MatchZINE – The CSRD & ESG magazine

ESRS software: Choosing the right tool for EU reporting standards

Your company wants to prepare an ESG report in the future—based on the European reporting standards ESRS? To optimize data collection, reporting, and processes, you should use suitable ESRS software. We provide an overview and help you choose a vendor.

  • ESG
  • Dieser Artikel wurde am 31. March 2026 aktualisiert.
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he EU Omnibus has taken the pressure off many companies when it comes to ESG reporting. However, anyone who now still wants to report on their climate targets—regardless of regulatory requirements—will be well prepared for the future with the ESRS standards.

It is important to rely on the right ESRS tool in order to meet all (future) requirements as effectively as possible and to collect data in a structured way. We share with you our know-how from 700 individual software matchings and guide you to the individually suitable software solution for your reporting in line with the ESRS requirements.

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Overview of ESRS software

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What are the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)?

Companies should and must become more sustainable across Europe. To monitor and measure this, transparent sustainability reports are needed: in black and white, companies must document what their measures look like, what their status quo is, and what their ESG strategy for the future looks like. However, so that not every company simply prepares the report “somehow” and comparisons (e.g., in terms of development or between two companies from the same industry) are possible, there is a need—clearly!—for standards. Transparent standards.

The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) are a collection of guidelines and directives developed by the EU Commission. Their aim is to optimize the sustainability reports of European companies and to collect and present, in an organized and systematic way, all ESG information that must be included in the reports.

However, the current state of affairs has changed: At the end of February 2025, the Omnibus initiative was announced, which also affects the ESRS. It is not yet definitively clear what exactly companies should expect. The fact is, however, that the ESRS reporting requirements will be lowered and reporting will be simplified. This involves the following aspects:

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Number of affected companies: One proposed change is raising the thresholds for the reporting obligation. With this change, only companies with more than 1,000 employees and a balance sheet total of 25 million euros or revenue of 50 million euros will be subject to the reporting obligation. It makes no difference whether a company is capital market–oriented or not.

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Number of data points: To put the focus on quantitative tasks, qualitative tasks (such as textual analyses) will be reduced. For this reason, the number of data points will be reduced by up to 35 percent.

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz sector-specific ESRS standards: Sector-specific standards will be suspended (for the time being) to reduce the complexity of reporting. This change also affects the ESRS-2 requirements and the LSME. The VSME, however, will remain in place.

Important: These changes do not mean that there will no longer be a reporting obligation. Companies will still be required to prepare reports on their sustainability efforts—large companies under the new ESRS; small and/or non-CSRD-obligated companies under the VSME.

It is also important to bear in mind that the changes are still being worked out. Among other reasons, this is why there is a postponement of the reporting obligation by two years. However, the minimum requirements of the reporting obligation will remain in place and are also included in the simplified ESRS. Companies that start implementing these requirements now can therefore gain a significant time advantage and secure competitive advantages.

The five most important steps for implementing the ESRS

For companies affected by the ESRS reporting obligation, the question of “how?” naturally arises. In practice, the following five process phases have proven effective and can be efficiently supported with a suitable ESRS tool:

ESRS Schritte The ESRS (PDF downloads on europa.eu) and the related measures must be understood and known. The link between procedures, objectives and KPIs must be established.

ESRS Schritt doppelte Wesentlichkeit The operational start then takes place with the double materiality analysis. This remains part of the ESRS. This is about identifying and prioritising the sustainability topics that are material for a company. To determine which topics are material for you, you must carry out this double materiality analysis for all ESRS. On the one hand, external developments (opportunities and risks) are assessed with regard to your company’s financial situation and future viability; on the other hand, you must disclose what impacts your business activities have on society and the environment (so-called “impacts”).

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Based on the results of this analysis, it is checked where documentation and evidence gaps exist in previous reports (gap analysis regarding data and information) and where KPIs need to be aggregated.

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz The ESRS data collection is then implemented in your ESRS tool. For this, responsibilities in the individual ESG areas must be defined, process planning for data collection and management must be drawn up, and a system for efficient data capture and control must be put in place.

