Prepare for draft simplified European Sustainability Reporting Standards with ESRS Transition Accelerator

To help clarify and simplify the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) drafted a simplified version of the Standards, which:

Introduces new and revised content to clarify requirements, highlight principles-based concepts, better align with global reporting standards
Removes content, such as redundancies and superfluous information
Introduces datapoints, in a very limited number
Removes datapoints, including all voluntary datapoints and some mandatory datapoints

If you have Sustainability Program metrics aligned with ESRS content, you can use the ESRS Transition Accelerator Spreadsheet — available in the Workiva Marketplace — to help ease the adoption of the draft simplified Standards:

Compare the different versions of the disclosure requirements, and identify what changed.
Determine how the draft simplified Standards may impact your metrics and data collection needs.
Automatically generate Import templates to create, update, and remove metrics accordingly.

Note: Accelerators downloaded before May 2026 use a Program tag to indicate a metric's related ESRS disclosure. To instead reference a metric's disclosures as Related Explorer content, download the updated Accelerator from Marketplace. If you used the previous Accelerator to add the Draft simplified ESRS ID tag to metrics, request the Map draft simplified ESRS ID tag to Explorer ID Spreadsheet to update those metrics' Related Explorer content accordingly.

Set up ESRS Transition Accelerator

If necessary, a Workspace Owner can set up the ESRS Transition Accelerator Spreadsheet for your Sustainability Reporting workspace.

To install the ESRS Transition Accelerator Spreadsheet and its queries, download the tar.gz file from Workiva Marketplace, then import the tar.gz into your Sustainability Reporting workspace.

Note: When you import, select Connections and Incoming and outgoing connections to retain the connections between the Accelerator and its queries.

After you import the tar.gz, update its files for your workspace.

From the ESRS Transition Accelerator spreadsheet, open the Connections panel, then select Open source data for the Metrics in Program incoming connection or click its Source link.
From the Metrics in Program query, right-click the Framework Items in Program query in Sources, and select Go to source to open that query.
From the Framework Items in Program query, click Replace missing Sustainability Program, then select your Program, and save and close the query.
From the Metrics in Program query, click Replace missing Sustainability Program, then select your Program.
Run the query if necessary, then save and close the query.
From the Connections panel of the ESRS Transition Accelerator Spreadsheet, open the Topics in Program query.
From the Topics in Program query, click Replace missing Sustainability Program, then select your Program, and save and close the query.
From the Admin section of the ESRS Transition Accelerator Spreadsheet, verify column I includes its formula for all metrics' rows. Drag the formula to other rows if necessary.

Note: If Column I is hidden, right-click the header row, then select Unhide, Column I.
From the Connections panel, refresh all incoming connections to update the Accelerator based on your Program.

Note: If a connection's update fails, hover over its error report_problem for details to help troubleshoot.

Use ESRS Transition Accelerator

After a Workspace Owner sets up the Accelerator and its queries, you can use it to update your Sustainability Program based on changes in the draft simplified ESRS.

Note: To enable a proactive comparison, the ESRS Transition Accelerator Spreadsheet includes the draft simplified ESRS published as Technical Advice by EFRAG, which may differ from the finalized Standards approved by the European Commission (EC).

Step 1. Compare versions of ESRS

From the Compare section, review changes between the ESRS Delegated Act of 2023 and the draft simplified ESRS.

For each disclosure requirement, you can view:

Change type, for how it changed in the draft simplified Standards
Change explanation, for why it changed, based on guidance from EFRAG

Note: Change types and explanations are curated from EFRAG's Log of Amendments, and offered for educational and informational purposes.

Change type	Description
Amended	The requirement's content changed in the draft simplified ESRS, such as: Revisions for additional context or clarity Combined with other disclosure requirements Moved from one disclosure to another
Deleted	The requirement no longer appears in the draft simplified ESRS.
New	The requirement is introduced in the draft simplified ESRS. Tip: The consolidation of application or disclosure requirements may create a new requirement.
Potentially voluntary	The requirement is no longer required, and may move to Non-Mandatory Illustrative Guidance (NMIG) in the draft simplified ESRS. Note: EFRAG has not yet released the items included in the NMIG.
Unchanged	The requirement remains the same between versions.

