Pragmatic and proportionate sustainability solutions - designed for small and medium companies.
Sustainability services for middle market companies
Sustainability that supports business growth
Sustainability is becoming an integral part of business strategy, influencing how companies access capital, win customers, and maintain their licence to operate. For middle market companies, expectations for transparency are rising, while resources and internal capabilities often remain constrained.
Our sustainability services are designed specifically for the middle market: practical, proportionate, and focused on tangible business outcomes. Combining regulatory expertise, sector insight, and hands-on delivery, we help you respond efficiently to stakeholder expectations and build sustainability into your business at a pace that matches your ambitions.
“Start from what matters to the business. Pinpoint where sustainability factors affect margins, customer access, and market positioning, moving from protect to grow and enable.”
Why it matters for middle market companies
A pragmatic sustainability reporting approach can help middle market companies meet stakeholder expectations today while building the foundation for future business and regulatory requirements.
- Lower costs and effort: Leverage existing data, reduce collection burden and implementation costs, resulting in an efficient reporting process.
- Building reputation and trust: Transparent reporting signals ethical business conduct, strengthens relationships, enhances credibility, and attracts new stakeholders.
- Market access and financing: Credible disclosures improve transparency in financing discussions, increase attractiveness for sustainable finance, and provide a foundation for engagement with banks, investors, and partners.
- Improved decision-making: Structured reporting enhances visibility on sustainability risks and opportunities, strengthens strategy and governance links, and supports prioritisation of actions and investments.
Why adopt VSME
It offers middle market companies a structure to credibly address sustainability-related data requests from clients, banks, investors, and other business partners.
What VSME offers
- A pragmatic sustainability reporting framework designed for companies outside CSRD scope
- A structured response to requests from customers, banks, investors and business partners
- A scalable approach that can grow with your organisation
- A foundation for future regulatory requirements
How VSME works
The Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for SMEs (VSME) provides a practical and proportionate framework for companies outside the scope of CSRD. It helps organisations respond to sustainability-related requests from customers, banks, investors and other business partners.
Basic Module
- 11 disclosure requirements across environmental, social and governance topics
- Linked to the company's strategy and operations
- Suitable for companies starting their sustainability reporting journey
Comprehensive Module
- Builds on the Basic Module with 10 additional disclosures
- Includes information often requested by banks and investors
- Helps address more advanced stakeholder information needs
Reporting at a glance
- Reporting is primarily based on the company's own operations
- Some Comprehensive Module disclosures may require additional information beyond these boundaries
- The Basic Module includes around 40 data points
- The Comprehensive Module increases this to around 80 data points
- External assurance is not required but can strengthen the credibility of disclosures
Webinar recording
Explore VSME: Turning ESG reporting into business value
Discover more about the VSME standard in our on-demand webinar, where we explain its significance for middle market companies, differences from the EU CSRD, module selection, and its use as a foundation for client, bank, and investor requests.
A foundation for future requirements
As of June 2026, the draft Swiss Federal Act on Sustainable Corporate Governance (NUFG) is expected to introduce new sustainability reporting requirements from 2028 for companies with more than 1,000 employees and CHF 450 million in global revenue. The draft envisages closer alignment with EU standards and refers to VSME.
Starting with a proportionate framework such as VSME can help organisations establish core disclosures, strengthen transparency and progressively expand their reporting as requirements evolve.
Click to enlarge
Regulatory map for middle market companies
Middle market companies are increasingly affected by sustainability-related regulations covering reporting, due diligence, products and supply chains. The overview below highlights key developments and their potential relevance.
Our sustainability services for the middle market
We combine regulatory expertise, sector insights, and practical delivery to support middle market companies across the sustainability agenda, from baseline reporting to value-led differentiation. Our modular service portfolio adapts to your maturity, sector, and ambition.
The items outlined focus on our sustainability reporting support, guiding organisations from initial assessment through to reporting and publication, with optional assurance available to enhance the credibility of reported information.
- Baselining activities
- Report planning
- Data collection
- Implementation
- Assurance
Baselining activities
Initial assessment to select the appropriate standard, identification of relevant material topics using either a proportionate approach or double materiality assessment, and definition of the reporting boundaries.
Report planning
Gap analysis against selected standard disclosure requirements, definition of the ambition level, development of an implementation roadmap, and clarification of project governance.
Data collection
Definition of tooling requirements, use of external solutions such as PwC Carbon Footprint Calculator, structured data gathering and validation process, and datapoints calculation to establish a robust data foundation.
Implementation
Preparation of the sustainability report, including narrative and quantitative disclosures, followed by review and support through to publication.
Assurance
Optional limited assurance to enhance credibility, improve governance, and increase confidence in reported data.
Get in touch
Discover how our sustainability reporting services can help your business stay ahead
Contact us
Erik Steiger
Petra Schwick
Partner, Leader Sustainability Assurance, PwC Switzerland
Stephanie Hold