At the end of the certification process and as a requirement of certification, B Corps sign the Agreement for B Corporation Certification (the “Agreement”), the terms of which are summarized below.  The complete Agreement is attached to this article for your reference.

The Agreement establishes the following:

1) the terms by which B Lab will certify the Company as a Certified B Corporation™, a certification of a company’s overall social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability,

(2) the terms under which that certification will continue,

(3) the process under which that certification may be renewed in the future,

(4) the obligations of the Company as a Certified B Corporation™,

(5) the rights of the Company and B Lab to use certain intellectual property of the other, and

(6) the rights and obligations of the Company and B Lab with respect to this Agreement.

Requirements for Certification

Certified B Corps™ have a three year term for certification, unless earlier terminated as described in the Agreement. In order to be certified as a Certified B Corporation™, the Company must meet the following requirements.

Performance Standards: 

• Accurately complete and submit, and attach all required documentation to, the B Impact Assessment™ submission, including the Disclosure Questionnaire, and fulfill any required outcomes of the Disclosure Questionnaire and/or Background Check or Complaints procedure.

• Earn a reviewed score of at least 80 points.  

• Submit to a “Site Review” of the company’s B Impact Assessment™ if selected.

• Recertify every three years.

Transparency Requirements:

Agree for B Lab to make available the Company’s B Impact Report, basic Profile information, and any additional disclosures, as required, on www.bcorporation.net, and other B Lab affiliated websites (i.e., B Lab and Sistema B Global Partner websites). There are additional transparency requirements for certain wholly-owned or majority-owned subsidiaries, and certain public companies.

Legal Requirement:

B Corporations incorporate stakeholder consideration into their legal structures to create long-term value for shareholders and stakeholders. Companies must meet the appropriate legal requirement within the timelines stated in the Agreement as a requirement of certification. The company’s legal requirement, and the timeline for the process, will be determined by company structure, and  jurisdiction of formation. Please refer to the Legal Requirement Tool to see the applicable legal pathway for your company, and Appendix D of the Agreement for more information about the legal requirement (including the company’s obligations if B Lab does not yet have a legal framework in its jurisdiction) and timelines for adoption of the legal requirement. 

If the company does not meet the legal requirement, B Lab may revoke the company's certification as provided for in the Agreement or decline to recertify the company. In the event of a change in legal form of the company, the company must notify B Lab in advance of, or if advance notice is not possible, immediately upon, such change; adopt the legal pathway, if available, that is appropriate for the new legal form in accordance with the Agreement; and submit a copy of the company’s amended or new governing documents to B Lab for review within 90 days after the change in legal form.

Declaration of Interdependence:

The company will sign the B Corporation Declaration of Interdependence as a symbol of its commitment to the shared collective purpose of the community of B Corporations™.

Intellectual Property:

B Lab will grant to the company a revocable, non‐exclusive license to utilize certain B Lab intellectual property, only in a manner consistent with the “Brand Usage Guidelines” provided by B Lab, or as otherwise specified by B Lab, for the purposes of informing the public that the Company is a member of the Certified B Corporation™ community. 

The company will grant to B Lab a revocable, non-exclusive license to utilize the company’s trademark and logo for the purposes of furthering the interests of the community of Certified B Corporations™ and for the purposes set forth in the Agreement.

Other Terms:

• B Corporations pay an annual certification fee determined based upon the company’s revenue, which shall be disclosed to B Lab annually, and based upon the structure set forth on B Lab’s or, if applicable, the Global Partner’s website

• Term and termination provisions, including intellectual property grace periods

• Terms regarding the effects of a change of control or initial public offering

• Complaints Procedure, Disclosure Questionnaire, and Background Check as seen here

• Guidelines for Companies with Related Entities as seen here and here

• Other terms, including representations and warranties, indemnification and governing law

Please note: This article is for informational purposes only. This is not an actual Agreement or a complete description of the certification requirements. 

B Lab will now be invoicing all B Corporations annually at the beginning of the month of their initial certification date. The day that a company pays its Initial Certification Fee will indicate the month in which we will invoice companies moving forward. The customer renewal invoice date will be based on the month when they were certified. 

Example: 

If a B Corporation is Certified on 7/14/2023, moving forward they will always be billed in month 7. Their invoice date will be the first of that month and the invoice due date will depend on the payment terms (net 30, 60 or 90 days). 

We hope this consistency helps our customers better understand how they will be billed once they have become a Certified B Corp! Thank you for being a part of the movement!

This article is for people who work at Certified B Corporations. At B Lab Global a B Corporation’s annual certification fee is based on the company's annual revenue at the end of the prior fiscal year. In an effort to have up-to-date information, we are asking all B Corporations to update their billing contact information and annual revenue in each year between their certification years. Please refer back to the signed B Corp Agreement for more information. See below for more details on the specific fields on the Annual Revenue Form.

Billing Contact

A billing contact is someone at your company that manages and handles the finances and is responsible for reporting your finances to B Lab. If you are being sent the form, but you are not the billing contact please {link} so we can update our information.

Annual Revenue

As stated in the B Impact Assessment, revenue (or turnover) is defined as the gross inflow of monies received or receivable by the company, less any returns or discounts. If there were no discounts or returns, total revenue will correspond to the top line of your company’s Profit & Loss Statement. 

We also ask for this information within the B Impact Assessment during certification years. We will be pulling information from your most recent revenue statement as a reference point within the article, when we ask for your current annual revenue. 

Form structure 

This Account annual data form that B lab Global is sending you is broken up into 4 steps. 

1. Email Confirmation 

   1. We use this step to validate the user’s email address as a security step

2. Contact Validation 

   1. We use this step to display your Full name, Title, and phone number that we have in our system. You will have an opportunity to review and edit your information if needed. 

3. Account Validation 

   1. We use this step to display the company information with the currency predefined on the Assessment. We will ask if you work at the company and then ask you once more if you are the billing contact.

4. Revenue 

   1. After you have confirmed your account information, we will show your last reported revenue and  fiscal year end date. We will then ask you to input your latest revenue and the corresponding fiscal year end date. 

If you are experiencing any issues please create a ticket so we can help! 

The B Hive is a platform the B Corp community can use to connect, collaborate, access resources, share knowledge and offer discounts to one another.

If you are an employee of a Certified B Corp, you can register and log-in from either the self registration page: https://connect.bcorporation.net/s/.

To get started on the B Hive:

1. Navigate to the Self Registration Page https://connect.bcorporation.net/s/

2. Click 'Join the B Hive!'

3. Fill out your information. Be sure to use your company email address.

4. Click "Register" and an email will be sent to you with instructions to complete your registration.

Related Link:

Self Registration Page

Access over 200 discounts from B Corps and our partners, right within the B Hive.

1. Log onto the B Hive at https://connect.bcorporation.net/BHiveLogin

2. Navigate to the Discounts tab of Marketplace

3. View over 200 discounts or submit your own

From our new website https://bcorporation.net/

1. Click the burger menu on the left (3 lines) 

2. It opens the "Menu" page and click "B Hive"