ESG Module, aligned with the VSME standard
From 2027, your client won’t be able to ask for everything.
A European regulation published in September 2026 sets the list of information a large group will be able to request from a supplier of 1,000 employees or fewer. Oakbon tells you which ones apply to you, and drafts the reasoned refusal for the rest.
What happens today
The questionnaire arrives, and nobody knows how to answer.
A client, a bank or a tender sends you their file. You have two weeks and no CSR department.
You answer blind
The file has thirty tabs. You fill in what you can, you leave gaps, and you don’t know whether your answer will be enough to keep the contract.
You give more than necessary
Payroll totals, absenteeism, contract details. This information leaves your payroll and goes to a client, without anyone having checked whether they could ask for it.
You start over for the next one
The second client sends their own file, in their own format. Nothing you prepared last month gets reused.
How it works
Three steps, and you have your answer.
You describe your company
Headcount, activity, reference year. It’s the headcount that determines the scope you’ll be held to, and it isn’t the same for a company of eight employees as for one of two hundred.
Oakbon draws up the list of what’s owed
Each data point links back to the paragraph of the text that requires it, so you also see everything that isn’t on it. Anything that comes from payroll goes to your accountant via a one-time link, with no account to create.
You send it, and you refuse the rest
Two documents to download. Your client gets what they’re expecting, plus a written explanation for what they won’t get.
Year after year
The file gets reused for the next request.
You set a target once. Oakbon tells you where you stand every year after that.
A file, not a document
Next year’s request picks up from this file. You re-enter nothing, and you find again what you declared the time before.
Dated targets
Minus 20% by 2028, across all your emissions or on a specific item. With every new footprint, Oakbon recalculates the gap and the status of the target.
A reference trajectory
Your curve is compared against the SBTi’s 1.5°C pathway, around 4.2% reduction per year. You know whether your target holds up against a recognised benchmark.
Your deliverables
The two documents you send.
The attestation
The list of data points you owe, filled in, each one linked to the paragraph of the text that requires it. This is the document your client expects.
If a carbon footprint already exists in your Oakbon account, your emissions and energy consumption are carried over into it, with no re-entry.
The reasoned refusal letter
For every question that goes beyond the list, a paragraph citing the regulation and its deadline. You don’t have to draft it, or improvise a justification over the phone.
You remain free to answer beyond the list if your business relationship calls for it. The letter gives you the choice, it doesn’t make it for you.
Oakbon produces a file aligned with the European value chain framework. This file is not a certificate of compliance and does not replace verification by an independent third party.
The regulation, and its deadline
What will apply, and from when.
The value chain cap is set by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560 of 3 July 2026, which supplements Directive 2013/34/EU as part of the Omnibus I package and gives binding force to the voluntary sustainability reporting standard for SMEs, known as VSME. It was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 21 September 2026, once the Parliament and Council’s review period had expired.
Its Article 3, the one that sets the cap, will apply to financial years opening from 1 January 2027. Nothing today limits what a client can ask of you, which is why the file should be prepared now.
| Your headcount | What will be required | What it changes for you |
|---|---|---|
| 10 employees or fewer | A shorter scope | Several environmental data points become voluntary here, therefore not required |
| More than 10 employees | The full scope | The data points the standard classifies as necessary, in its basic module |
| More than 1,000 employees | The cap doesn’t protect you | You’re on the side of the one collecting |
The cap only covers the data points the standard classifies as “necessary”, listed in its Annex II. A “voluntary” data point can be requested, it cannot be required. Source: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560. The 500-employee threshold of the French emissions balance sheet (Article L229-25 of the Environmental Code) is a separate obligation, and it already applies.
Pricing
Three tiers, based on your headcount.
The tier follows your headcount, because so does the scope you’ll be held to. All prices are excl. VAT, no commitment.
10 employees or fewer
€29 excl. VAT / month
No commitment
The shorter scope the regulation sets for this headcount.
More than 10 employees
€69 excl. VAT / month
No commitment
The full scope of the basic module, with the HR questionnaire.
Multiple companies
Custom quote
No commitment
One file per company, a group view, targets tracked by site then consolidated.
ESG module option: the file gets added to your carbon footprintOn top of the Essential, Pro or Firm plan
If you already have a carbon footprint with Oakbon, your already-calculated emissions and energy consumption feed the ESG file, with no re-entry.
Frequently asked questions
Before you get started.
Is the ESG module sold separately from the carbon footprint?
Yes. Oakbon’s ESG module is a standalone product, requiring no prior carbon footprint, from €29 excl. VAT per month, with no commitment. It can also be added to an existing Oakbon carbon plan for €49 excl. VAT per month.
What is the value chain cap?
It’s the limit that Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560 sets on what a large company subject to the CSRD can require from a supplier of no more than 1,000 employees. The cap covers the data points the VSME standard classifies as necessary, in its basic module of eleven data points to publish, and the scope is shorter for a company of 10 employees or fewer. It will apply to financial years opening from 1 January 2027.
Is this cap already applicable?
Not yet. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560 of 3 July 2026 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 21 September 2026, but its Article 3, the one that sets the cap, will only apply to financial years opening from 1 January 2027. Today, nothing limits what a client can ask of their supplier.
What happens if my client asks for more than the list?
Oakbon drafts a reasoned refusal letter, citing the cap set by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560 and its 2027 deadline. You send it as is, or decide to answer beyond the list if your business relationship calls for it.
Does Oakbon only work once, for a single file?
No. The ESG file gets reused for every new request from a client, year after year. On the carbon side, every footprint fits into a history: a dated reduction target, its progress recalculated with each new footprint, and the comparison against the SBTi’s 1.5°C pathway, around 4.2% reduction per year.
Can I cancel at any time?
Yes. The subscription to Oakbon’s ESG module has no commitment and can be cancelled from your account, whenever you decide, just like the carbon footprint plans.
The next questionnaire will arrive without warning.
Prepare the file once. It will serve for that one, and for all the ones that follow.
From €29 excl. VAT per month, no commitment.