Step 2. Prepare to transition

To prepare for the transition to the draft simplified ESRS:

In the Filter section of the ESRS Transition Accelerator, choose whether each requirement of the Delegated Act is in scope to your reporting — such as based on double-materiality assessments — and if so, for which topic.

Tip: All requirements of the mandatory ESRS 2: General disclosures are in scope by default.
To update the Accelerator with the related topics and metrics from Sustainability Program, click Publish, then refresh the incoming connections from the Connections panel.

Step 3. Decide how to adjust Program metrics

From Action sheet in the Transition decision-making section, review each requirement of the draft simplified ESRS to:

Identify whether it aligns with an in-scope requirement — and if so, for which topics — in the Scoping columns.
Assess how and why the requirement changed in the Change type and Change explanation columns.

For each in-scope or new disclosure, determine its impact on your data collection needs and how to adjust its Program metric accordingly:

From the Program mapping columns, view whether the requirement aligns with a metric in Sustainability Program, based on the metric's related Explorer content.

Tip: To update the Accelerator with new topics or metrics from Sustainability Program, refresh the incoming connections from the Connections panel.

In the Decision column, select how to adjust Program metrics based on the change.

Decision	Description
Add to Program	Create a metric to enable data collection for the requirement, such as if New or for a newly-material topic. If you select this: In New metric name, enter a unique name for the metric. In New topic name, select the topic where the metric should appear.
Delete from Program	The mapped metric is no longer needed for data collection or historical reference, such as if the requirement is Deleted. Note: To still retain a metric when its requirement is Deleted, select either Mark as potentially voluntary or Mark as needing to amend approach, then update the metric as necessary after import.
Mark as potentially voluntary	The mapped metric is no longer be required but you may still want to disclose its values, such as if the requirement is Potentially voluntary.
Mark as needing to amend approach	Assess the metric to determine further adjustments in its data collection, such as: Its requirement was Amended To retain a metric or its historical values despite a Deleted requirement
Maintain disclosure, adjust IDs	Add a custom tag to indicate the new version of the requirement to the mapped metric, such as if the requirement is otherwise Unchanged and remains material.
No decision needed	No change is necessary, such as if Change type is Unchanged.

To update the Accelerator based on your decisions, click Publish, then refresh the incoming connections from the Connections panel.

Step 4. Import to create or update metrics

In the Program import templates section, the Accelerator automatically generates templates based on your Decision selections in Action sheet:

The Topics template adds two new topics — New metrics introduced by draft simplified ESRS and Metric to be deleted — to the Program outline.

The Program tags template add a new custom ESRS transition changes tag to indicate how to adjust metrics for the draft simplified ESRS, based on decisions in Action sheet:

Tag value	Action sheet decision
Retain	Maintain disclosure, adjust IDs
Delete	Delete from Program
Add	Add to Program
Potentially voluntary	Mark as potentially voluntary
Amend approach	Mark as needing to amend approach

The Metrics template adds metrics for requirements with a Decision of Add to Program, with the names and topics specified in Action sheet.

Tip: By default, each metric imports into its topic as selected in Action sheet. To choose a metric's topic after it imports, edit the Metrics template to use the New metrics introduced by draft simplified ESRS topic added by the Topics template instead.
The Metric content and tags template adds the applicable ESRS disclosure requirements — as Related Explorer content — and ESRS transition changes tags to metrics.

To update your Program with the change:

In the Program Import templates section, view the Pre-Program Import review sheet to preview the suggested changes to your metrics.

Note: To adjust a change for a metric, edit its decision on Action sheet. You can also make additional updates — such as to rename metrics or rearrange their topics — after the import.
When ready to update your metrics, select Program overview in Sustainability Program, then select Import from the menu.
Select Import from template, and click Next.
Set up Topics and Program tags templates based on their respective sheets of the Program Import templates section, then click Preview import to validate the templates and import the new topics and tags.
After you import topics and tags, select Program overview in Sustainability Program, then select Import from the menu.
Select Import from template, click Next, then import the Metrics and Metric content and tags sheets of the Accelerator to add new metrics and apply the new related Explorer content and Program tags.

