SECR Reporting: Why now is the time to act and Optimised is the partner you need
For many businesses, the end of the financial year is already a time of conflicting priorities: budgets, audits, compliance, and reporting all land at once. If your year-end is December 2025, there’s another deadline on the horizon that cannot be ignored - Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR).
If your company has just tipped into SECR qualification, you may feel overwhelmed by what’s required. But with the right partner, SECR doesn’t have to be another last-minute scramble.
What is SECR and who needs to comply?
SECR (Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting) is a mandatory UK government scheme, introduced in April 2019, that requires businesses to report on their energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy efficiency actions as part of their annual reports.
You need to comply if you are:
- A UK quoted company, or
- A large unquoted company or LLP meeting at least two of these criteria:
-Annual turnover of £36 million or more
-Balance sheet total of £18 million or more
-Over 250 employees
What needs to be reported?
Companies must include in their annual filing:
- Total energy use across electricity, gas, and transport
- Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
- Methodology used for calculating emissions
- An intensity ratio for year-on-year comparison
- Energy efficiency actions taken during the reporting year
- Historical data to show progress against the previous year
The goal is transparency for stakeholders and a push towards energy efficiency and a low-carbon economy.
Why SECR feels like a headache right now
For many businesses, SECR deadlines coincide with:
- Audits requiring time, data, and focus
- Year-end reporting already stretching finance and sustainability teams
- Other compliance obligations such as ESOS or net zero strategies
If your business has only just tipped into SECR qualification, you may not yet have the processes or data systems in place. That makes the first year particularly stressful.
Why work with Optimised?
At Optimised, we understand the challenges SECR creates, especially when it collides with other year-end pressures. Here’s how we help:
·Aligned with your auditors
We know how important it is to ensure SECR reporting works seamlessly alongside your statutory audit. Our team builds reporting processes that are clear, accurate, and audit-ready.
Timely and efficient
We don’t leave compliance to the last minute. Our approach ensures data is gathered, validated, and ready for reporting ahead of deadlines – freeing up your team to focus on other priorities.
Better processes, less stress
Whether it’s energy use data, emissions calculations, or efficiency actions, we streamline reporting, so you avoid duplication and wasted effort.
More than just compliance
SECR shouldn’t just be a tick-box exercise. By working with Optimised, you’ll gain insights into your energy use and carbon impact, helping you identify opportunities for efficiency and cost savings.
Don’t wait until it’s too late
With the December 2025 year-end fast approaching, now is the time to act. Leaving SECR until the last minute risks errors, rushed reporting, and additional audit pressure.
Optimised makes SECR straightforward, timely, and valuable – turning a compliance requirement into an opportunity to improve efficiency and build confidence with stakeholders.
Ready to take the stress out of SECR? Get in touch with Optimised today.
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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