Certification

International certification bodies are authorized to issue MSI 20000 certification. These bodies are accredited on specific criteria, in particular the application of the ISO 17021 standard dedicated to certification bodies. This standard ensures the respect of key principles such as consistency, competence, impartiality and independence in the development of assessment missions. At the end of the said evaluations, strictly framed by the ISO 17021 standard, the certifier is able to rule on the conformity of the beneficiary evaluated against the MSI 20000 standard. In the event of revealed and justified conformity giving right to certification, the international regulations of system certifications, allows the issuance of a certificate of conformity valid for a period of 3 years subject to the obligation ofcontinuous compliance with the standard requirement. This compliance is validated by annual surveillance audits.

Certification Bodies

The Certification Bodies authorized to issue the MSI 20000 certification are selected on the basis of very precise selection criteria, in particular in terms of competence and notoriety. Certifiers must avail themselves of recognized expertise in certification, in particular on technical benchmarks.

The major global players in certification issue the MSI 20000 standard. MSI 20000 authorized certifiers are accredited or officially licensed by MSI, established by MSI Observatory.

The ISO 17021 standard, dedicated to certification bodies, serves as the basis for the MSI 20000 certification.

Principles

As part of the MSI 20000 financial certification, the assignments are carried out in line with the ISO 17021 standard; the standard reserved for certifiers. This certification standard gives certifiers the requirements for competence, consistency, impartiality and independence.

Competence

MSI 20000 auditors are selected on the basis of their expertise and experience in the areas of financial analysis and evaluation. Audit supervisors are chosen for their business expertise and sectoral qualifications.

Consistency

The evaluation work is carried out on the basis of the financial statements approved by the statutory auditors ; a guarantee of reliability and veracity of the documentation. The MSI 20000 evaluation schemes are based on mathematical models, within the framework of a scientific approach, providing objective and replicable results.

Impartiality

The greatest rigor is applied within the scope of the mission, with strictly supervised and standardized procedures, on an international scale. The assessment and the resulting financial diagnosis are carried out entirely within the premises of the certifier, without the intervention of the beneficiary’s resources.

Independence

The work is carried out by a certification body (independent third party). During audit assignments, audit supervisors are, for the sake of neutrality, the only interlocutors of the audited entity. Their role is to coordinate and relay the activities between the two parties (certifier and beneficiary), during the evaluation process. The missions take place entirely in the certifier’s office, without the contribution of the beneficiary, which therefore does not mobilize any resources or space.

Cycle

According to international system certification regulations : certification to a given benchmark must be subject to a strictly supervised assessment, leading to the conformity of the system assessed with the requirements of the repository.

The evaluations are based on :

The specifications of the repository.
The procedures accompanying the specifications.

The assessment for the purpose of certification, all standards combined, is based on a classic model, displayed through the diagram below :

Major Audit

It is about measuring the level of compliance of a company, with a given benchmark.

Certification

When the Major Audit reveals the conformity of the assessed establishment, this leads to its certification. A certificate of conformity is then issued to the company. In accordance with the international regulations in force: the certificates of conformity are valid for three years, from the date of issue and when there is no suspension / withdrawal, i.e. – say that the certification is continuous as long as the beneficiary remains representative of the standard.

Suveillance Audit

For each certification cycle, the certifier performs, throughout the validity period of the certificates, annual control audits to ensure that the beneficiary is still in compliance, from one year to the next, with the requirements of the standard.

Over a three-year certification cycle, there are two surveillance audits, in n + 1 and n + 2.