Anyone filling in a sustainability questionnaire from a customer for the first time often makes the same mistakes. Not because the questions are so difficult, but because the list arrives at the wrong time, gets filled in between other priorities and is never reviewed again. The most common mistake is copying answers from a previous list to a new one without checking whether the format, period or customer is the same.
In addition, problems often arise with evidence that is no longer current, with filling in fields that were not actually asked for, and with leaving questions blank that should have been answered with 'not applicable'. Below are the errors that occur most frequently, per section of the questionnaire.
Reusing answers without checking
A sustainability questionnaire often looks like the previous one: the same type of questions about energy consumption, waste streams or suppliers further down the chain. But each customer uses their own format and sometimes their own accounting period. An answer that was correct last year for customer A may require a different financial year or unit for customer B. If you blindly copy an answer, you risk that the figure is filled in, but does not match the question.
This is particularly strong in lists based on the VSME, the voluntary reporting standard for smaller businesses. The questions seem generic, but the classification of scope 1, 2 and 3 differs per portal. A central chain dossier in which one current answer per topic is stored prevents a slightly different version from circulating for each customer. In the knowledge bank per topic it is explained per question type where these kinds of differences come from.
Sending expired evidence
A second common mistake is sending along a certificate, insurance policy or statement that has since expired. This often happens not out of carelessness, but because no one in the organization has set a fixed moment to check the expiry date before the document goes out. With a manual folder of PDFs, this only becomes apparent when the customer calls back about it.
Sharing more than is asked
The third mistake goes the other way: sharing too much information. Some entrepreneurs send along a complete policy document out of caution, when the question only asks for a yes or no. That is not forbidden, but it is also not necessary, and it may contain sensitive business information that does not belong with that one question. The starting point is that you answer what is asked, no more and no less. If you are unsure whether something should be shared, that is something to discuss internally or to put to a lawyer; we do not judge that and we do not read the list ourselves either.
No one checks the answer before it is submitted
A fourth, less visible mistake is that a questionnaire is filled in by one employee without anyone else confirming the answer. With a single question, that is not a problem, but with dozens of questions per year, spread across multiple portals, it is easy for an outdated figure or an incorrectly filled in date to slip in. A fixed step where each answer is explicitly confirmed with yes or no before it is submitted prevents an error from only becoming apparent after the customer has already responded.
Leaving questions blank instead of filling in 'not applicable'
Finally: an empty field is often read differently by a customer than a completed 'not applicable'. An empty question may come across as forgotten or ignored, whereas 'not applicable' shows that the question has been reviewed. This seems a small difference, but it is precisely the kind of detail that a bank or insurance company portal may revisit. More on how this works in practice can be found in the most frequently asked questions about this type of checks.
These errors have one thing in common: they do not arise because the question is unclear, but because the answer comes from somewhere other than one current, verified overview. If you want to know which questionnaires are relevant for your company and where you currently stand, then the free check in a few questions provides a first indication. How that indication is arrived at is explained on the page on how we work.
This article is descriptive in nature and not legal advice. For your own company's situation, or if you are unsure about what should and should not be shared, a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority is the appropriate point of contact.