Verification and Standards
Much of the annual fee you pay goes to cover costs associated with verification, including expenses related to staff time for the review process and developing the standards underpinning the certification.
Pricing for B Corp Certification is determined based on a company’s annual sales, ensuring B Corp Certification is affordable for all businesses.
All companies submitting their B Impact Assessment for verification for the first time are subject to a non-refundable Submission Fee. This fee helps us focus our review processes on companies that are committed to completing the B Corp Certification. The submission fee is charged at the point at which companies submit their first BIA for review, signaling their commitment to certification.
Effective April 1st, 2024, B Lab Europe is replacing the submission fee with a verification fee for companies who submit on or after this date, covering both the cost of submission and verification.
Annual Sales
|
Submission Fee
|
---|---|
€ 0 - € 4,999,999 | € 250 |
€ 5,000,000 - € 49,999,999 | € 500 |
€ 50,000,000 - € 99,999,999 | € 700 |
€ 100,000,000+ | € 900 |
For B Corps, certification fees are then paid annually, and are calculated based on your company’s total revenue on the last set of audited accounts (see the table below). Companies that need multiple BIAs to be verified will incur in a one-time verification fee per each additional BIA. For more information, please get in touch with B Lab Europe.
Companies €1bn+ in revenue or with multiple entities should contact B Lab Europe for pricing information.
On May 10, B Lab announced an update on fees for any company under €1 million in mature markets* submitting their BIA for review for the first time after July 1st, 2022. B Lab will retain legacy prices for a minimum of 3 years for existing B Corps that submitted for certification before the new fees went into effect.
*Mature markets include France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden. Companies certifying in other countries where the B Corp movement is still in the very early stages will be exempt from this increase (see chart below).
Annual Sales
|
Annual Certification Fees for Mature Markets*
|
---|---|
€ 0 - € 149,999 | € 2,000 (€1,000 legacy & early market stage pricing) |
€ 150,000 - € 499,999 | € 2,000 (€1,250 legacy & early market stage pricing) |
€ 500,000 - € 999,999 | € 2,000 (€1,500 legacy & early market stage pricing) |
€ 1,000,000 - € 2,499,999 | € 2,000 |
€ 2,500,000 - € 4,999,999 | € 2,500 |
€ 5,000,000 - € 7,499,999 | € 3,000 |
€ 7,500,000 - € 9,999,999 | € 4,000 |
€ 10,000,000 - € 14,999,999 | € 6,000 |
€ 15,000,000 - € 19,999,999 | € 8,500 |
€ 20,000,000 - € 29,999,999 | € 12,000 |
€ 30,000,000 - € 49,999,999 | € 16,000 |
€ 50,000,000 - € 74,999,999 | € 20,000 |
€ 75,000,000 - € 99,999,999 | € 25,000 |
€ 100,000,000 - € 174,999,999 | € 30,000 |
€ 175,000,000 - € 249,999,999 | € 35,000 |
€ 250,000,000 - € 499,999,999 | € 40,000 |
€ 500,000,000 - € 749,999,999 | € 45,000 |
€ 750,000,000 - € 1,000,000,000 | € 50,000 |
The Large Enterprise cost structure is complex. The certification pathway consists of a combination of required and optional services, which are determined by the company’s operational structure and associated risk. After your application is submitted and reviewed, your regional B Lab team will share information about the fee structure and costs associated with your company’s customized engagement pathway.
As a non-profit organization, your certification fees only cover a portion of B Lab’s operating expenses. Forty percent of B Lab’s expenses are covered via philanthropy with the remainder coming from earned revenue streams including B Corp Certification.
In general, B Lab costs associated with B Corp Certification are broken into four groups:
Much of the annual fee you pay goes to cover costs associated with verification, including expenses related to staff time for the review process and developing the standards underpinning the certification.
In addition to the certification we offer the B Impact Assessment as a free tool for companies to measure and improve their impact. These fees support the ongoing development and improvement of this tool alongside the B Hive, B Analytics, and our back-office administration platforms.
This is what you pay us to license the growing ‘B’ brand on your products, services, and marketing platforms and to support efforts to grow brand awareness.
Depending on the size of your company, the surplus from your fee goes to cover costs associated with growth and engagement efforts both in market and in service to a growing global movement.