Should I report employees as headcount or full-time equivalent in the European Union (EU) voluntary standard for small companies (VSME)?
Either one. The standard asks for the number of employees in headcount or in full-time equivalents, and lets you pick. Headcount counts people. Full-time equivalent counts full-time jobs, so a person working 25 hours in a 40 hour week counts as 0.625. VSME is the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group's Voluntary standard for non-listed micro-, small- and medium-sized undertakings.
The two counts, in everyday terms
Headcount is the number of people on the payroll on a given day. It is like counting guests at a wedding.
Full-time equivalent (FTE) is the number of full jobs those people add up to. It is like counting the plates the caterer must set, where two half-day helpers share one plate.
The standard defines headcount as the total number of people employed by the undertaking at a given time. It defines FTE as the number of full-time positions, worked out by dividing an employee's scheduled hours in a week by the hours of a full-time week.
Where the number is asked
- Disclosure B1, in the list of company facts: number of employees in headcount or full-time equivalents.
- Disclosure B8, workforce: employees by type of contract (temporary or permanent), by gender, and by country of the contract if you operate in more than one country, again in headcount or full-time equivalents.
- Disclosure B8 also asks for the employee turnover rate if you have 50 or more employees.
Our reading on choosing
The standard does not tell you which count to prefer. It also does not say in the text we read that B1 and B8 must use the same count. Our reading: pick one, write down which, and use it in both places so the totals agree. If your buyer's form says which count it wants, follow the form.
Who counts as an employee
The standard counts an employee as someone in an employment relationship with you under national law or practice. Your muster roll or payroll is the record you will usually check this against. Contract labour supplied by a contractor is usually on the contractor's payroll, not yours (our reading); ask the buyer how it wants them treated.
Example: one unit, two counts
- Staff: 20 full-time workers (40 hours a week), 6 part-time workers (20 hours a week), 2 helpers (25 hours a week)
- Headcount: 20 + 6 + 2 = 28 people
- FTE: 20 x 1 = 20; 6 x (20 / 40) = 3; 2 x (25 / 40) = 1.25
- Total FTE: 20 + 3 + 1.25 = 24.25 full-time equivalents
The staff mix is an example. The 25 hours over 40 hours = 0.625 case is the standard's own.
What Senseible does here
Senseible fills the energy and emissions disclosure from fuel invoices and electricity bills. This disclosure is not part of it today; it comes from your own registers and papers.
Last reviewed 2026-11-07. Facts are from the standard's own text, with the paragraph numbers named in the source line. The European Commission adopted its own standard for voluntary use in a Delegated Regulation of 3 July 2026, which is not in force until it is published in the Official Journal and may differ from this text, so ask your buyer which one it means. Our own readings are marked as such.