The short version: CSRD is the detailed mandatory standard for large companies. VSME is the lighter voluntary standard for small and medium ones. You do not pick between them based on preference. Your size and the requests you receive decide it.
Side by side
| CSRD | VSME | |
|---|---|---|
| Applies to | Large companies in scope of the directive | Small and medium companies, voluntarily |
| Mandatory? | Yes, for those in scope | No, it is voluntary |
| Detail | Extensive, hundreds of datapoints | Compact Basic Module, B1 to B11 |
| Effort | A reporting programme | A guided form for most SMEs |
| Role for an SME | Usually out of scope | The report you actually produce |
The link between them: the value chain cap
Here is why they come up together. A large company reporting under CSRD needs data from its suppliers and borrowers. But it cannot demand more from a smaller firm than VSME asks for. So CSRD creates the request, and VSME defines the most you have to give. The two standards meet at the value chain cap, which applies to companies with 1000 employees or fewer.
Which should you produce?
If you are an SME, you produce VSME. It is sized for you, it is what banks recognise, and it is the ceiling on what CSRD reporters can ask. Producing it once gives you a reusable answer for every request that comes down the chain.
Common questions
Can an SME just do CSRD to be safe?
You can disclose more voluntarily, but there is no obligation, and CSRD is heavy for a small firm. VSME is designed for your size and is what the cap is measured against.
Does VSME satisfy a CSRD reporter's request?
It gives them the data they can require from you. They cannot demand more than VSME from a company with 1000 employees or fewer.
Produce the VSME report that answers CSRD requests
One guided flow, one clean report, reusable for every CSRD reporter that asks. First report free.
Start free