B Corp Certification is based on three essential pillars: 

Verifies social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability. Alone, none of these pillars are succinct. It's the combination of all three that makes the B Corp Certification unique, credible and significant.

Verified Social and Environmental Performance: this ensures that B Corps walk the talk. To meet the performance requirements, a company must earn a minimum, verified score of 80 points on the B Impact Assessment, which examines a company’s overall impact on its workers, community, customers, and environment. The BIA is completely free and confidential, and a good place to get started with certification and learning about our standards.
 

Legal Accountability: By meeting the legal requirement for certification, B Corps are better able to maintain mission as they scale, have more flexibility when evaluating future sale options, and are better prepared to lead a mission-driven life post-IPO. Please visit our legal tool website to learn about the requirement for your company.

 

Public Transparency: Transparency builds trust. Once certified, each B Corp must make its Impact Score transparent on our B Corp Directory, allowing the public to see the areas in which specific companies excel and compare B Corps' scores against the performance of mainstream businesses.


For Legal Questions --> Please use our Legal Requirements tool to read more about that is required to certify: 

How long does it take to certify?

For most small businesses, the B Impact Assessment takes between 1-3 hours to complete a rough baseline. The time involved largely depends on the size, age, and complexity (e.g. number of operating locations) of your company. For larger companies, completing the assessment usually takes a few weeks to complete, including time to collect information from other members on your team. For your convenience, the assessment can be saved and revisited at any time to allow for easy access. B Lab strongly recommends that companies estimate answers the first time through (and mark questions as "Revisit This" as needed). After you submit with a score above 80 points, there will be an approximate 90 day waiting period before you begin the verification process. At this time, the B Lab team will work with you to identify which questions need further documentation. Once your assessment is complete, the verification process typically takes about 4 weeks to complete.

Interested in becoming a B Corp? 

Check out "The Path To B Corp Certification" webinar and our website for more resources.