EFRAG has published three supporting guides aimed at helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) address sustainability disclosures that were identified as particularly challenging during the public consultation and field testing of the Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for SMEs (VSME).
The guides are designed for companies with fewer than 250 employees and provide practical support, including examples and case studies, to assist SMEs reporting under the Comprehensive Module of the VSME Standard. The materials are intended to complement the VSME Standard and are also available in an interactive format through the ESRS Knowledge Hub.
According to EFRAG, the first guide includes a sector-agnostic list of non-mandatory and non-binding examples of practices, policies and future initiatives across ten sustainability topics, including climate change, pollution and water. The examples are illustrative and arranged by increasing complexity. EFRAG said this list will be incorporated as a drop-down menu in a future update of the VSME digital reporting template.
A second guide focuses on climate-related disclosures and provides step-by-step support for SMEs preparing information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets and climate transition plans. It includes guidance on setting emissions reduction targets and additional direction for SMEs operating in high climate-impact sectors that choose to adopt a transition plan.
The third guide addresses human rights disclosures and sets out three examples of confirmed severe negative human rights incidents occurring in the value chain. These examples relate to workers in the value chain, affected communities, and consumers and end-users, and are intended to support SMEs in preparing relevant disclosures. Incidents relating to an SME’s own workforce are not covered.
EFRAG said the guides were developed as part of the VSME Ecosystem, drawing on input from the EFRAG SME Forum and the VSME Community. Draft versions were released for targeted consultation following approval by the Sustainability Reporting Technical Expert Group (SR TEG). Feedback from the consultation was reviewed and incorporated into the final versions, which were approved by the SR TEG and the Sustainability Reporting Board (SRB) through a written procedure in autumn 2025.
