Käkikuu Blog

Tekoälyn hyödyntäminen pk-yrityksen vastuullisuustietojen analysoinnissa ja raportoinnissa

Artificial Intelligence in SME Sustainability Reporting – What Can It Do and What Can't It Do?

Artificial intelligence offers SMEs new opportunities to streamline sustainability reporting. It can be used to collect and structure sustainability data, interpret reporting requirements, and prepare report content significantly more efficiently than before. However, AI does not replace reliable source data, appropriate calculation methods, or a company's responsibility for the information it reports. Read more

By Jukka K. Niemi, ago
Lakikirjoja hyllyssä kuvaamassa asiakkaan vastuullisuusvaatimusten taustalla olevaa sääntelyä

Why Do Our Customers’ Sustainability Requirements Apply to Us Too?

In recent years, many SME owners have sought to determine whether EU sustainability regulations apply to their businesses. In most cases, the answer is simple: not directly. However, customers’ sustainability requirements can still bring the effects of these regulations into the day-to-day operations of SMEs. For SMEs, sustainability requirements often arise through customers, supply chains, financiers or other business partners. A company therefore does not need to be subject to statutory sustainability reporting obligations for providing sustainability information to become important in practice. Read more

By Jukka K. Niemi, ago
Pienyrittäjä työskentelee suutarinverstaassa – VSME ja vapaaehtoinen kestävyysraportointi pk-yrityksessä

VSME Changed – What Do SMEs Need to Know About the New Standard?

VSME changed in September 2026 when the EU’s new voluntary sustainability reporting standard entered into force. The change does not introduce a new mandatory reporting obligation for SMEs, but it changes the structure of voluntary reporting and strengthens its role as a common framework for sustainability information exchanged within value chains. The new standard is based on the previous VSME standard, which many SMEs have already become familiar with. However, this is not merely a change of name. Read more

By Jukka K. Niemi, ago
Vastuullisuustyö ja vastuullisuusraportointi pk-yrityksen viestinnässä

Corporate Sustainability Work and Sustainability Reporting Are Not the Same Thing

The sustainability requirements faced by SMEs and the related information requests take many different forms. They arise, at least indirectly, from EU regulation and sustainability standards, large customers, financiers and other stakeholders. A company may be asked, for example, to provide information on emissions, employees, the supply chain or its sustainability practices. Read more

By Jukka K. Niemi, ago
Auringonlasku meren rannalla pilvisellä taivaalla

Why do sustainability requirements become difficult for SMEs?

The sustainability requirements faced by SMEs and the related information requests take many different forms. They arise, at least indirectly, from EU regulation and sustainability standards, large customers, financiers and other stakeholders. A company may be asked, for example, to provide information on emissions, employees, the supply chain or its sustainability practices. Read more

By Jukka K. Niemi, ago
Kompassi asiakirjojen päällä symboloimassa pk-yrityksen VSME-raportoinnin suuntaa

VSME Reporting Has Changed – What Does Omnibus I Mean for SMEs?

VSME reporting changed significantly when the European Commission adopted a delegated regulation on 3 July 2026 that elevates the voluntary sustainability reporting standard for SMEs (VSME) to an entirely new position. The decision is part of the Omnibus I reform, which aims to reduce the administrative burden on companies and improve the competitiveness of the European Union. For SMEs, the decision changes in practice what kind of sustainability information large customers can request from their suppliers and how SMEs can respond to these information requests. Read more

By Jukka K. Niemi, ago
Hissin painikepaneeli, jossa kuudennen kerroksen painike on valaistu. Kuva symboloi vastuullisuustyön kehittämistä, tavoitteiden asettamista ja etenemistä vaiheittain kohti haluttua tasoa.

What Is a Sufficient Level of Sustainability Work for an SME?

Sustainability work in SMEs currently raises the same question in many companies: what is a sufficient level? Customers, financiers and other stakeholders are placing increasing expectations on sustainability, but for many businesses it remains unclear how much sustainability work is enough and where efforts should be focused. Should the company prepare a sustainability report, calculate its carbon footprint, build a set of sustainability metrics, or do everything at once? Read more

By Jukka K. Niemi, ago
Pk-yrityksen verkkosivujen ja markkinointimateriaalien vastuullisuusväitteitä tarkastellaan

What Should an SME Review in Its Communications?

It is advisable for SMEs to review the sustainability claims on their websites early, before the same messaging spreads to the company’s other communication channels. The same applies to brochures, proposal templates, product and service descriptions, social media posts, sales materials, and possible packaging. If an overly broad or imprecise claim is used in one place, the same message can quickly be repeated elsewhere. Read more

By Jukka K. Niemi, ago
Yrityksen vastuullisuusviestintää arvioidaan tietokoneen ja muistiinpanojen avulla

Can an SME Say it is Responsible?

Can an SME say it is responsible? It can, but the claim is at the same time very broad and therefore also risky. The problem is usually not the word itself, but that the recipient may understand it much more broadly than the company intends. If a company states that it is responsible, the listener or reader may easily interpret that the entire business, all products, the whole supply chain, and all practices are responsible. Read more

By Jukka K. Niemi, ago
Vastuullisuusväitteiden todennettavuutta tarkastellaan suurennuslasin avulla tietokoneella

When Must a Sustainability Claim Be Substantiated?

The need to substantiate a sustainability claim arises as soon as a company makes a claim that may influence a customer’s or consumer’s perception of a product, service or company. In practice, this means that there should be something more behind the claim than a good intention, a general view or a vague impression. From an SME’s perspective, what matters is not only whether the claim feels right, but also whether the company can explain what the claim means, what it concerns and what it is based on. Read more

By Jukka K. Niemi, ago
en_GBEN
en_GBEN fiFI