adds the deeper disclosures banks and large customers sometimes request.
Because it is voluntary and SME-sized, VSME lets a smaller company answer sustainability questionnaires with a recognised structure, instead of improvising a bespoke document each time a bank or customer asks.
What the module does
Structured data collection
A guided data entry covers energy, emissions and workforce across the VSME data points, so you gather exactly what the standard expects.
Carbon calculator
A built-in CO2 calculator turns your energy and activity figures into emissions using editable factors, with plausibility checks and derived metrics.
AI-written report
Our AI drafts the narrative sections from your collected data, producing readable prose that reflects your numbers without inventing any.
Bank-ready PDF
The finished report is exported as a PDF you can share with banks, customers and business partners.
How the AI is used — and where it is not
The AI writes the words, not the numbers. It takes the data points you enter and the metrics the calculator derives, and turns them into coherent narrative sections — the parts of a report that are tedious to draft by hand. Where a mandatory data point is missing, it leaves a clear marker rather than filling the gap with an invented figure.
The carbon calculation itself is deterministic: your inputs and the emission factors produce the same result every time, which is what makes the footprint defensible. So you get AI fluency for the prose and rule-based reliability for the figures.
Built into your accounting
- Balance sheet total, revenue and headcount are pre-filled from your annual accounts where they exist, so you do not re-enter what the platform already knows.
- One report per reporting year, with a rollover that carries last year's answers forward as a starting point.
- The Basic module can be upgraded to add the Comprehensive disclosures when a counterparty asks for more.
- Emission factors are editable, so you can refine the calculation as better data becomes available.
Who it is for and what it costs
The module suits any German SME that is being asked for ESG information by its bank, a large customer or an investor, and wants to respond with a credible, structured report rather than an ad-hoc spreadsheet.
It is a workspace-level product at 49 euros per month. You can register for free and explore the live demo before deciding.
Frequently asked questions
What is the VSME standard?
The Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed SMEs, published by EFRAG in December 2024. It has a Basic module (B1-B11) and a Comprehensive module (C1-C9), and is meant to let smaller companies report sustainability information in a recognised structure without a legal mandate.
Do I have to produce a VSME report?
No — VSME is voluntary. Most companies use it because a bank, a large customer or an investor has asked for sustainability information, and VSME gives a credible framework to answer with.
Does the AI make up the numbers?
No. The AI drafts the narrative sections from the data you enter and the metrics the calculator derives. The carbon calculation is deterministic, and missing mandatory data points are marked, not invented.
What does the carbon calculator do?
It converts your energy and activity data into greenhouse-gas emissions using editable emission factors, then runs plausibility checks and derives the metrics the report needs. Because it is rule-based, the same inputs always give the same footprint.
What does it cost?
The Nachhaltigkeit module is 49 euros per month per workspace and is currently in Beta. Balance sheet total, revenue and headcount are pre-filled from your annual accounts to save re-entry.