Conduct your gap analysis

Once you have completed your Double Materiality Analysis, you will know which standards, disclosure requirements, and data points are relevant for your reporting. This is the ideal time to start the gap analysis.

The gap analysis helps you assess your comapany's readiness for ESRS reporting by comparing your current data availability with the ESRS requirements. Even though it is not legally required, it provides valuable insights and shows what information is already available, where gaps exist, who is responsible for which data, and which sources can potentially be used. The analysis thus helps you prepare the reporting process in a targeted manner and assess the level of compliance in a structured manner. The gap analysis can also be seamlessly integrated into the ESRS report, allowing all collected preparatory analyses to be used directly in the report.

Based on this assessment, you can identify data gaps and create action plans to collect missing data in a timely manner before you begin the actual reporting.

The EQS Sustainability Cockpit provides you with a clear overview of all relevant standards, disclosure requirements, and data points and supports you in systematically assessing your reporting readiness.

When creating a new gap analysis, you can select your materiality analysis created in the Sustainability Cockpit. This ensures that only the standards, disclosure requirements, and data points that have been classified as material will be considered.

Step 1: Determine Scope:

As soon as you open the gap analysis, you will be taken to the first step, "Determine Scope." Here you determine which disclosure requirements and data points are relevant for your reporting. If you have previously conducted a Double materiality Analysis and integrated it into the Gap Analysis, this step will be automatically pre-populated: Material disclosure requirements and data points are already activated, while non-material ones are deactivated. This article explains how the topics of your materiality analysis are assigned to the specific data points.

In the "Report on?" column, you can see at a glance which content is included (green) or excluded (grey). Even if you have already integrated a Materiality Analysis and the scope has been automatically determined, we recommend reviewing all disclosure requirements and making individual adjustments as needed. You can flexibly adjust this selection at any time by toggling the switch for individual disclosure requirements or data points. If you have not integrated a Double Materiality Analysis, all disclosure requirements are activated by default. In this case, you manually specify what should be included in the report. You can apply phase-In provisions and specifically exclude Voluntary data points. Information on selecting disclosure requirements can be found in this article.

With your selection, you already define the specific scope of the reporting and thus create the basis for the further reporting process. You can learn how to integrate the gap analysis into this process here.

Step 2: Setup data availability and collection:

Once you have defined the scope of your report, you can check your data availability and prepare for data collection in the second step of the gap analysis.

To record the availability of individual data points, use the button in the corresponding column. At the disclosure level, you can then see what percentage of the corresponding data points are already available and where any gaps in data availability exist.

You can also organize data collection directly by assigning responsible persons and specifying the respective collection method. This step can also be part of your reporting process and incorporated into the final report. You can find out more about how to set up data collection efficiently in this article.

For each data point, you can use the pencil icon to add background information that will be displayed to all potential recipients of a data query, such as internal descriptions or information about the data source. Here you can learn how to make the best use of it.

Can I still adjust my Double Materiality Analysis after I've already started the Gap analysis?

Yes, it is possible to adjust your Double Materiality Analysis even after starting the Gap Analysis. Under "More Actions," you have the option to update or remove your imported Double Materiality Analysis, or select a different Materiality Analysis. Please note that updating or changing the Double Materiality will overwrite the recorded data point details and data collection methods.