Manual certificate upload and storage by the QA team
When a supplier emails you a certificate, or you already have the PDF sitting in a vendor folder, you file it in Certly yourself against that supplier and that certificate type. This article walks the upload step by step, and explains what happens to the document and its dates once you save it.
What this article covers
Certly lets your QA team upload and store a certificate by hand, tied to a supplier and a certificate type. You need this when the document reaches you some other way than through a supplier upload link: an attachment on an email thread, a copy a buyer forwarded, or a file already sitting in the vendor folder you kept before you started using Certly.
It is also how you load the back catalogue when you set a plant up. Every certificate you file by hand sits in the same place as the ones suppliers upload themselves, carries the same status, and appears on the same audit dashboard.
Upload a certificate against a supplier and certificate type
- Open the supplier, or add them first
Certly stores every certificate against one supplier and one certificate type, so the supplier record has to exist before the document does. The record holds the supplier's contact details and the certificate types you require from them, such as an allergen declaration, a CoA or an audit certificate.
- Check the required certificate types are right
The types you require from that supplier are what Certly tracks for them. A type you require with nothing on file reads as missing, so make sure the list matches what your approved supplier process actually asks of this supplier before you start filing documents.
- Pick the certificate type you are filling
Upload against the type the document actually is. An audit certificate filed under the allergen declaration leaves one slot looking satisfied and the other still open, which is the state an auditor reads off the dashboard.
- Attach the file
Certly stores certificate documents as PDF, PNG or JPEG. A scan of a signed paper certificate is fine as long as it is one of those three formats.
- Record the issue date and the expiry date
Take both dates from the document itself, not from the day the email arrived. The expiry date you record is what Certly uses to work out whether the certificate reads as current, expiring soon or expired, and when the 90, 60 and 30 day alerts fall.
- Save, then check the row on the dashboard
Once saved, the certificate appears against that supplier and type on the audit-ready dashboard, in one of four states: current, expiring soon, expired or missing. Repeat for the other types you require from the same supplier until no slot reads missing.
What happens to the document after you save it
The file is stored with the supplier and certificate type you filed it against, and it stays there while your account is open. When a renewal is uploaded later, the version it replaces is kept rather than deleted, so an auditor asking which document was valid on a date last March can be answered.
From there the certificate feeds two things you already use:
- The audit-ready dashboard, the single screen showing current, expiring soon, expired and missing per supplier.
- The PDF export of that dashboard, which you can hand to an auditor.
Both the dashboard and the export carry a standing line stating that Certly tracks and reminds on certificate expiry, and does not verify certificate authenticity or guarantee regulatory compliance. Filing a document here records it and times the reminders; checking that the certificate is genuine and that the scope covers what you buy is still your review.
If it did not go in, or you want the supplier to do it
If the form comes back with an error, it will name the field: a missing certificate type, a date that is not a real date, a file in a format other than PDF, PNG or JPEG. Fix the field it names and save again.
If you would rather not file documents by hand at all, you do not have to. Certly can send the supplier contact a single-use, expiring upload link that needs no login, either inside an automated chase for a certificate approaching expiry or already lapsed, so the document lands against the right supplier and the right type without passing through your inbox.
Anything else, email support@usecertly.com and tell us the supplier and the certificate type you were filing.
Questions
What file types can I upload?
PDF, PNG or JPEG. Those are the formats Certly stores certificate documents in, whether you upload them or the supplier does.
What happens to the old certificate when I upload a renewal?
It is kept. A renewal never deletes the document it replaces, so the superseded version stays on record for an auditor asking what was valid on a past date.
Where are the documents stored?
In the product's own Postgres database on Amazon Web Services, not in a shared file store. They are kept while your account is open, and removed with everything else if you delete the account.
Can the supplier upload the certificate instead of me?
Yes. Certly can send the supplier contact a single-use, expiring signed link by email that lets them upload without a login, and the document files itself against the right supplier and certificate type.
Does uploading a certificate mean Certly has checked it?
No. Certly tracks the dates you record and reminds you and the supplier before they run out. It does not verify that a certificate is authentic and it does not guarantee regulatory compliance, which is why that line sits on the dashboard and the PDF export.
When do the alerts start after I upload?
Expiry tracking works from the expiry date on the record, with alert thresholds at 90, 60 and 30 days before it. A certificate you file with a date already inside one of those windows is treated accordingly.