To become a Certified B Corporation, a for-profit company must score at least 80 out of 200 on B Lab’s B Impact Assessment, amend its governing documents to make directors legally accountable to all stakeholders, pass a verification review, sign the B Corp Agreement, and pay an annual certification fee that starts at $2,100 for companies earning up to $5 million.1B Lab U.S. & Canada. Pricing for Existing B Corps Most small and midsize companies finish the process in six to eight months.
Check Whether Your Company Is Eligible
Only for-profit businesses can certify, and your company must have been operating for at least twelve months so B Lab has real performance data to evaluate. Corporations, LLCs, and cooperatives all qualify as long as they compete in a commercial marketplace.2B Lab U.S. & Canada. Who Can Certify?
Some industries are permanently barred, no matter how the assessment score comes out: fossil fuel production, gambling, pornography, prisons and detention centers (including prison labor), tobacco, and weapons. B Lab’s position is that the systemic harm in these sectors cannot be offset by internal practices.3B Impact Assessment Knowledge Base. How to Identify Industry Activities for the Foundation Requirements
If you haven’t hit twelve months yet, you can apply for Pending B Corp status. That requires completing the assessment with best-estimate answers, meeting the legal requirement, signing a Pending B Corp agreement, and paying a one-time $1,000 fee. In return, you can use the “Certified B Corp: Pending” branding while you build the operational history for full certification.4B Lab U.S. & Canada. Pending B Status
Complete the B Impact Assessment
The B Impact Assessment is the scored evaluation at the heart of certification. It measures how your company affects workers, the community, customers, and the environment, plus how governance embeds stakeholder interests. You need a verified score of at least 80 out of 200 to qualify.5B Impact Assessment Knowledge Base. Increasing Your Score to Achieve 80 Points The median first-time score for ordinary businesses is around 50, so reaching 80 usually means real operational changes, not just paperwork.
B Lab is rolling out updated standards (Version 2.1) in 2026, and new companies can begin certifying under them starting in March 2026.6B Lab U.S. & Canada. Certifying on the New B Lab Standards: How Your Company Can Lead the Way in 2026
What You’ll Need to Document
The governance section asks how leadership integrates social and environmental goals into decisions. Expect to provide board minutes, financial disclosures, and evidence that stakeholder interests factor into strategy rather than only shareholder returns.
Worker questions require concrete numbers: the ratio of highest to lowest pay, the share of employees earning a living wage, health insurance enrollment, and retirement plan participation. Community questions cover ownership diversity, local sourcing, and how you screen suppliers.7B Lab Europe. What Does the B Corp Certification Mean? Environmental questions require hard data from your most recent fiscal year: energy use, water use, waste, carbon footprint, and recycling rates. Customer questions look at whether your product or service addresses a social or environmental problem, along with quality certifications and satisfaction data.8Business Sustainability Collaborative. Section 3: The B Impact Assessment
Every answer becomes a claim B Lab will verify later. Inflated scores get flagged during review, so pull actual records rather than estimating.
Meet the Legal Accountability Requirement
B Lab also requires a legal commitment written into your governing documents. Directors must be legally accountable to workers, customers, communities, and the environment, not only to shareholders.9BCorporation.net. The Legal Requirement for Certified B Corporations
Corporations amend their articles of incorporation; LLCs amend their operating agreements. The language must specify that directors consider the impact of decisions on all stakeholders. Where state law allows, corporations can satisfy the requirement by converting to a benefit corporation legal structure.10B Lab U.S. & Canada. B Corp Certification Legal Requirement Resource
One point worth clearing up: a benefit corporation is not the same thing as a Certified B Corp. Benefit corporation is a legal entity type created by state statute. B Corp certification is a private certification issued by B Lab. You can be one without the other. In many states you can certify as a B Corp without converting to a benefit corporation, as long as your governing documents carry the required stakeholder language.
Submit for Verification and Sign the Agreement
Once your assessment score reaches 80, you submit it for formal review. An analyst runs a preliminary check on your responses.11Knowledge Hub. Scoring 80-85 in the BIA After that, a Standards Analyst reviews your answers in detail and schedules a verification call where you walk through operational practices and provide supporting documentation like utility bills, payroll reports, and employee handbooks.
If your score survives verification, you sign the B Corp Agreement, the contract that sets out your ongoing obligations. If verification drops your score below 80, you don’t start over. B Lab recommends reviewing the assessment, making improvements, and resubmitting within two to six months.5B Impact Assessment Knowledge Base. Increasing Your Score to Achieve 80 Points
How Long It Takes
Small and midsize companies should plan for roughly six to eight months from the start of the assessment through final certification. Larger multinationals, groups with many related entities, and businesses in sectors that require extra scrutiny should expect longer.12BCorporation.net. How Long Does It Take to Get Certified?
Evaluation and verification each take up to three months once you’ve submitted, depending on B Lab’s queue.13Knowledge Hub. 1B Lab U.S. & Canada. Pricing for Existing B Corps They’re separate from state filing costs when you amend governing documents, which vary by jurisdiction.
Staying Certified
Under B Lab’s new standards, the recertification cycle extends from three years to five. Companies meet baseline requirements at initial certification (Year 0), then progressively satisfy tougher Year 3 and Year 5 requirements.6B Lab U.S. & Canada. Certifying on the New B Lab Standards: How Your Company Can Lead the Way in 2026
The longer cycle comes with more frequent check-ins. Micro and small companies face audits at Year 0, Year 3, and Year 5. Larger companies can expect annual audits, and a mandatory special audit at Year 3 covers both initial and Year 3 requirements. The framework also introduces third-party audits by independent external auditors, a shift from B Lab handling all verification internally.7B Lab Europe. What Does the B Corp Certification Mean?
Companies that fail to recertify or meet updated standards lose the designation and must stop using the B Corp name and logo. B Lab revises its standards regularly, so the bar keeps moving. Certification is an ongoing commitment, not a one-time credential.