Updated June 2026. Reflects the EU Omnibus simplification package and the revised ESRS 2.0 standards (heading for adoption). CSRD is no longer a one-size exercise — scope has narrowed, datapoints have been cut by roughly 61%, and you now have a real choice about when to report. Tick off what you’ve done, then generate a personalised action plan & resource pack from your results. Progress saves automatically in your browser.

1Confirm whether you are still in scope

Identify your reporting wave and first mandatory financial year the stop-the-clock directive pushed waves 2 and 3 back by two years.If you are out of mandatory scope, decide whether you will still receive CSRD data requests from larger customers or investors, and whether voluntary reporting (e.g. the VSME standard) makes commercial sense.Confirm national transposition status in each EU country where you operate, as timing and detail still vary by member state.

Where Horizon ESG helps: a guided scoping assessment that maps your group structure and headcount/turnover against the latest thresholds, so you know your obligation before you spend a euro on data collection.

2Run a double materiality assessment

Adopt the new top-down materiality approach: start from the sustainability matters material to your business, then work down to the disclosures that follow rather than testing every datapoint bottom-up.Assess both impact materiality (your effect on people and planet) and financial materiality (sustainability risks and opportunities to your business).Engage stakeholders and document your reasoning the materiality determination is the part assurers and regulators scrutinise most.Use your material topics to scope out the standards and disclosures that do not apply, before building any data pipeline.

Where Horizon ESG helps: a structured double-materiality workflow with a defensible audit trail, so your assessment stands up to limited assurance.

3Scope data and systems to ESRS 2.0

Re-baseline against the reduced mandatory datapoint set (~61% fewer than the original ESRS) and drop work on datapoints that are no longer required all voluntary datapoints have been removed.Map each remaining datapoint to a data owner and source system; identify gaps in Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, workforce and governance data.Apply the value-chain cap: you cannot demand more information from counterparties with 1,000 employees than the voluntary SME (VSME) standard allows plan estimates and proxies where primary data is unavailable.Move off spreadsheets for anything material: establish one source of truth with version control and an audit trail.

Where Horizon ESG helps: a single platform that holds your reduced ESRS datapoint list, assigns owners, ingests emissions data and flags gaps automatically.

4Prepare reporting and assurance

Draft the sustainability statement in the required digital (XBRL/ESEF) tagging format, integrated with your management report.Build for limited assurance from day one: keep evidence, calculations and methodology notes linked to every figure.Apply fair presentation at the statement level (the ESRS 2.0 change), and engage your assurance provider early to agree scope.Set an internal review and sign-off chain board / audit-committee oversight is expected.

Where Horizon ESG helps: evidence packs and audit trails attached to each disclosure, so assurance is a review not a fire drill.

5Decide on early adoption & next steps

Weigh voluntary early adoption of ESRS 2.0 for FY2026 (lighter datapoint load now) against the cost of re-scoping mid-cycle the standards become mandatory for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027.If early-adopting, pause old-ESRS data builds now and re-plan against the simplified set to avoid wasted effort.Set a reporting calendar with owners and internal deadlines working back from your first filing.Re-run this checklist quarterly the delegated act and national transposition are still moving.

Where Horizon ESG helps: an early-adoption readiness review that models both paths against your data maturity, so the decision is evidence-based.

Build my personalised action plan

Tick the steps youve completed above, then generate your tailored plan resource pack.

This checklist is a practical guide, not legal or accounting advice. CSRD scope, ESRS 2.0 and national transposition were still being finalised at the time of writing (June 2026) — confirm thresholds and dates for your jurisdiction before acting.