Most mid-market suppliers lack a dedicated ESG team, yet ESG data is already sitting in Finance invoices, HR records, and Operations logs. The fastest way to respond to rising customer ESG questionnaires is to map that existing data into a reusable workspace you can update on a simple cadence. This 5-step guide shows how to collect it systematically without consultants or extra hires, using Complezy’s structured fields so you can reuse answers instantly across customer requests.
Step 1: Inventory your data silos
Start by listing the ESG data points customers most commonly request: Scope 1–2 emissions from fuel and energy bills (Finance), headcount/turnover/training hours (HR), and waste/incidents/policies (Operations).
Pull one recent example source from each department (utility invoices, payroll reports, safety logs) without trying to overhaul processes. The goal is to prove you can extract repeatable inputs from what already exists.
In Complezy, create a workspace and use the pre-built fields for emissions, workforce, and governance to tag these sources upfront so you’re not starting from scratch with each questionnaire.
Step 2: Standardize key metrics
Assign owners and formats: Finance standardizes energy use (kWh or GJ), HR reports headcount by gender/region, and Operations logs incidents per 1,000 hours. Consistency matters more than perfection.
Focus on 10–15 high-frequency metrics that appear in most questionnaires (total energy, total GHG tCO2e, safety incidents, training hours, diversity ratios).
Complezy’s structured fields help enforce units and baselines, and can auto-calculate totals like Scope 1 emissions from fuel inputs so your numbers stay consistent across teams.
Step 3: Build your reusable workspace
Upload key source documents (invoices, policies) and enter monthly or annual figures into Complezy’s categorized sections: Environmental (emissions, waste), Social (workforce, training), and Governance (policies, oversight).
Attach evidence (certifications, policies) directly to the relevant metrics so you maintain an audit trail and reduce follow-up questions.
The dashboard gives a single source of truth and can highlight gaps (for example, missing Q4 energy data) so owners know exactly what to update.
Step 4: Test with a real questionnaire
Take a recent customer ESG questionnaire (PDF, Word, or Excel) and upload it to Complezy. Auto-mapping will suggest answers from your workspace (for example, pulling Scope 2 from your energy data).
Review and refine narratives (such as describing an emissions reduction initiative) and attach supporting evidence.
Export a branded response and compare it to prior submissions to verify consistency. This end-to-end test typically saves 20–50 hours per request once your workspace is set up.
Step 5: Automate updates and tracking
Set a simple update cadence (often quarterly): Finance adds new bills, HR refreshes headcount, and Operations logs incidents. The same structured dataset stays current for every customer request.
Use Complezy’s dashboard for reminders, ownership, and visibility on questionnaire volumes and turnaround times.
Invite the right roles (for example, Admin for Ops leads and Viewer for Finance) so updates are controlled and year-on-year trends improve over time.
We have a free tool to see what customers are likely to ask for and what evidence to prepare — click the button below.
Check transparency requirementsKey takeaway
You don’t need consultants or a new ESG team to respond professionally to customer ESG questionnaires. Map existing data in Finance, HR, and Operations; standardize 10–15 core metrics; build a reusable Complezy workspace with evidence attached; test with a real questionnaire; and run quarterly updates. This turns one-time data scrambling into a low-effort routine that scales with rising supply chain ESG questionnaire volume. Next step: use our Transparency Requirements Checker to see what customers are likely to ask you for and what evidence you should prepare: /tools/transparency-requirements-checker