Definition

Certification

Certification is a formal declaration by an accredited body that an organization meets the requirements of a published standard, such as ISO 27001 or ISO 9001. An auditor from a certification body reviews your management system, confirms it conforms, and issues a certificate that typically lasts 3 years with periodic surveillance checks. Certification differs from a CPA attestation in both the deliverable and the authority behind it: you receive a pass-or-fail certificate rather than a detailed professional opinion. Many companies pursue both, using ISO certification for a globally recognized mark and SOC attestation for the detailed control assurance that enterprise buyers request.