ESG & CSRD Reporting Data Collection Checklist Template

Phase 1: Basis, Scope & Boundary

The first task records the reporting basis, the reporting lead and the approver. A mandatory basis shows Phases 2 and 6.

• Choose the reporting basis for this cycle — mandatory CSRD with ESRS, the voluntary standard, or another framework a customer or regulator asks for
• Test the CSRD thresholds on the latest figures — average employees and net turnover, both of which must be exceeded; check how your Member State has transposed them
• Record which standard and version applies — for 2026, existing ESRS, existing ESRS with reliefs or the revised set; the statement must say which
• Set the reporting boundary — the same undertakings as the financial statements, plus the value chain where a topic is material
• Plan the timetable back from publication — board approval, assurance fieldwork, data cut-off and owner deadlines

Phase 2: Double Materiality Assessment

Shown when the basis is CSRD with ESRS. Voluntary reporters skip it and work from the standard’s modules.

• Decide whether to refresh or redo last year’s assessment — acquisitions, new markets or new products justify a fuller rework
• List impacts, risks and opportunities across operations and value chain — use the topical standards E1 to E5, S1 to S4 and G1 as a prompt list
• Score impact materiality — severity by scale, scope and how hard the harm is to remedy, with likelihood for potential impacts
• Score financial materiality — likely effects on cash flows, performance, position or cost of capital over short, medium and long term
• Record stakeholder input and the reasoning — the assurance provider will test how you reached the list, not only the list

Phase 3: Datapoint Register & Owners

• Build the datapoint register from the material topics — general disclosures always, topical datapoints where material, or the voluntary standard’s modules
• Assign an owner and a separate reviewer to every datapoint — the person who produces a number should not be the one who checks it
• Load the emission factor tables — source, edition year and units for each factor, kept the same all year
• Fix definitions, units and estimation methods — headcount or full-time equivalents, period-end or average, and when an estimate is acceptable
• Answer customer and lender questionnaires from the register — and from 2027 decline requests beyond the value chain cap if you are a protected supplier

Phase 4: Collect the Data

Each collection task is assigned to the data owner named in the register, with a due date from the data cut-off.

• Collect Scope 1 activity data — fuels, fleet, refrigerant top-ups and process emissions, site by site
• Collect Scope 2 on both methods — location-based from meter data and market-based from supplier contracts and certificates
• Screen the Scope 3 categories and collect the material ones — flag spend-based estimates so they can be replaced by supplier data later
• Collect own-workforce data from HR systems — headcount by contract and gender, turnover, training and work-related injuries
• Collect business conduct and other material data — anti-corruption training, confirmed incidents, payment practices, energy, water and waste

Phase 5: Evidence, Controls & Review

• Attach source evidence to every reported figure — invoices, meter readings, HR extracts and supplier letters, not a summary spreadsheet
• Reconcile shared figures to the financial statements — revenue, energy spend, headcount and the boundary must agree with the annual accounts
• Review movements against last year — explain every large change and record any restatement of a prior figure
• Challenge the estimates and judgements — a second reviewer checks Scope 3 methods, proxies and the materiality conclusions
• Draft the sustainability statement or report — in the structure the chosen standard sets, with each figure traced to the register

Phase 6: Limited Assurance Readiness

Shown when the basis is CSRD with ESRS. Voluntary reporters can add it if a lender or customer asks for assurance.

• Agree scope, timetable and access with the assurance provider — the statutory auditor or, where your Member State allows it, an independent assurance provider
• Hand over the materiality process file — limited assurance covers how material information was identified, not only the figures
• Provide the register, evidence and control records — the provider samples datapoints and traces them back to source
• Log findings and agree each adjustment — with owner, decision and date, before the statement is finalised