Prepare for XBRL
Under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), companies must submit their sustainability reports in a digital, machine-readable format using European Single Electronic Format (ESEF), which incorporates XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language).
This requirement ensures that sustainability data is standardized and comparable across companies and industries. XBRL allows the structured tagging of specific data points within the report, making it easier for regulators, investors, and stakeholders to analyze and use the information.
To prepare your data for XBRL, follow these steps:
Export your assessment data in external reporting in Microsoft Sustainability Manager to Excel. For detailed steps, go to Export assessments and follow the steps for exporting to an Excel file.
Convert the Excel file to XML. For information about converting Excel spreadsheets to XML, you can refer to the Open XML SDK for Office documentation or watch this video: How to convert an Excel file to XML format.
Submit the XML file to an XBRL conversion tool, such as that offered by the Workiva Platform. For detailed instructions on how to set up the Workive Platform to automatically download assessments and dimensions from external reporting in Sustainability Manager, go to their support page, Download data from external reporting in Microsoft Sustainability Manager for ESG reporting.
