10 Questions Before Choosing ESG Reporting Software

Why ask questions before comparing features?

Sustainability teams looking for software often start from a feature demo. The better starting point is the reverse: your obligations, your data and your contributors. According to our 2025 study, 72% of sustainability professionals spend most of their time collecting and consolidating data and 65% chasing colleagues or suppliers. Software should first reduce that work. The ten questions below let you check it before committing a budget. To set the frame, read our article on ESG reporting first.

Question 1: which reports do you need to produce in the next 12 months?

List the frameworks and the concrete requests: a CSRD report, a VS (formerly VSME) report, an EcoVadis questionnaire, a CDP response, questionnaires from customers who are buyers. Many companies find they must feed three or four frameworks with the same data. Software built for a single framework then forces you to re-enter it.

For the CSRD alone, see our comparison of CSRD software. For the VS, see the VSME tools. For CDP, see the CDP tools.

Question 2: who will use the software and who must contribute to it?

The main user is often the sustainability or QHSE manager. Contributors are more numerous: HR for social data, finance for accounting, procurement for the supply chain, sites and plants for energy and waste. Ask whether contributors need training, a paid license and access to the whole platform or only to their own questions. A tool that only the sustainability manager can use reproduces the spreadsheet.

Question 3: where does your data come from and does the software connect to it?

Take inventory: ERP, payroll, HRIS, energy invoices, site Excel files. Then ask which connections already exist, which have to be built and at what cost and how existing files are imported. A connection announced but delivered in six months does not count. The original data must stay identifiable after import.

Question 4: which frameworks does the software cover and how does it follow their changes?

Frameworks change. The VS (formerly VSME) replaced the VSME in September 2026 and the ESRS were simplified by the Omnibus. Ask for the list of frameworks covered, the date of the last update for each, the usual delay between an official publication and its integration and what happens to data you have already entered when a framework changes. To understand what the standard asks of SMEs, read our article on the VS standard.

Question 5: can you trace each figure back to its source?

This is the question that matters on audit or assessment day. Ask to see, on one indicator, who entered the value, when, where it comes from, which document supports it and who validated it. The edit history must be kept. For the CSRD, external assurance is mandatory, which makes this traceability essential. It also serves EcoVadis assessors, who check evidence.

Question 6: how is collection from contributors organized?

Lost time often sits in the follow-ups. Check whether the software assigns questions to people, sends reminders, shows progress by site or department and handles cascading approvals. Ask how an absent contributor is replaced. Test this in the demo with a real scenario: five contributors, two late.

Question 7: what does the AI do and how is it governed?

Almost every vendor announces AI. Ask exactly what it does: pre-fill answers, summarize evidence, draft report text. Then ask how a generated answer can be verified, whether it cites its source, whether a human validates it and whether your data is used to train models. Useful AI saves time on drafting and leaves the decision to the team. For an overview of uses, download our AI toolkit for sustainability managers.

Question 8: what human support is included?

Software delivers a feature. A report also needs a method: scope, materiality, choice of indicators, reading the requirements. Ask what the vendor includes in the subscription, what is billed on top and who steps in: technical support, a consultant or a dedicated coach. For a first program, this point often weighs as much as the features. Ditto made that choice: a platform and a coach who works with you, step by step.

Question 9: where is your data hosted and who can access it?

Ask for the hosting location, GDPR compliance, role-based access management, access logging and the incident procedure. Check whether the vendor can provide a completed security questionnaire, which your IT team or your customers will ask for.

Question 10: what is the total cost and how do you exit the contract?

The license price does not tell the whole story. Ask what is billed on top: modules per framework, extra users, integrations, onboarding, support. Ask about the commitment period, the renewal terms and reversibility: can you export all your data and evidence in a reusable format? A spreadsheet costs nothing in license fees but a lot in time. Compare over three years, internal time included.

Which solution for which situation?

To compare platforms by framework, also read our article on the CSRD platform.

ESG reporting software: key takeaways