Retire the supplier certificate spreadsheet
If you are looking for an alternative to the supplier certificate tracker spreadsheet, this is the page for it. Certly holds the supplier list, the certificate files and the expiry dates in one place, and it chases the supplier contacts itself when a date is coming up.
The workbook you inherited, and what it is actually costing you
Most QA managers we talk to are not starting from nothing. They are starting from a workbook: one tab for the approved supplier list, one for certificates, a column per document type, conditional formatting that turns a cell amber at some point somebody once decided, and a folder tree on the shared drive where the PDFs live under names like Supplier_CoA_final_v2.pdf.
It works, in the sense that it holds the information. What it does not do is act. A cell only changes colour when the sheet is open in front of someone. A supplier only gets chased when you remember to write the email, and then the record of that email sits in your sent items rather than against the supplier. The allergen declaration that lapsed in June is still green on the sheet because nobody has touched that row since March.
The moment this page is written for
The decision usually arrives in one of two ways. Either an unannounced audit is a live possibility and you have spent an evening opening PDFs one at a time to check expiry dates, or a certificate turned out to be out of date on file and you are writing up the corrective action. In both cases the job to be done is the same and it is narrow: know, at any moment, which supplier certificates are current, which expire soon, which have expired and which were never collected, and have the chasing happen on a schedule rather than on your memory.
That is the job Certly is built for. It is a certificate tracking and reminder system for a single plant. It is not a quality management suite, it does not replace your document control procedure, and it does not judge whether a certificate is genuine or sufficient.
Where the spreadsheet stops
| The job | In the workbook | In Certly |
|---|---|---|
| Knowing which documents each supplier owes | A column per document type, maintained by hand, easy to get out of step with the approved supplier programme | Each supplier record carries its contact details and its required certificate types, such as allergen declaration, CoA and audit certificate |
| Holding the file itself | A shared drive folder alongside the sheet, linked by naming convention or not at all | The certificate is uploaded by the QA team and stored against the supplier and the certificate type it satisfies |
| Noticing an expiry before it happens | A formula that only recalculates when somebody opens the file | A scheduled job computes expiry status and raises alerts at configurable thresholds of 90, 60 and 30 days |
| Dating a document with no printed expiry | Somebody's memory of the convention, written nowhere | The date on the form is recorded at upload, and a renewal period set per certificate type derives the due date from it |
| Chasing the supplier | You write the email, then write it again a fortnight later | Automated chase sequences go to the supplier contact for certificates approaching expiry or already lapsed, each one with a one-click upload link |
| Proving you chased | Sent items, if you can find the thread | Every send is logged against the supplier |
| Showing the position on one screen | Scroll, filter, cross-check against the folder | A single-screen status view per supplier: current, expiring soon, expired, missing |
Moving off the spreadsheet
- Rebuild the supplier list once
Add each supplier with its contact details and the certificate types it is required to hold, for example allergen declaration, CoA and audit certificate. This is the one piece of typing the move costs you, and it is a one-off rather than a weekly maintenance job. Suppliers can be edited and listed afterwards from the same place.
- Upload the certificates you already hold
Your QA team uploads the current documents from the shared drive, each one tied to a supplier and a certificate type, with the date on the form and the expiry date recorded as you go. The gaps become visible while you work: the suppliers whose documents you thought were on file usually turn up here rather than at the audit.
- Set the alert thresholds
Expiry tracking runs on a scheduled job with configurable thresholds at 90, 60 and 30 days before expiry. Ninety days gives a supplier time to get a recertification audit booked, thirty days is the point at which you want it on your own list, and you decide which of those apply. For document types with no printed expiry, a renewal period per certificate type sets the due date from the issue date instead.
- Let the chasing happen without you
Automated email chase sequences go to the supplier contact when a certificate is approaching expiry or has lapsed, each carrying a one-click upload link so the supplier does not have to find your last email or create an account. Every send is logged against the supplier so you can see what went out and when.
- Work from the status screen, not the sheet
The dashboard shows certificate status per supplier on one screen: current, expiring soon, expired, missing. That view is what you open on a Monday morning, and it is what you can export to PDF when an auditor asks to see the position of the approved supplier list.
What changes for the QA manager
The chasing stops being your job
The part of the week that goes on writing polite follow-ups to supplier quality contacts is handled by a sequence that runs whether or not you are in the plant that week. You intervene on the suppliers that do not respond, not on all of them.
Expired stops hiding behind green
A status computed from the expiry date on a schedule does not depend on anybody opening a file. The four states are explicit, and missing is a state in its own right rather than an empty cell you might read as fine.
One answer to the auditor's question
When you are asked to show the certificate position across the approved supplier list, there is one screen and one PDF export of it rather than a workbook, a folder and an explanation of how the two relate.
The evidence that you chased
Chase sends are logged per supplier, so the effort you have already been making on a lapsed document is visible rather than buried in a mailbox. That matters most on the supplier who has been slow for three months.
