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    Materiality Assessment

    Definition

    A process for determining which matters and information are material under a chosen reporting framework, and recording the reasoning for each decision.

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

    Scope: Define the framework first; ESRS, investor-focused disclosures and other approaches use different perspectives.

    Sources checked: . Examples are editorial illustrations.

    How ESRS and GRI describe a materiality assessment

    A materiality assessment is the process by which an organisation decides which matters to report. Frameworks differ on the question being asked. ESRS 1 as first adopted (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772) calls the assessment the starting point for sustainability reporting and says a matter is material when it meets the criteria for impact materiality or financial materiality, or both. ESRS 2 requires a description of the process: the methods and assumptions, how impacts are identified, assessed and prioritised with input from due diligence, how risks and opportunities are handled, the decision-making and internal controls, how the process fits into risk management, and the input parameters used. For impacts it sets three steps: understand the context, identify actual and potential impacts including through engagement with stakeholders and experts, and assess materiality against thresholds the undertaking adopts.

    Some disclosures do not depend on the result. ESRS 1 says an undertaking always discloses the general disclosures in ESRS 2, and if it concludes that climate change is not material it must give a detailed explanation. The GRI Standards ask a different question about impacts on the economy, environment and people. GRI's introduction says GRI 3: Material Topics 2021 explains step by step how to identify and assess impacts and their significance and how to determine material topics, and that an organisation reporting in accordance with the Standards documents the process it used. Where a Sector Standard applies, an organisation reporting in accordance has to use it and should test its own topics against the likely material topics listed there.

    The legal setting has moved. The recitals of Directive (EU) 2026/470 call for clear instructions on applying the materiality principle, so that undertakings report only material information and spend less effort on the assessment, and the Commission adopted a delegated act simplifying certain ESRS on 3 July 2026. Check the version for your reporting period. This page is general information, not advice on a reporting duty.

    Sources opened :

    What a materiality assessment record holds in software

    • The framework applied and its version, and the question the assessment answers.
    • The long list of matters and where each came from.
    • Stakeholder input with who was consulted, how and when.
    • For each matter, the assessment and the reasoning on each dimension the framework uses.
    • The thresholds and rules for deciding what is material, with approval and date.
    • The outcome per matter and the decision-making and review steps behind it.
    • A comparison with the last assessment and the reasons for changes.

    Materiality assessment, risk assessment and stakeholder survey

    A risk assessment ranks risks to the organisation, while a materiality assessment decides what to disclose, and under ESRS it also covers impacts on people and the environment. A stakeholder survey is one input, since the standards ask for consultation but also for criteria, thresholds and recorded reasoning. A chart of results is an output, and without the underlying reasons it is hard to defend to a reviewer.

    A hypothetical example: a first assessment under two frameworks

    This case is invented to illustrate the record and describes no real company. A food ingredients company must report under one framework and wants its voluntary report to follow another. It starts with one long list of matters and records which framework each decision belongs to. Interviews with employees, customers and a local community group are logged with dates and the way each input was used.

    For the first framework the team scores impacts and financial effects separately and records the thresholds. For the voluntary report it records only impact significance and prioritisation, and keeps the same underlying evidence. Water use turns out to be material under both, while a governance matter is material under one only. The records show the reasoning for each result and the date the board approved it, and the team schedules a review after any major acquisition.

    Common misunderstandings about materiality assessments

    • The word has no single meaning. ESRS use two dimensions, GRI asks about impacts on the economy, environment and people, and the financial dimension in the ESRS looks to the needs of investors, lenders and other creditors.
    • A result does not remove all disclosure. ESRS 2 general disclosures are always reported, and a conclusion that climate change is not material needs a detailed explanation, while GRI asks an omitted required disclosure to carry a stated reason.
    • A survey is not an assessment. The standards expect criteria, thresholds and recorded reasoning on top of consultation.
    • An assessment is not permanent. Facts, thresholds and the standards change, so keep the date and the version with each result.
    • More documentation is not the aim. The 2026 Directive's recitals call for instructions that keep the effort proportionate to what must be reported.

    How a materiality assessment relates to other glossary terms

    The assessment is the step that links the reporting rules to the data an organisation collects.

    • Double materiality: the specific form of assessment used under the ESRS, with its two dimensions and criteria.
    • CSRD: the directive whose reporting standards require the assessment.
    • GRI: a voluntary standard set that asks the question about impacts and has its own material topics standard.
    • CSDDD: a due diligence law; the ESRS say the impact process is informed by an undertaking's due diligence process.

    Records and evidence that usually exist for a materiality assessment

    • The framework, version and scope of the assessment.
    • The long list of matters and its sources.
    • Stakeholder engagement notes with dates and the way input was used.
    • Scoring or reasoning sheets with the evidence relied on.
    • Approval records from management or the board.
    • The comparison with the prior assessment and the explanation of changes.
    • Records of the dates on which the assessment was reviewed or updated.

    What a software tool needs to capture for a materiality assessment

    • A field for the framework and version, with the ability to run more than one assessment on shared evidence.
    • A reasoning field next to every rating, with attached evidence.
    • Thresholds and method held as a versioned record that results refer to.
    • A stakeholder log that records who was consulted and how the input was used.
    • Workflow for review and approval with dates.
    • A year-on-year comparison that explains changes.
    • An export of the full reasoning for a reviewer, not only a chart.

    Catalog profiles documenting CSRD reporting workflows

    The list comes from the CSRD workflow rule. It does not show that a product supports a materiality assessment under any particular framework, which should be checked in the double materiality guide and 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

    Is a materiality assessment the same as double materiality?

    Double materiality is the form used under the ESRS, with impact and financial dimensions. A materiality assessment is the wider idea of deciding what to report, and GRI and other frameworks ask their own questions.

    Does the assessment have to be disclosed?

    ESRS 2 requires the undertaking to describe the process it used, including methods, assumptions, thresholds and decision-making. GRI asks an organisation reporting in accordance to document how it determined its material topics.

    What does an assessment produce?

    A list of material matters with the reasons. Under the ESRS it points to the matching topical disclosure requirements, with entity-specific disclosures where a material matter is not covered. Under GRI it points to the Topic Standards chosen for the material topics.

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