• Introduction
• For Certification Setup: Use your "most recent completed" fiscal year
• Success tip: check twice, submit once
• Changes to my fiscal year data
• Timeframes that apply for evidence uploaded in the self-assessment
• When you don’t have a full year's worth of evidence

Introduction

This article explains how to choose the correct timeframe, including the fiscal year, when completing Certification Setup and the self-assessment in B Impact.

For Certification setup: Use your "most recent completed" fiscal year

When completing your Certification Setup in B Impact, you will be asked to provide fiscal year data, including your total company revenue. You should provide figures from your most recently completed 12-month fiscal (financial) year at the time you are filling out the setup. In other words, provide the financial data from the last full year where your accounts were finalized or "closed."

For example, if you are completing your Certification Setup in June 2026, here is how to select the fiscal year:

Option A: If your 2025 fiscal year accounts are already finalized and closed, use 2025 data.

Option B: If your 2025 accounts are still being audited or drafted, use your finalized 2024 data.

Why accuracy matters

You might wonder why we need this data. B Lab uses your financial and operational information to generate a Certification Scope Memo, that outlines the entities and sites to be certified. This memo is valid for 12 months from the date it is issued.

It is vital that this information is accurate because it determines your certification track. Your track informs the specific B Lab Standards V2 requirements that apply to your company, as well as your audit frequency (how often your company will be audited) after certification.

Success tip: check twice, submit once

Because your Certification Scope Memo locks in your track for the next 12 months, double-checking your revenue and entity data during setup can save you significant time later. It ensures you aren't preparing for a set of B Lab Standards that doesn't actually fit your business size or sector.

Changes to my fiscal year data

If your company undergoes a significant change to its certification scope during this 12-month period, you must notify B Lab. To ensure your audit and certification reflects your current reality, B Lab will check that your fiscal data be no more than 18 months old. If your Certification Scope Memo is updated or expires, and your fiscal data passes an 18-month threshold, you will be asked to provide updated data. Keeping your data current ensures you are being evaluated fairly. Note B Lab will not proactively request you to update your scope memo (including fiscal year data) unless the memo expires or a significant scope change is reported.

Timeframes that apply for evidence uploaded in the self-assessment

Beyond your initial certification setup, the B Lab Standards V2 use specific timeframes for  when certain requirements must be implemented in your business.

Why timeframes matter

When completing your self-assessment, you must upload evidence for every applicable B Lab Standards requirement. The "timeframe" tells you how far back your evidence needs to go to prove you are compliant.

Preparing your evidence

Refer to Table 1 for a full breakdown of these timeframes. Use this table to ensure that the documents you upload cover the correct window of time before your audit begins. If your evidence falls outside these specific timeframes, an auditor may ask for updated proof.

Table 1: B Lab Standards V2 timeframes

When you don’t have a full year's worth of evidence

If your company has recently adopted the B Lab Standards V2, you might not yet have a full fiscal year or 12 months of data to show. Here is how to handle your "Year 0" audit if you are in this transition phase.

What to provide if you lack a full year of data

If you haven't reached the 12-month mark for a specific requirement, don't worry. You can still proceed as long as you have taken steps to implement the requirement going forwards by providing:

• Current evidence: Upload whatever data, policies, or processes you have documented since you began implementing the standard.

• A compliance summary: Provide a brief explanation of when you started the practice and how you plan to maintain full compliance over the coming year.

What to expect during the audit

The goal is to show the auditor that your new systems are active and permanent.

• Verification: Your assurance provider will review the evidence you’ve provided to verify that you have implemented the requirement, and your management system is effective to maintain compliance going forward.

• Follow-up: During the audit, your assurance provider may request your most recent records to ensure that your performance has remained consistent since you submitted your self-assessment. If your policy or process has not been consistently implemented this may lead to a nonconformity.

In summary

The certification process uses two different timeframes. It is important to distinguish between the two different timeframes used in the B Impact platform.

For certification setup: Use your most recently completed fiscal year.

For self-assessment evidence: Follow the B Lab Standards V2, and the distinct "look-back" periods (such as the last 12 months of activity) outlined in Table 1.

Next steps and related resources

• Review these resources:

  • Learn about B Lab Standards V2

  • Completing Setup in B Impact

  • Completing the Self-assessment

If you are unsure about what timeframes apply, contact your regional B Lab team for tailored support.