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Once the structures and processes are in place, the task is to create and adapt ESRS-compliant reporting templates. It is essential to document the data collection and data analysis process and ensure that these both meet the ESRS requirements and are reusable in future reporting.

ESRS tools: How do software solutions support reporting?

Despite the simplification of the ESRS as well as that of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), companies required to report are struggling with extensive requirements to demonstrate that they meet applicable sustainability standards. This is where qualified ESRS software helps.

This is because reporting in accordance with the (new) ESRS still requires a structured approach. ESRS software ensures that companies comply with all relevant requirements by providing, for example, predefined reporting formats and templates based on the applicable standards and specifications. This is particularly important because reports must not only be complete, but also consistently auditable.

A qualified ESRS tool is also able to create transparent reports on the basis of the applicable standards and requirements. This is helpful when requirements change and the current situation becomes unclear. Qualified tools are regularly updated and adapted to new decisions. As a result, companies that use ESRS software for their reporting gain legal certainty and effectively avoid sanctions and fines.

ESRS software is also a great help with time and personnel management. Automated processes save valuable time, reduce effort, and at the same time minimize errors caused by manual entries. A software solution therefore makes it possible to implement the reduced ESRS requirements even more effectively and accurately.

What other benefits does using ESRS software bring you?

In principle, all of the “implementation steps” described above are many times easier and more structured to manage if you invest in the right ESRS software.

ESRS Software einzelne Punkte A major benefit is the significant savings in resources and capital – thanks to predefined structures and systematics (whether when familiarizing yourself with the CSRD/ESRS topic, when analyzing double materiality, or in the reporting processes themselves), you save yourself an immense amount of time and coordination effort. You also minimize the risk of fines, save resources, and, thanks to the transparency created in various areas (e.g., generally in the social areas “ESRS S1-4” or individual disciplines such as waste management “ESRS E5”), you uncover optimization potential.

ESRS Software einzelne Punkte Professional support with ESRS data management – software providers already bring experience from previous projects on how to effectively integrate relevant data from external systems into reporting. In addition, synchronization with other reporting standards is already implemented in many tools. With little effort, you get a comprehensive solution that can be seamlessly integrated into your existing workflows and steps.

Matchilla - Matching-Plattform und Marktplatz Qualified report templates – many software providers offer various design formats so that the result (i.e., the sustainability report) is not only legally compliant, but also visually presentable and can be used for marketing and sales. This increases credibility and strengthens trust among customers or business partners.

And of course: Companies that implement and report the ESRS professionally will gain a clear competitive advantage over the competition, as through sustainability and a sense of responsibility they will gain and strengthen the long-term trust of their stakeholders such as customers, employees, and investors.

Is the use of ESRS software mandatory?

It is not legally required to use a tool, and the five steps described do not seem complex at first glance. But that is deceptive. Even after the proposal of the Omnibus initiative from February 2025, the ESRS include hundreds of data points that must be updated annually with your internal information.

ESRS reporting includes key components such as quantitative and qualitative data, file management, as well as external data collection from stakeholders or suppliers in the context of the LkSG/CSDDD. Despite the upcoming simplification of the requirements and reduction of the qualitative requirements, these still remain in place and do not disappear. This is exactly where it makes sense to start using ESRS software.

Because clean interface solutions and structured ESG management are extremely important efficiency factors for reporting right from the start, meaning there is ultimately no way around a suitable ESG software. Accordingly, it is up to each company to decide whether to use ESRS software. But from an operational and process perspective, an ESRS tool is a no-alternative investment to manage the different sustainability topics, minimize errors, and save valuable time.

Budget and ROI: What does ESRS software cost?

You’re planning to use software for ESRS reporting, and management needs proof of the financial benefits of this investment? In that case, you should clearly consider how much time and resources are spent manually creating the first sustainability report. How many employees are involved and how long does this process take? In addition, you should bear in mind that the effort required to adapt to potential changes in legislation cannot be defined.