To learn more about Program Import, view Import into Sustainability Program.

Step 5. Update metrics as necessary

After the import completes, update metrics as necessary based on their ESRS transition changes tag:

Tag value

Next steps

Added

Set up these new metrics to enable data collection. For example:

If necessary, move the metrics from the New metrics introduced by draft simplified ESRS topic to their respective topics from the outline.
Configure the dimensions and values to collect for the requirement.
Connect values to any source files in the workspace, such as data collection spreadsheets.
Create and send tasks to delegate data collection to workspace members.

To learn more, view Add metrics to Sustainability Program.

Delete

Remove these metrics from the Program:

From Program overview, click Find and replace, then select Metric details.
To search the Program for the metrics, add a Program tag filter, then select the Delete tag and click Find.
In Results, select all metrics to delete from the Program.
In Change, select Replace all.
In Field, select Topic and the Metric to be deleted topic, then click Update all.
From the Program outline, delete the Metric to be deleted topic and all of its metrics.

To learn more, view Find and replace details of metrics or tasks in Sustainability Program.

Potentially voluntary or Amend approach

Review these metrics to determine adjustments based on their revised requirements. For example:

To no longer collect values for the metric but retain its historical values, remove the metric from the Program year.
To continue to use the metric for an Amended requirement or another reporting need, adjust its description, tags, or task assignments as necessary.

Add ESRS transition changes tag to Factbook or Data Collection spreadsheet

To include the ESRS transition changes tag in the Factbook or Data Collection spreadsheet after you import it into your Program, update the connected Metric master data query.

Note: If you update the Metric master data query, the change applies to all its connected spreadsheets.

From the Connections panel of the Spreadsheet, click the Source link for the incoming connection from the Metric master data query.
From the Metric master data query, select SQL to open SQL Editor.
Identify where to insert a new column for the tag — typically between SELECT and FROM statements, where all other columns are defined.

Tip: For clarity, insert the new column before columns for the metrics' dimensions.
Enter this code, and replace [Program name] with the name of your Program:
```
json_extract_scalar( "[Program name]"."custom_tags" , '$["ESRS Transition Changes"][0]') as "Program Tag (ESRS Transition Changes)",
```
Note: The query is case-sensitive; to ensure accurate results, refer to your Program and the tag name — ESRS Transition Changes — exactly.

Tip: You can find your Program's name after the FROM statement.
To validate the query, click Save and Run query, then verify its results.
From the Spreadsheet, refresh the query's incoming connection from the Connections panel.

Update Draft simplified ESRS ID tags to related Explorer content

If you used the ESRS Transition Accelerator before May 2026, it added a Draft simplified ESRS ID Program tag to indicate metrics' related ESRS disclosures. To instead refer to these metrics' ESRS disclosures as Related Explorer content, use the Map draft simplified ESRS ID tag to Explorer ID Spreadsheet.

Note: To request the Map draft simplified ESRS ID tag to Explorer ID Spreadsheet, contact your Workiva Customer Success Manager (CSM).

Tip: From Step 1. Review tag to Explorer ID mapping, you can view how the Draft simplified ESRS ID tag values align with the Explorer IDs of the draft simplified ESRS.

From the outline or Connections panel, refresh the Step 2. Refresh connection with tagged metrics incoming connection from the [ESRS Transition] Accelerator tag in Program query.

Note: If you renamed the Program tag, edit the [ESRS Transition] Accelerator tag in Program query accordingly.

This updates the Step 2. Refresh connection with tagged metrics and Step 3. Import metric content and tags sheets with the metrics that have the Draft simplified ESRS ID tag applied.
To update the metrics' Related Explorer content with the corresponding ESRS disclosures, select Program overview in Sustainability Program, then select Import from the menu.
Set up the Metric content and tags template to import the Step 3. Import metric content and tags sheet.

To learn more about Program Import, view Import into Sustainability Program.

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