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    ESRSEuropean Sustainability Reporting Standards

    Definition

    European Sustainability Reporting Standards — the EU standards for CSRD-scope companies, adopted by delegated act and revised in 2026.

    Editorial definition: The QHSE Standard, updated 3 October 2026 · https://qhsetech.com/glossary/esrs

    Scope: Select the adopted version applicable to the reporting period; draft advice and implementation guidance have different status.

    Sources checked: . Examples are editorial illustrations.

    What the ESRS are and which version applies

    The European Sustainability Reporting Standards set the content of the sustainability statement that an undertaking within the CSRD includes in its management report. The Commission adopts them as delegated acts under Article 29b of the Accounting Directive, and the first set was Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772 of 31 July 2023. They have three layers. ESRS 1 holds the general requirements, including fair presentation, double materiality and the reporting boundary. ESRS 2 holds general disclosures, applied with ESRS 1 as the two cross-cutting standards. The topical standards cover climate (E1), pollution (E2), water (E3), biodiversity (E4), resource use (E5), workforce (S1 and S2), communities (S3), consumers (S4) and business conduct (G1). Where a material matter is not covered, the undertaking adds entity-specific disclosures.

    The standards have been rewritten. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563, adopted on 3 July 2026 and published in the Official Journal on 21 September 2026, replaces both annexes of the 2023 regulation. It enters into force on 10 November 2026 and applies to financial years starting from 1 January 2027. Its recitals give the aims as fewer datapoints, quantitative datapoints ahead of narrative text, a clearer line between mandatory and voluntary datapoints, clear instructions on applying materiality, and interoperability with global standards. They add that the Commission departed from EFRAG's technical advice on several points, including greenhouse gas emissions and climate transition plans. For financial years starting during 2026, Article 2 lets an undertaking use the earlier standards, the revised ones, or the earlier ones with listed reliefs if the sustainability statement says which version it applies.

    Who must apply the standards is a separate question, answered by the directive. Directive (EU) 2026/470 of 24 February 2026 entered into force on 18 March 2026 and limits the duty to undertakings above both a net turnover of EUR 450,000,000 and an average of 1,000 employees, with national laws due by 19 March 2027. The climate standard still points to the GHG Protocol for methods but says that where they differ the ESRS requirements prevail, for example on the reporting boundary. This is general information, not advice on whether the standards bind a particular company.

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    What an ESRS reporting record holds in software

    • The edition of the standards applied for each period, with the legal act and the choice made for financial years starting in 2026.
    • The double materiality result: material impacts, risks and opportunities, the topics they map to and the reasoning.
    • Each datapoint answered, with value, unit, period, owner and source system, and a note where omitted as not material or estimated.
    • The reporting boundary, consolidation approach and value-chain coverage, with the reason for any partial coverage.
    • Entity-specific disclosures for material matters the topical standards do not cover, with their metric definitions.
    • The review trail: reviewer, evidence reference and last change date for each datapoint.

    ESRS, the CSRD and the standards other frameworks publish

    The CSRD is the directive that decides who reports and where the information goes, while the ESRS say how it is structured and which datapoints are asked. The ESRS differ from the voluntary GRI Standards and from the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, which are written for providers of capital. The Commission's stated aim is interoperability, not identity, so a figure prepared under one set may not satisfy another.

    A hypothetical example: which version, and whether in scope

    The case is invented and describes no real company. A manufacturer has an average of 2,400 employees and EUR 700 million of net turnover, so it is above both limits in the amended directive, 1,000 employees and EUR 450 million. It already applies the earlier standards, and its financial year starts on 1 July 2026, inside the 2026 window in Article 2 of the revising regulation, so the team may choose either version. It chooses the revised text and records and states the choice.

    A sister company has 1,200 employees and EUR 300 million of net turnover. It is above the employee limit but not the turnover limit, so the amended directive does not place it in mandatory scope, subject to national law due by 19 March 2027, and the team keeps a dated note. In the manufacturer's next year the financial year starts on 1 July 2027, after 1 January 2027, so only the revised standards apply and the record carries the datapoint mapping.

    Common misunderstandings about the ESRS

    • The revised standards are not the only text in use during 2026. Article 2 of the revising regulation allows a choice for financial years starting in 2026, and the statement must say which version was applied.
    • A smaller datapoint set does not remove the materiality assessment. The undertaking still decides which topics are material and may need entity-specific disclosures.
    • The ESRS are reporting standards, not a certification or a rating.
    • Scope is not set by the standards. The thresholds sit in the directive and national law.
    • Figures prepared for another framework cannot simply be pasted in. The climate standard says its requirements prevail over the GHG accounting standards it refers to where they differ.

    How the ESRS relate to other glossary terms

    The ESRS sit between the directive that requires reporting and the processes and data that feed it.

    • CSRD: the directive that makes undertakings in scope report using the ESRS.
    • Double materiality: the assessment ESRS 1 uses to decide what a company reports.
    • EU Omnibus: the simplification package that changed scope and led to the revised standards.
    • VSME: the voluntary standard whose datapoints also set the cap on what smaller partners can be asked.

    Records and evidence that usually exist for ESRS reporting

    • The adopted legal text for the edition applied, with its dates.
    • The double materiality file: method, thresholds, stakeholders, results and sign-off.
    • Source data and workings for each quantitative datapoint, with owner and review.
    • The boundary and consolidation decision, with the list of entities and sites inside it.
    • Notes on datapoints left out as not material and on estimates used for value-chain data.
    • Approval by management or the board, and any assurance report with its scope.

    What a software tool needs to capture for the ESRS

    • Datapoint-level storage showing the standard, edition and requirement each value answers, so a revision can be mapped rather than retyped.
    • A setting for the standards applied in each period, including the 2026 choice.
    • Materiality results per topic with reasons, linked to the datapoints that follow.
    • Support for entity-specific disclosures and their definitions.
    • Value-chain data with an estimate flag and source.
    • An audit trail of changes, reviewer and approval per datapoint.
    • A structured export to the electronic format the directive requires, not only a document.

    Catalog profiles documenting CSRD reporting workflows

    Profiles are listed by the CSRD workflow rule. The list does not say which ESRS edition a product holds or whether it carries the revised datapoint list; ask for both in a demonstration.

    Same rule for every product: tagged “ESG Reporting”, “ESG Frameworks Reporting”, “Sustainability Reporting”, “Materiality Assessment”, “ESG & Sustainability” or “Sustainability & ESG”, with a sourced CSRD, ESRS or materiality capability in its record, or one the vendor stated to us, labelled as vendor-stated. Documented and conditional capabilities qualify; check the linked scope before treating a module as included.

    Tekmon pays for a sponsored placement (above); its place in this list follows the same rule as every entry. How lists are ordered

    All 14 matching profiles are shown. Documentation review, not hands-on testing or a claim of compliance.

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    Frequently asked questions

    When do the revised ESRS apply?

    Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563 enters into force on 10 November 2026 and applies to financial years starting from 1 January 2027. For financial years starting in 2026, an undertaking already within the earlier standards may use either version, or the earlier one with listed reliefs, and must say which.

    Who has to use the ESRS?

    Undertakings within Articles 19a and 29a of Directive 2013/34/EU, which after Directive (EU) 2026/470 means those above both a net turnover of EUR 450,000,000 and an average of 1,000 employees. National laws are due by 19 March 2027. Check national law and the group structure.

    Can a smaller supplier be asked for ESRS data?

    Only up to a limit. Undertakings with up to 1,000 employees may decline requests above the voluntary standard, and the revised ESRS refer to a separate datapoint list in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560 as the cap.

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