Suppliers face growing ESG data demands as large customers report on their value chains under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Even when you’re a non-listed SME outside direct CSRD scope, you can still be required to provide structured, auditable ESG inputs on emissions, workforce, policies, and risks — often on an annual cycle. Complezy streamlines this by centralizing your ESG data and automating questionnaire responses, cutting weeks of work to hours.
Why CSRD hits suppliers
CSRD pushes large and listed companies to disclose environmental and social impacts not only from their own operations, but also from their upstream and downstream value chain.
That forces them to gather structured ESG information from suppliers on emissions, workforce, policies, and risks on at least an annual basis.
Non-listed SMEs are often out of direct CSRD scope, but they are still pulled in because in-scope customers need auditable, third-party-assured data from their suppliers.
What this means in practice
For suppliers, CSRD translates into a sharp rise in ESG questionnaires, portal uploads, and “one-off” data requests from multiple big customers.
Each request can easily take 20–50 hours when handled in spreadsheets and email, especially when data is scattered across Finance, HR, Operations, and Quality teams.
Customers will increasingly expect consistent numbers year-on-year, supporting evidence, and answers that align with ESRS topics such as climate, workers, and governance.
Risks for unprepared suppliers
SME suppliers often have the least internal ESG capacity, but face the tightest deadlines from large buyers — a combination that increases commercial and operational risk.
- Lost tenders or deselection if customers see weak or missing ESG information compared to competing suppliers.
- Margin pressure if ESG becomes a negotiation lever because performance can’t be clearly demonstrated.
- Operational stress as teams reinvent the wheel for every questionnaire, leading to errors, inconsistent KPIs, and poor audit trails.
How Complezy helps suppliers respond
Complezy is designed for suppliers that need to answer growing volumes of ESG and CSRD-driven questionnaires from larger customers.
Instead of treating each request as a bespoke project, Complezy lets you build a reusable ESG data backbone and respond professionally in a fraction of the time.
- Central ESG workspace: enter emissions, workforce/HR metrics, governance details, and policies once as structured data.
- Questionnaire upload and auto-fill: upload PDF/Word/Excel questionnaires; Complezy parses, maps to your fields, and proposes answers to review.
- Evidence and audit-readiness: attach policies, certifications, and audit reports directly to answers.
- Professional exports customers can trust: generate consistent, branded PDFs/spreadsheets aligned with customer formats.
A simple playbook for suppliers
To stay ahead of CSRD-driven requests, suppliers can set up a straightforward workflow supported by Complezy.
- Map your recurring data: list the points customers ask for most often and set them up as structured fields.
- Create an annual data cycle: align internal collection with customers’ yearly CSRD reporting rhythm.
- Standardize narratives and policies: store approved wording so every questionnaire tells the same credible story.
- Track requests and deadlines: manage owners and due dates in one dashboard.
- Iterate and improve: refine the data model once rather than patching every spreadsheet.
Key takeaway
CSRD indirectly mandates ESG data from suppliers as customers report on value-chain impacts, increasing questionnaires and audit expectations. Unprepared SMEs risk lost contracts, margin pressure, and operational chaos. By centralizing ESG data and automating questionnaire workflows, Complezy helps suppliers respond in hours — and turn CSRD pressure into a competitive advantage.