VS Software — Voluntary Standard
Officially renamed Voluntary Standard (VS) by the European Commission in May 2026, this standard — formerly known as VSME — was designed to address a blind spot in the CSRD: SMEs and Mid-Caps are not directly subject to the directive, but their large corporate clients are. And these large corporations must report on their entire value chain.
The combined Basic and Comprehensive modules cover approximately 80% of recurring ESG data requests from your business partners — banks, investors, and clients. Harnest structures your VS data collection so you can respond to these requests without dedicating an army of consultants.
Who is the Voluntary Standard for?
The VS is for companies not subject to the CSRD who are facing increasing pressure from their ecosystem:
- Suppliers and subcontractors of large corporations subject to the CSRD — who will need to report on their value chain
- Companies not subject to the CSRD looking to structure their ESG approach with a framework recognized by the European Commission
- SMEs looking to differentiate themselves to their clients, banks, and investors by presenting structured reporting
- Companies anticipating regulatory changes and wanting to get ahead in structuring their data collection
Two modules, a logical progression
The VS is structured into two complementary modules.
The Basic Module (11 disclosures) covers fundamental indicators — Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, energy consumption, water, waste, HR data, health and safety, anti-corruption compliance — accessible even without a dedicated CSR department.
The Full Module (9 additional disclosures) goes further for companies whose financial partners have specific regulatory obligations — credit institutions subject to EBA Pillar 3, asset managers subject to SFDR. These are the ones who need more granular data from you to meet their own reporting obligations.
Harnest guides this progression without forcing you to do everything at once — you choose your starting module, and you evolve at your own pace.
Quick and guided start
Harnest initializes your VS reporting based on an industry benchmark. AI suggests policies, summaries, and narrative responses tailored to your sector — open-ended questions are no longer a hurdle, even without an in-house CSR expert.
Simplified data collection, reliable data
Guided forms, import from existing files or directly from your source solutions, tracked and historical data.
Automatically generated VS report
Harnest generates your VS report in a customizable Word or PDF format. And if your obligations change, your data directly feeds into CSRD reporting without re-entry.
VS today, CSRD tomorrow: no loss of historical data
The VS is derived from the ESRS, designed by EFRAG as a proportionate and accessible version of the same standards. In Harnest, data collected under the VS framework is directly reusable if your company falls within the CSRD scope: no disruption, no re-entry. Collection campaigns, assigned managers, value history: everything is preserved and reusable.
What if you operate in a critical sector or a strategic industrial territory? Discover VS+, Ascend Tech's proprietary extension that adds 30 sovereignty and resilience indicators to the core VS.
VS today, CSRD tomorrow: one platform to grow at your own pace
Harnest supports companies at every stage of their extra-financial maturity — from a first VS report to full CSRD reporting. One unified data model, interoperable frameworks and integrated AI to move faster at every step.