Future aspects, such as drawing on content templates, the design, and the usability of the reporting for external communication, are valuable sources for marketing and sales. The content generated from this has a positive effect on your target groups. ESRS software—or the benefits it generates—can therefore even become a revenue driver.

We can share these benchmark figures from our more than 700 matchings for SMEs and corporations: The price range for ESRS solutions for CSRD reporting is around €8,000 to €25,000 per year in license costs. If you want to report in accordance with VSME, the range is between €2,500 and €11,500. In addition, there are optional consulting costs, e.g., for a joint analysis of double materiality and integrating the results into the tool.

So the budget required is now manageable when you compare it with the benefits. However, additional technical solutions for the LkSG, EUDR, CBAM, the product passport, or the EU Taxonomy are not included, and further budgets need to be allocated depending on the ESG areas relevant to you.

Tip: You can get an initial price indication for your individual situation via our matching process.

Consulting or software: What fits your situation?

There are two options for how you can approach the first reporting under ESRS with external service providers.

On the one hand, you can commission a consulting firm for reporting to support you with the situation and materiality analysis as well as selecting a tool that fits your processes. Or you can – and this is our recommendation – start initial conversations directly with relevant software providers that have in-house or external consulting specialists within their partner ecosystem. With the right setup, you can work with internal and external expertise to directly build the necessary foundation for well-structured data and ESRS reporting processes.

Since the ESRS will play an important role for you going forward, comparing software is one of the most important tasks to ensure the best possible selection. The more thoroughly you know which features and functions are needed, the better the software will match your requirements. Appropriate trial or demo versions from the respective software provider will help you with the selection.

ESRS software comparison: Selecting the right providers

As you can see from this summary, at Matchilla we deal intensively with the topic of CSRD/ESRS reporting. We continuously and carefully screen the software vendor market for our platform. Our database contains over 60 CSRD and ESRS reporting software providers active in the German-speaking region – documented with hard and soft factors such as features, reporting standards, interfaces, consulting and industry expertise, pricing, etc.

You can now benefit from this market overview as well as our expertise from over 700 CSRD and ESG matchings (for SMEs and corporations): we save you a lengthy market research process and get straight to the point with a shortlist of the three most suitable providers. Your investment is only a few minutes

The best part: comparing software providers and matching on Matchilla are completely non-binding, free of charge for you and anonymous vis-à-vis the providers (see FAQ).

If you would like to know which solution will best support you with the various tasks in the future, sign up free of charge on the platform or fill out the Match Assistant below!

Note: We use our CSRD software database for the matching, as the most important ESRS parameters are stored there.

Customized ESRS software matching according to your criteria

Providers in matching: 68

  • Letztes Update am 31. March 2026

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Christian Batz - Kundenstimme Matchilla
Christian Batz VP Digital, igus AG


Matchilla’s approach is brilliant: I no longer have to laboriously research consultancies and software providers and fight my way through countless comparison portals – the right providers come to me, so to speak – with just a few minutes of effort. The matching process saves us a lot of resources.

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Heiko Stötzel Global Head Social Responsibility, SSI Schäfer


Finding suitable ESG service providers via Matchilla is easy and super fast. We got in touch, formulated the specifications, and after just a few days the results were there. This way we received information about providers we hadn’t heard of before. Real added value.

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Alexander Barion Head of Marketing CE, Fidelity International


With Matchilla, we can easily open ourselves up to ideas from new service providers that were previously outside our radar. Our search criteria are matched against a database, but the final suggestions are ultimately in the hands of the Matchilla team. The result: high quality and strong service!

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Our ESRS expert

Ulli Theves is Head of CSRD and ESG Reporting Matching at Matchilla and an expert in technical solutions in the field of sustainability. In the MatchZINE, he shares his expertise and regularly publishes news and useful information on the topic of ESG.

CSRD, Lieferketten, EUDR, ESPR, PPWR, CBAM & Co. sind Themen, die alle Unternehmen betreffen. Wir teilen im MatchZINE unser geballtes Praxiswissen aus über 1.000 Matchings für Mittelständler und Konzerne.

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