the questionnaire contains a question that does not apply to our situation at all what do I fill in

Not applicable is also an answer

Fill in "not applicable" with a brief reason instead of skipping the question or giving a careless "no". Customers who work with a standard format — CSRD questionnaires based on the EFRAG VSME basic module are the clearest example — often adopt all parts of the standard, including modules that are not relevant for a small business. A question about facilities in multiple countries is pointless for an undertaking that only operates in the Netherlands; a question about AI systems in service provision is pointless if you do not use them. Skipping the question leaves an empty field at the recipient's end, and an empty field is often read as "not completed" instead of "not applicable" — that costs you more explanation than one sentence now.

Therefore, add the reason to each n/a answer: "n/a, undertaking has no facilities outside the Netherlands" or "n/a, no AI is used within service provision". This aligns with how the chain file is structured: the question in which countries does the company have operations and the question the undertaking uses AI systems are in the file separately from each other, precisely because not every undertaking has something to report on every aspect. An n/a with a reason is therefore not an omission in your file, but a correctly completed field.

Why this is not a concealment

Skipping a module because it is not applicable is different from concealing a question that is relevant. The VSME basic module of EFRAG is structured into sections that do not all apply to every undertaking — for example, a company without its own building reports nothing about real estate emissions, a service provider without a production process reports nothing about production waste. Directive (EU) 2022/2464, which establishes the CSRD, requires reporting on what is material to the undertaking, not completing every field regardless of relevance. "N/a" with a reason is therefore the correct answer, not an omission.