Even if your SME is not yet required to comply with the CSRD, the time to act is now. Why? To anticipate requests from large clients, improve reputation, attract investors, and stay competitive.
In this guide, we provide you with a practical checklist to get ready for the CSRD in 2025, with clear and concrete advice on how to start integrating sustainability into your business, without complications.
What is the CSRD and Why Is Everyone Talking About It?
The CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) is the European directive that requires companies to transparently report their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. In practice, it’s no longer enough to “do sustainability”, you also need to communicate it, with concrete and comparable data.
The CSRD is generating buzz because it’s a historic turning point: for the first time, the sustainability report is treated with the same seriousness as the financial report. And even though today it mainly concerns large companies, SMEs will soon be included too.
Are You Required to Apply It? How to Understand in Just a Few Minutes
The CSRD will be implemented in phases, depending on company size and characteristics:
- From 2024: Large companies already subject to the NFRD (Non-Financial Reporting Directive).
- From 2025: Large companies not previously subject to the NFRD that meet at least two of the following criteria: more than 250 employees, and/or €50M turnover, and/or €25M in assets.
- From 2026: Listed SMEs and certain non-EU companies with significant activities in Europe.
If you are a non-listed SME, you may not yet be required to comply, but it’s only a matter of time. Already today, you may be receiving data requests from your larger clients or from banks.
Why Prepare Even If You Are Not Yet Obliged to Produce a Sustainability Report
Even if your company is not yet directly obliged by the CSRD, waiting is not the best choice.
Large clients already subject to the directive will soon begin requesting data and information from you in order to meet their own reporting obligations. If you’re not ready, you risk being excluded from their supply chain.
Moreover, banks and investors are increasingly assessing companies based on sustainability criteria. Demonstrating a serious and structured ESG approach makes a real difference in securing financing or better terms.
Preparing now gives you time to get organized without stress, identify areas for improvement, and build a corporate culture based on transparency and accountability.
This is an opportunity to stand out, strengthen your brand reputation, and enhance relationships with clients and stakeholders. More than an obligation, it’s an investment in the future.
Checklist to Prepare for the CSRD in 2025
Here’s a practical checklist to guide you:
- Inform and train your team: explain internally what the CSRD is, who it involves, and why it matters for your business.
- Identify your company’s key ESG areas: energy, emissions, waste management, employee well-being, governance, where should you start?
- Collect basic data: even without structured systems, begin mapping environmental and social data (consumption, absences, turnover, suppliers…).
- Define your sustainability goals: start with a few clear and realistic goals (e.g., reduce energy consumption by 10% in one year).
- Set up a monitoring system: platforms like Uyolo provide a method to update and track progress.
- Prepare a first draft of your ESG report: even if unpublished, it’s useful to understand where you stand and where you can improve.
- Validate with a consultant or technical partner: if in doubt, it’s better to be supported by an experienced team like Uyolo.
Useful Tools: What Can Help You on Your Corporate Sustainability Journey
To comply with the CSRD, or to start preparing, rely on advanced tools that simplify the work, reduce errors, and help you stay consistent over time.
This is where Uyolo comes in, a platform designed to guide businesses through their sustainability journey, including smaller companies.
With Uyolo, you can manage stakeholders, monitor ESG actions, collect the data needed for reporting, and get a clear picture of your environmental, social, and governance impacts, all through a simple, action-oriented interface.
What really matters is having a gradual, strategic approach: start with what you already have, bring order, and then, step by step, equip yourself with the tools you need to grow.
Difference with the CSDDD: Don’t Get Confused
There’s often confusion between the CSRD and the CSDDD (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive). They have similar names but are different directives:
- CSRD focuses on sustainability reporting (writing the ESG report).
- CSDDD focuses on due diligence on human rights and the environment throughout the value chain (preventing negative impacts).
They are complementary, but the CSRD requires you to report, while the CSDDD requires you to act.
How to Communicate Sustainability Data Clearly and Credibly
The CSRD requires transparency, traceability, and comparability. Therefore:
- No greenwashing: it’s not enough to claim sustainability, you must prove it with numbers.
- Tell the story of your journey: challenges are part of the process. Explain what you’re doing to improve.
- Use simple infographics and tables: data must be understandable, not just accurate.
- Ensure consistency with financial reporting: the two documents must align, not contradict each other.
Even if you are not yet obliged to publish, get used to clear and verifiable communication from the start.
FAQs
Do small businesses also need to worry about the CSRD?
Yes. Even if you are not directly obliged by the directive, it is very likely that your larger clients will request information from you. Companies subject to the CSRD must also report on their value chain data.
If you are part of that chain, as a supplier, subcontractor, or partner, preparing in advance allows you to respond promptly and avoid being caught unprepared.
How can I know if a supplier is a risk for my reporting?
There is no official list, but you can carry out a risk assessment based on key factors: in which country do they operate? What kind of activities do they carry out? What are their working conditions? Have they already adopted ESG policies?
For example, if a supplier operates in a high-impact environmental sector or in a country with poor human rights protections, that’s a red flag worth investigating. You can start with a simple internal checklist or a short self-assessment questionnaire to share with partners.
Is it necessary to have specific software to manage CSRD reporting?
Not at the beginning. However, as reporting becomes more complex and the volume of data increases, it is very helpful to adopt structured platforms like Uyolo, which simplify ESG data management, guide you through the requirements, and help you maintain consistency over time.
How long does it really take to prepare for the CSRD?
It depends on how advanced your sustainability practices already are. If you’re starting from scratch, it’s realistic to expect 6–12 months to gather data, identify critical areas, engage suppliers, and start building an effective reporting system. But the sooner you start, the better. Preparing in advance lets you test tools, train your team, and progress step by step without last-minute stress.
Conclusions
Corporate sustainability is increasingly becoming a strategic factor that impacts markets, reputation, and access to incentives and financing.
With the introduction of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), sustainability reporting is becoming the standard for all large companies, but SMEs must also prepare to meet value chain requests, especially if they aim to work with European and international clients.
Italian companies, in particular, are facing a major transformation: new regulations, new obligations, new deadlines. To manage this transition, businesses need clear content, practical tools, and tailored solutions that simplify the path to compliance.
Whether it’s greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, labor rights, governance, or ESG reporting, what changes is the level of detail required and the ability to communicate information in a language that auditors, clients, and stakeholders can understand and verify.
In this new regulatory framework, European standards may seem complex, especially when compared with the U.S., where new rules for some listed companies have been introduced recently, but the system remains fragmented and less rigorous than the CSRD.
The key is to start methodically, use available services, follow official recommendations, and stay updated on key issues with a continuous learning plan.
Do you want to turn obligations into competitive advantages?
Book a demo with Uyolo and discover how to simplify ESG reporting with a tool designed for SMEs.
