DNK plausibility check for voluntary sustainability reports based on the VSME or VS

What is the DNK Plausibility Check?

The DNK plausibility check involves a review of your sustainability report by independent DNK expert reviewers, who check that the information you have provided in both the Basic and Comprehensive Modules complies with the requirements set out in the standard. However, the check does not audit or certify the report. Once the plausibility check is complete, you will receive the DNK signet for use in your communications.

Why opt for a DNK Plausibility Check?

• Report optimisation: You’ll receive free, independent feedback from the DNK’s expert reviewers, whose job it is to identify gaps in relation to the standard’s formal requirements and make specific recommendations to ensure a meaningful report.
• An independent review builds trust: Banks, business partners and clients are all increasingly requesting sustainability data. Completing a plausibility check signals to your stakeholders that your data has been checked by independent expert reviewers against four criteria – consistency, coherence, ease of understanding and formal completeness – and meets the requirements of the VSME or VS standard.
• DNK signet: Once you have completed the plausibility check and published your report, you’ll receive the DNK signet, which you can use in your communications.

What do the reviewers look out for?

The DNK plausibility check does not revise or audit the contents of your report. Our DNK expert reviewers analyse the information you have given in the Basic and Comprehensive Modules against the requirements set out in the relevant standard according to four key criteria: consistency, coherence, ease of understanding and formal completeness in the context of the VSME and VS. The aim is to ensure that the individual disclosures match up and are clear, conclusive and comparable. 

During the check, the DNK reviewers ensure the standard has been applied in full, taking into account the omission options allowed for in the standards (e.g. for confidential or sensitive data) as well as data points that fall under the ‘If applicable’ principle. The check also includes the comprehensive information provided.

However, the DNK plausibility check does not check supporting documents, sources or other evidence. Nor does it cover additional information that goes beyond the requirements of the VSME or VS, the foreword or the legal notice.

How does the DNK Plausibility Check work?

Both reporting and plausibility checking are interactive processes on the DNK Platform:

1. Log onto the DNK Platform and start your VSME report. Use our in-tool checklists and guidance.
2. As soon as the progress indicator on the DNK Platform reaches 100%, the report is ready to check and can be submitted to the DNK.
3. The expert reviewers will look through your input. If anything is unclear or incomplete, you will be specifically notified directly on the platform.
4. You then revise your report based on their comments.
5. Once all the criteria are satisfied, the report is released. You will receive the DNK signet for use in your communications and you can download your completed PDF report.

If you have any queries, please contact our helpdesk.

What does the DNK signet mean?

The DNK signet demonstrates that your report has passed our plausibility check. It is not a government sustainability signet, nor does it certify the reporting company’s sustainability performance or confirm the legal admissibility of individual claims made. It serves solely to document that the report has passed the DNK plausibility check.

Who can use the DNK Plausibility Check?

Anyone who prepares their report based on the Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed SMEs (VSME) or, moving forward, the Voluntary Standard (VS) on the DNK Platform can have it checked by our ndependent DNK expert reviewers.

Companies from Austria and Switzerland are also welcome to use the DNK Platform to create a sustainability report. However, a German VAT number is required to submit a completed report for plausibility checking. Without this number, reports cannot be published on the DNK website, but companies will still receive their completed report as a Word file for their own use.

Does the DNK certify sustainability reports?

No. The DNK signet is not a government sustainability signet, nor does it certify reports. It documents that a report has passed its plausibility check but does not confirm compliance with the EU EmpCo directive.

Does the DNK assess corporate sustainability?

No. The German Sustainability Code (DNK) does not assess how sustainable a company is. The DNK plausibility check does not revise or audit the contents of your sustainability report. The DNK expert reviewers analyse the information you have given in the Basic and Comprehensive Modules against the requirements set out in the VSME or VS according to four key criteria: consistency, coherence, ease of understanding and formal completeness. The DNK plausibility check does not check supporting documents, sources or other evidence.

How much does a DNK plausibility check cost?

Nothing! The DNK Platform, Checklists and plausibility check are all free of charge.

This page was last updated on 28 September 2026.