Your CSRD reporting calendar for 2026
If your company falls into the second wave of CSRD reporting (large EU companies with 250+ employees), you’ll be reporting on FY2025 data in 2026. Here’s a practical timeline to keep you on track.
Q1 2026: Finalise your double materiality assessment
If you haven’t completed your double materiality assessment yet, this is urgent. By the end of Q1, you should have:
- Completed stakeholder engagement
- Scored all ESRS topics on both impact and financial materiality
- Selected your material topics
- Had the results validated by leadership
This assessment determines the entire scope of your report, so everything downstream depends on it.
Q1–Q2 2026: Data collection and gap closure
With your material topics defined, focus on collecting the required datapoints:
- Run a gap analysis: Map required datapoints against available data
- Close priority gaps: Focus on datapoints with the highest materiality scores
- Engage suppliers: Start value chain data collection early , this always takes longer than expected
- Document methodologies: Record how you calculate each metric
Q2–Q3 2026: Report drafting
Begin drafting your CSRD report following the ESRS structure:
- General disclosures (ESRS 2): Strategy, governance, materiality assessment methodology
- Topical disclosures (E1–E5, S1–S4, G1): Only for your material topics
- Metrics and targets: Quantitative data with base years and methodologies
- XBRL tagging preparation: Ensure your report structure supports digital tagging
Q3 2026: Internal review and assurance preparation
Before external assurance:
- Run internal quality checks on all data
- Verify audit trails are complete
- Prepare evidence documentation for your auditor
- Brief the assurance team on your methodology and scope
Q4 2026: External assurance and submission
- Limited assurance engagement: Your auditor reviews methodology, data quality, and compliance
- XBRL conversion: Convert your report to the required digital format
- Submission: File with your national registry as part of your annual management report
Key tips for staying on track
- Don’t wait for perfect data: Start with what you have and improve iteratively
- Engage auditors early: A pre-engagement meeting in Q1 can prevent surprises in Q4
- Reuse data: If you’re also reporting under GHG Protocol, ISO 14064, or EcoVadis, centralise data collection to avoid duplicate effort
- Plan for XBRL: This is a new requirement for most companies , allocate time to understand the format and test your tagging
Need a structured approach to your CSRD timeline? Request a demo to see how Dcycle keeps your reporting on track.
