Question 1

How long does it take to create an ESG Passport?

Accepted Answer

Most SMEs complete the full wizard in 5 to 10 minutes. We collect 13 core data points across 5 steps: company info, energy, waste, supply chain, and certifications. You can also upload an electricity bill — our AI fills in the data automatically.

Question 2

Do I need an accountant or sustainability consultant?

Accepted Answer

No. EcoDiligence is designed to be self-service. The wizard guides you through each question with examples, plausibility checks, and AI-powered bill parsing. If you have your annual electricity bill and basic operational data, you have everything needed.

Question 3

Is my ESG Passport really free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Free tier gives you 1 ESG Passport with PDF export, a shareable profile page, QR code, and annual updates — at no cost, forever. The Pro tier ($299/year) adds the VSME Digital Template (Excel) — the EFRAG-certified XBRL conversion path — unlimited AI bill parsing, and priority support.

Question 4

Which standards does EcoDiligence support?

Accepted Answer

EcoDiligence aligns every data point with: EFRAG VSME (Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed SMEs), IFRS ISSB S2 (Climate-related Disclosures), California SB 253/261, Japan SSBJ, India BRSR, EU CSDDD value chain requirements, and Singapore SGX climate disclosure rules.

Question 5

Is the data audited or verified?

Accepted Answer

ESG Passports are self-reported. EcoDiligence is not an audit firm. We provide plausibility checks during data entry (flagging values outside typical industry ranges) and clear data-quality indicators on your profile. Buyers and regulators that require third-party assurance can use your VSME Digital Template export with an external auditor.

Question 6

What's the difference between an ESG Passport and a sustainability report?

Accepted Answer

A traditional sustainability report is a 30-100 page document, often requiring weeks of consultancy. An ESG Passport is a structured, standards-aligned data profile — a permanent URL plus downloadable PDF/Excel/XBRL — designed specifically for procurement workflows and supply-chain data requests.

Question 7

Who owns my data?

Accepted Answer

You do. Your data, your ESG Passport. EcoDiligence stores your data securely (encrypted at rest, EU-hosted Supabase infrastructure) and never sells it. You can delete your profile at any time. Public profile pages are only created when you explicitly publish them.

Question 8

Do you process my electricity bill securely?

Accepted Answer

When you upload a bill to our AI parser, it's sent to our AI provider (Anthropic Claude) for one-time extraction and is not stored on our servers afterward. The extracted values are saved to your profile only after you review and confirm them.

Question 9

Are you GDPR-aligned?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Our practices are GDPR-aligned for European users (data minimization, explicit consent, right to deletion, data portability). See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Question 10

How often should I update my ESG Passport?

Accepted Answer

We recommend annual updates to reflect your most recent reporting year. Your passport URL stays the same — only the data refreshes. Procurement teams want to see active, up-to-date profiles.

Question 11

How does the AI bill parser work?

Accepted Answer

Upload a photo or PDF of your electricity bill in any language. Our system uses Anthropic's Claude Vision API to extract the kWh consumed, billing period, and supplier. You review the extracted values before they are saved — nothing is committed automatically. The bill itself is not stored on our servers after parsing.

Question 12

Can I export my data in multiple formats?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every ESG Passport can be exported as PDF (human-readable, shareable), XBRL (machine-readable, structured for filing preparation), and — on the Pro tier — the EFRAG VSME Digital Template (Excel format used by EU auditors). All exports are generated from the same source of truth and stay in sync.

Question 13

What if my country isn't in your emission factors list?

Accepted Answer

We currently maintain emission factors for over 200 countries using IEA 2024 grid data and DEFRA fuel factors. If you operate somewhere we don't yet cover, your Scope 2 will fall back to a global average factor and a data-quality warning will appear on your profile. Email us and we'll prioritize adding your region.

Question 14

Can I share my profile with multiple clients?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Your ESG Passport lives at a permanent URL (e.g. ecodiligence.com/profile/your-company). You can share this link with as many buyers, auditors, or partners as you like. Each visit is anonymous — we don't tell you who looked at it, and we don't show your visitors who else has viewed the profile.

Question 15

How do I get a custom URL slug?

Accepted Answer

Custom slugs are available on the Pro tier. Free profiles use an auto-generated slug based on your company name. Once you upgrade, you can claim a custom slug (subject to availability and our naming guidelines) from your dashboard.

Question 16

What's the difference between Free and Pro?

Accepted Answer

Free includes 1 ESG Passport with PDF export, shareable profile, QR code, and annual updates — at no cost, forever. Pro ($299/year) adds the VSME Digital Template (Excel) — the EFRAG-certified XBRL conversion path — unlimited AI bill parsing, custom slug, and priority email support.

Question 17

Can I cancel anytime?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Pro is billed annually. You can cancel from your dashboard at any time and you will keep Pro features until the end of the billing period. Your profile data remains accessible — you simply revert to the Free tier at renewal.

Question 18

Do you offer a free trial of Pro?

Accepted Answer

We don't offer time-limited trials. Instead, the Free tier is genuinely free forever — start there, see if the platform fits your needs, and upgrade only when you need Pro-only features like XBRL or the Excel template.

Question 19

How do I contact support?

Accepted Answer

Email hello@ecodiligence.com for general questions. Pro customers receive priority support with a 1-business-day response target. For accessibility issues, email accessibility@ecodiligence.com. For privacy-related requests, email privacy@ecodiligence.com.

Question 20

Where is data stored?

Accepted Answer

EcoDiligence runs on Supabase (PostgreSQL, EU region) for data storage and Vercel for application hosting. All data is encrypted at rest and in transit. We use Clerk for authentication and Resend for transactional email. See our Privacy Policy for the full list of subprocessors.

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