Data Insights — Business & Supply Chain
CSRD for SMEs
Why sustainability data is your new 'License to Operate' — and how Power BI removes the reporting burden
- Following the EU Omnibus package (2025), non-listed SMEs are no longer directly subject to CSRD — but pressure from large customers for ESG data remains and is growing.
- Large companies that do have to report will continue to request ESG data from their suppliers: CO₂ emissions, absenteeism rates, safety incidents, and diversity figures.
- Power BI connects directly to ERP, HR systems, and energy meters — turning annual manual exercises into a live management tool.
- Three pillars structure the ESG data: Environment (Scope 1, 2 & 3), Social (HR data as evidence), and Governance (double materiality).
- Transparent sustainability data delivers three concrete advantages: a head start in tenders, better access to financing, and operational cost savings.
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) sounded like a concern for listed multinationals — and for a long time it was. But the rules have shifted in two directions at once.
On one hand, the 2025 Omnibus package has largely removed the direct reporting obligation for SMEs. On the other, indirect pressure from large customers is increasing: they must report on their entire supply chain, and for that they need your data.
What CSRD means for your SME in 2026
After the Omnibus package, the landscape has simplified considerably for SMEs. But 'no direct obligation' does not mean 'no action needed'.
In practice: large customers who must report are required to request information about their full supply chain. They will ask you for CO₂ figures, absenteeism data, safety incidents, and diversity information. Companies that can deliver this data quickly, accurately, and digitally are more attractive as suppliers than those that cannot.
You don't have to be CSRD-obligated to need to be CSRD-ready. The questions from your large customers are coming regardless — the question is whether you can answer them.
The data challenge: from Excel chaos to structured insight
In most SMEs, non-financial data is stored in fragments: energy bills in a folder, diesel consumption in a fuel card portal, HR data in a payroll system. For the VSME standard — the voluntary framework now applicable to SMEs — this is unsustainable.
Manual data collection is error-prone, costs the team weeks per year, and produces a report that is already outdated by the time it's published. Business Intelligence provides the solution: by centralising and visualising data, you transform an annual reporting burden into a daily management tool.
How Power BI solves the CSRD puzzle
Microsoft Power BI is ideally suited to streamline complex ESG data flows. It combines financial, operational, and HR data into one Single Source of Truth — connected directly to the source systems where the data already exists.
Control your emissions: Scope 1, 2 & 3
Instead of manually retyping invoices, Power BI connects directly to smart energy meters, ERP systems, or fleet management computers.
- Scope 1 & 2: Real-time dashboard showing fuel consumption per trip or energy consumption per production line. Instantly visible where waste occurs.
- Scope 3 (the chain): Using the spend-based method, Power BI links purchasing data to emission factors — automatically estimating the emissions of purchased materials, without manual calculations.
HR data as evidence for large customers
Often overlooked but essential: the 'S' in ESG. Large customers must rule out misconduct in their supply chain, and increasingly request hard personnel data (under the ESRS S1 standard). Power BI integrates with HR and payroll systems such as NMBRS, AFAS, or Loket:
- Health & Safety: Report the number of workplace accidents or near misses per quarter with a single click.
- Diversity & Inclusion: Visualise the male/female ratio in management and the organisation, and the gender pay gap.
- Good employer practices: Monitor absenteeism trends and training hours per employee — demonstrating that you invest in your people.
Double materiality: financial and societal impact combined
At the heart of CSRD is double materiality: what is the financial impact of climate change on your business, and what is your impact on the world? Power BI excels at combining both dimensions in a single dashboard.
Overlay financial revenue against CO₂ emissions per customer or product group. Which customers generate high margins with low emissions? Which products are relatively polluting while generating little profit? This insight is crucial for strategic decisions about assortment and customer portfolio.
The business case: winning through transparency
Investing in ESG dashboarding delivers more than compliance. Three concrete advantages:
- 1
A head start in tenders
More and more tenders are awarded on the basis of sustainability criteria. A supplier who can produce a detailed ESG report at the click of a button wins over a competitor who cannot — regardless of price.
- 2
Better access to financing
Banks are required to report their own 'green ratio' and increasingly offer interest discounts to sustainable businesses. Reliable digital ESG data is your ticket to favourable financing.
- 3
Operational cost savings
What you measure, you can manage. Companies that actively steer on energy use, waste, and absenteeism through dashboards achieve structural cost reductions — not as a side effect of compliance, but as a direct result of better insight.
Start small, but start now
The CSRD wave affects every link in the chain — even after the Omnibus simplification. Waiting for a large customer to request ESG data leads to panic and incorrect Excel reports. By starting now to map your data sources — from energy meters to payroll systems — and connecting them in a Power BI dashboard, you transform data from a burden into a strategic asset.
Den Otter Solutions helps Dutch SMEs take this step through Power BI dashboards that connect directly to existing systems. Built by Rob den Otter, an Analytics Translator with 25+ years of executive experience in supply chain, operations, and financial management.
Frequently asked questions
Ready for the questions from large customers?
Make sure your ESG data is ready
when a large customer asks for it.
Last updated: April 2026
