What the audit dashboard shows, and what it does not verify
No, certificate tracking software does not verify that a supplier certificate is genuine, and Certly does not claim to. What it does is hold the live status of every certificate you require from every supplier, with a date and a chase history behind each one, on a screen you can hand to an auditor as a PDF.
What a certificate tracking system actually shows you
A tracking system does not confirm that a certificate is genuine. It shows you, at any moment, which of the documents you require are on file, which are about to lapse and which were never supplied, and that is the job Certly is built to do.
On screen that is a single-screen status view per supplier: one row for each certificate type you have decided that supplier must hold, such as allergen declaration, certificate of analysis or audit certificate, each row reading current, expiring soon, expired or missing. The status is computed from the date filed with the document against the alert thresholds you configure, starting at 90, 60 and 30 days before expiry.
That view exports as a PDF for auditor review, with the four status badges in the same colours, labels and icons the screen uses, so the document in the auditor's hand says what the QA manager saw on the day. The decision in front of you is whether a tool with that narrow scope is the one you want, or whether you are shopping for something that says it checks certificates on your behalf.
What stands behind each status badge
A date that was entered and checked on save
Your QA team files the certificate against a supplier and a certificate type, or the supplier files it themselves through a single-use, expiring signed email link with no login to create. Either way the form validates server-side that the required fields are present, that the contact email is a real email format and that the date given is a real date, returning field-level errors inline rather than storing something unusable.
Thresholds you set, not defaults you inherit
The 90, 60 and 30 day alerts are the starting point. Each certificate type can carry its own thresholds or follow a plant-wide default, so a certificate of analysis and an audit certificate need not warn on the same schedule.
An issue date where no expiry is printed
Allergen declarations and vendor forms often carry only a date of issue. An upload can record that issue date and derive the due date from the renewal period your plant sets for that certificate type, so the slot has something to fire against instead of sitting blank. You set the period; Certly does not infer one from any standard.
Chases that are logged, not assumed
Automated email sequences go to the supplier contact for certificates approaching expiry or already lapsed, each carrying a one-click upload link, and each send is recorded with its result. A failed send reads as failed, with a resend beside it, rather than reading as contact made.
The version a renewal replaced
A renewal never deletes the document it replaces. When an auditor asks which declaration was valid last March, the superseded version is still on file with its dates.
An export that matches the screen
The PDF carries the same four badges as the dashboard and the same two-sentence statement of scope that sits near them, so nothing is softened on the way to paper.
Where authenticity stays with your QA team
A tracking system knows which supplier a document belongs to, which certificate type it was filed under, what date was recorded with it, which earlier version a renewal replaced, and what was sent to the supplier about it. It does not know whether the PDF was issued by the certification body named on it, whether the scope printed on it covers the material you actually buy, or whether the issuing body has since withdrawn it. Those checks are your QA team's work, with the issuing certification body as the authority.
Certly says so where it is read rather than in a footer. A persistent two-sentence line sits near the status badges on the dashboard and near the top of the PDF export, stating that the platform tracks and reminds on certificate expiry and does not verify certificate authenticity or guarantee regulatory compliance, with a read-more for the longer wording. The product's copy avoids phrases like verified certificates, compliance guarantee and audit-proof for the same reason. In our reasoning, a document that states plainly what the tool did is easier to stand behind at audit than one implying a check nobody performed.
Questions
Does certificate tracking software verify certificate authenticity?
As a category, no, and Certly does not. Tracking software records that a document exists, ties it to a supplier and a certificate type, and watches the date filed with it. Confirming that the certificate was genuinely issued, that it has not been withdrawn, and that its scope covers the material you buy is a check your QA team makes with the issuing certification body. If a tool implies it has made that check for you, ask which source it checked and when.
Does Certly read the expiry date out of the certificate PDF?
No. The date is entered when the certificate is filed, either by your QA team or by the supplier using their upload link, and the form validates server-side that the required fields are present, the contact email is a real email format and the date is a real date. Certly then computes current, expiring soon, expired or missing from that stored date against your thresholds at 90, 60 and 30 days before expiry. Because the date is entered rather than extracted, the person filing the document is still the person checking it matches the certificate in front of them.
What about a document with no printed expiry date, such as an allergen declaration?
An upload can record the issue date and have the due date derived from it. Each plant sets a renewal period per certificate type, so a declaration filed in March is tracked to the date your own policy says it should be refreshed, rather than sitting on the dashboard with a blank expiry. You decide that period; Certly does not infer one from any standard and does not claim the document stays valid for it. It is a tracking convention your team sets, recorded so the reminder has a date to fire against.
Can the supplier file the certificate themselves?
Yes. The chase email carries a single-use, expiring signed link to an upload page, with no login to create and no account for the supplier to manage. The upload lands against the right supplier and the right certificate type, and the status on your dashboard changes with it. Your QA team can also upload directly whenever a document arrives by email or at the door.
Does Certly tell us whether we meet BRCGS, SQF or FSSC 22000?
It tells you which certificate types you have decided each supplier must hold and whether a current document is on file against each one. Deciding what to require, judging whether a given certificate satisfies the requirement, and closing out anything raised at audit remain your team's work, with your certification body as the authority on the standard.
Does the disclaimer on the audit PDF weaken it in front of an auditor?
We cannot speak for a particular auditor, and in our reasoning the question at audit is not whether software vouches for a document. It is whether you have a controlled way of knowing which certificates you hold, which have lapsed, and what you did about it. The export is built to answer that: the four status badges per supplier, in the same colours, labels and icons as the screen, with the chase history behind each row.
Where are security and procurement questions answered?
On the pages written for them rather than here. The security page covers where supplier and certificate data is stored and how long it is kept, the vendor security review page answers certification and data processing agreement questions in one place, and the data isolation page explains how each plant's records are scoped.
What will Certly cost, and how do we start?
Sign-up is not open yet, so the first step is the waitlist. The declared plans are Starter at $3,228 a year for one site and up to 50 suppliers, Professional at $5,388 a year for one site and up to 200 suppliers, each with a 14-day free trial, and Multi-site at $10,788 a year covering up to 5 sites under one agreement with no supplier cap and no trial declared. All three are billed annually, which works out 10 percent below the monthly rate.