No version of the truth on somebody's laptop
The supplier list and the certificates live in one place for the plant rather than in a file that gets copied, renamed and edited offline while the original stays behind. Every supplier and certificate query is scoped to your plant.
A tool your team can hand over
A workbook carries the logic of whoever built it. A supplier record with required certificate types, thresholds and a status view carries its own, which makes covering for annual leave or handing the programme to a new QA coordinator a smaller event.
What happens to the records once they leave the sheet
The reason a QA manager keeps the old workbook alongside a new tool is usually the history in it. Certly is built to hold that history instead.
- Everything is kept while your account is open: expired certificates, the versions a renewal replaced, and the chase history. A renewal does not delete the document it superseded, which is what lets you answer an auditor asking for the declaration that was valid last March.
- Archiving a supplier you no longer buy from keeps its records and stops its reminders.
- A supplier contact's name and email can be erased on their own from that supplier's page, which is how an erasure request is satisfied without losing the certificate record.
- Deleting the account from Settings removes the suppliers, the certificate documents, the chase history, the settings and the sign-in details at once, and the same screen downloads a JSON file of your data first.
People sign in with an email address and password. Certly runs on Amazon Web Services, in the product's own Postgres database, with uploaded certificates held in that same database rather than a shared file store, and card payments handled by Stripe. There is no independent security certification, no single sign-on or two-factor authentication, no data residency choice and no standard data processing agreement ready to countersign today. If one of those is a procurement condition at your plant, say so when you join the waitlist rather than after.
What it costs to leave the spreadsheet behind
Starter, $3,228 a year
For a single plant tracking up to 50 suppliers, billed annually, which works out at 269 dollars a month, 10 percent off the 299 dollar monthly rate for paying up front. Includes the supplier database with required certificate types, expiry tracking with 90, 60 and 30 day alerts, automated chase emails with supplier self-upload links, and the audit-ready dashboard with its PDF export. Starts with a 14-day free trial.
Professional, $5,388 a year
Everything in Starter, for a single plant with a deeper supplier base of up to 200 suppliers. The annual figure is the equivalent of 449 dollars a month against a 499 dollar monthly rate, the same 10 percent prepay discount, and it also opens with a 14-day free trial.
Multi-site, $10,788 a year
For groups running up to 5 sites under one agreement, with no supplier cap. Everything in Professional, plus adding and switching sites from one sign-in. Annual billing again, at 899 dollars a month rather than the 999 dollar monthly rate. This tier does not carry a free trial.
Questions
Can I import my existing supplier spreadsheet?
The supported route in Certly is the supplier record itself: you add, edit and list suppliers with their contact details and required certificate types. Plan for entering the list once, after which the weekly maintenance the workbook demanded stops. There is a separate page on what moving a 50 to 200 line list in by hand actually involves, and if a bulk import is the thing that decides it for you, tell us when you join the waitlist.
What happens to the certificate PDFs on the shared drive?
Your QA team uploads them into Certly, each tied to a supplier and a certificate type, in PDF, PNG or JPEG. Keeping a copy on the shared drive is your call and your document control procedure's call; Certly's job is to hold the document against the supplier, track when it expires, and keep the version a renewal replaced.
Who sends the chase emails, and what do suppliers have to do?
Certly sends them, to the supplier contact on the supplier record, for certificates approaching expiry or already lapsed. Each chase carries a one-click upload link, a single-use link that expires, so the supplier uploads without creating an account or logging in. Every send is logged against that supplier.
Can I change the 90, 60 and 30 day alert points?
Yes. The thresholds are configurable, with 90, 60 and 30 days before expiry as the defaults, computed by a scheduled job rather than by anybody opening a file.
What about documents with no printed expiry date?
An allergen declaration or a vendor form often carries only the date it was signed. Certly records that date at upload, and a renewal period set per certificate type for your plant derives the due date from it, so the document joins the same alert thresholds as everything else.
Does Certly check that a certificate is valid?
No. Certly tracks expiry dates, shows status and sends reminders. It does not verify certificate authenticity or guarantee regulatory compliance, and the dashboard and the PDF export both carry that statement. Assessing whether a document is genuine and sufficient remains a QA judgement.
Does it cover more than one plant?
Starter and Professional are scoped to a single site, at 50 and 200 suppliers respectively. Groups use Multi-site at $10,788 a year, which covers up to 5 sites under one agreement with no supplier cap, and lets you add and switch sites from one sign-in.
What will it cost, and is there a trial?
Starter is $3,228 a year for one site and up to 50 suppliers, Professional is $5,388 a year for up to 200, and Multi-site is $10,788 a year for up to 5 sites with no supplier cap. All three are billed annually, which is 10 percent off the equivalent monthly rate. Starter and Professional each begin with a 14-day free trial; Multi-site does not.