SECR Compliance Risks: 3 Reporting Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make
Getting your Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) compliance right is essential. Since SECR reports are filed publicly with annual accounts, any errors can leave your business exposed to financial penalties, reputational damage, and missed efficiency opportunities.
In this guide, we outline the
three biggest SECR reporting risks and explain how businesses can avoid them.
1. Financial Penalties and Hidden Costs
What happens if you miss SECR compliance deadlines?
Late, inaccurate, or incomplete SECR submissions can result in SECR penalties and extra scrutiny from auditors. Regulators view SECR as a critical part of the UK’s net zero policy, so businesses that cut corners face costly consequences.
Why finance and operations teams should pay attention
For busy finance leads, poor SECR compliance means unplanned costs at year-end. These often include:
- Direct fines and penalties for incorrect submissions
- Increased audit fees and extended review processes
- Wasted admin time spent correcting reporting errors
Getting SECR wrong can quickly turn into a financial burden—something no business needs during a pressured reporting season.
2. Reputational Damage and Stakeholder Trust
Why SECR reporting impacts your business reputation
Your SECR compliance report isn’t hidden. It’s published alongside your company accounts, making it visible to investors, clients, employees, and even competitors. If it looks rushed, inconsistent, or incomplete, it raises questions about your overall governance and commitment to sustainability.
Risks for compliance and site managers
For site managers, who often oversees compliance and site-level data, poor reporting undermines both internal credibility and external relationships. The risks include:
- Loss of confidence from stakeholders and investors
- Doubts over corporate responsibility and governance
- Competitive disadvantage in markets where sustainability matters
A sloppy SECR report does more than harm compliance—it can damage brand trust long term.
3. Missed Strategic Opportunities
Why SECR compliance is more than a tick-box exercise
Accurate SECR reporting is more than compliance—it’s a strategic tool. With the right approach, SECR data can reveal:
- Energy cost-saving opportunities
- Operational efficiency improvements
- Insights to strengthen long-term decarbonisation strategies
SECR also allows organisations to monitor their carbon footprint and demonstrate the impact of year-on-year measures to reduce their energy and fuel usage. This makes it a valuable framework for tracking progress, benchmarking performance, and showing tangible results to stakeholders.
The hidden risk of overlooking SECR insights
When businesses treat SECR compliance as a tick-box exercise, they miss the bigger picture. Inaccurate or incomplete reports mean valuable data is wasted, leaving competitors free to seize efficiency and sustainability gains.
How to stay ahead of SECR reporting risks
SECR doesn’t need to be stressful. Since its launch in 2019, our experts have helped dozens of organisations deliver auditable, accurate, and fully compliant SECR reports.
We handle the data, remove the complexity, and ensure your business avoids costly SECR reporting risks—giving you peace of mind that your report will stand up to scrutiny.
Capacity for Q1 2026 is limited. If your financial year ends in December, act now to secure support before reporting deadlines arrive.
Take control of SECR compliance today
Don’t risk SECR penalties or reputational damage. Contact us today to book your SECR compliance check and secure your year-end report before capacity runs out.
Turn Compliance Into Opportunity
Download the Free Guide: Meet the Standards – A Guide to Energy & Sustainability Ratings for Commercial Real Estate.
SECR is just one part of a wider compliance landscape. Our free eBook, Meet the Standards, explains how frameworks like SECR, ESOS, and BREEAM fit together—and how leading organisations are turning compliance into a strategic advantage by strengthening sustainability credentials, cutting energy costs, and reducing carbon emissions.
Article by Johanna Bailey-Watson
Head of Reporting
Jo has over 10 years of experience working across the private and public sector. At Optimised, she heads up our Sustainability Reporting team, supporting a range of clients with their regulatory and voluntary reporting requirements. Jo brings her insights and experience as an ESG Controller at a global FTSE 100 to support clients with their sustainability data and disclosures. In this role she led compliance with TCFD, CSRD and oversaw the sustainability report included in financial statements. As a qualified accountant and former Head of Internal Audit at the Office for National Statistics, she has a keen eye for well-designed processes and controls.
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