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SQF Edition 10 audits start January 2027. Is your program ready? Learn more →

The Platform

Meet Beacon

The food safety and quality compliance AI platform

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Audit-Ready AI

Every AI action, on the record

The audit trail writes itself.

  • Drafts SOPs and CAPAs from your data
  • Cites the exact SQF element
  • Logs every step for the auditor
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Expert Services

Consulting & Training

SQF certification, audit prep, and expert-led training

Advised by certified SQF lead auditors and HACCP Alliance instructors, from first certification through Edition 10.

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SQF Edition 10

Built in from day one

A structural update, not a refresh. The templates, records, and review workflows are already here.

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Not sure where to start?

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Internal Auditing

Internal audits that read like the real thing

Every GFSI scheme requires you to audit your own system, on a schedule, using an auditor who did not do the work being checked. Most facilities either skip the internal audits, rush them, or run them so lightly that a certification body auditor spots the difference on day one.

Have us review your program Book a call

Not ready for a call? Send us your last internal audit report.

What it covers

A program the outside auditor can follow

Internal audits run on the same record as everything else: scheduled, worked against a checklist, and routed to a fix. An external auditor reads the trail, not just the score.

Audit checklist 4 / 4

Internal audit scope and scheduling in Beacon

We set the audit frequency, assign auditors who did not perform the work being checked, and map the scope across your applicable SQF elements. Independence is the part a rushed program skips first, and the part an outside auditor checks first.

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Internal audit finding recorded in Beacon

Auditors work a facility-specific checklist, not a generic template, with each item tied to the element it verifies. A finding gets recorded where it happens, not reconstructed from memory afterward.

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Internal audit finding linked to a corrective action in Beacon

A finding becomes a corrective action with an owner and a due date the moment it is recorded. Root cause, correction, and verification of effectiveness live on the same record as the finding that opened it.

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Internal audit history ready for the external auditor in Beacon

Closing an internal audit is blocked while a critical or major finding has no corrective action opened against it, so a gap can't be quietly forgotten. The dated trail, schedule, checklist, finding, and close, is what the outside auditor actually reads.

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Talk through your program
The process

From scope to a program you can run yourself

Standing up a real internal audit program takes a few weeks of scoping and checklist work, then a running rhythm to keep. We scope the program, assign independent auditors, build the checklist, and set the schedule. The platform then runs the loop between engagements.

Start with a scoping review
1

Scope the program

1 week

Confirm which elements and areas fall under your internal audit schedule and how often SQF requires each one.

2

Assign independent auditors

1 week

Match each area to an auditor who did not perform the work being checked. Independence gets confirmed before the first audit runs.

3

Build the checklist

1-2 weeks

Turn your applicable SQF elements into a facility-specific checklist, not a generic template.

4

Run the audits

ongoing

Work the schedule, record findings where they happen, and route each one to a corrective action with an owner and due date.

5

Close and verify

as needed

Confirm root cause, correction, and effectiveness before a finding is marked closed.

6

Read it for years

ongoing

Keep the schedule current, adjust scope as the program grows, and walk into the external audit with a trail the auditor can follow start to finish.

The standard

What a real internal audit program requires.

Skip any one of these and the outside auditor tends to notice before you do.

1

Independence

Checked first, every time

The person auditing an area did not do the work in it. Certification bodies verify this before they read a single finding.

2

Full coverage

Not just the easy elements

Every applicable element gets audited within your cycle, on the schedule you set, not only the areas that are convenient to check.

3

Finding to CAPA

Or it isn't a finding

A finding without a linked corrective action is a note nobody acted on. Every finding gets an owner and a due date.

4

A dated trail

The way an audit gets read

Schedule, checklist, finding, and close, timestamped and attributable, the way an external auditor actually reads the record.

Not sure your program covers all four. Send us your last internal audit report and we'll tell you what's missing.

Who leads it

Our internal-audit work is led by a former SQF Lead Auditor who has reviewed internal-audit programs from both sides of the table and knows exactly which gaps a certification body auditor flags first. Meet Jeff.

7,500+ audits on the bench Audit-side since 1977 1 working SQF plant
Beacon Platform

Your internal audits live in Beacon. Ready before the CB auditor asks.

The schedule, the checklist, the findings, and the corrective actions live on one record, tied to the SQF elements they verify. When the external audit starts, the internal-audit trail is already there. See how the audits module works.

Internal, external, and supplier audits on one schedule
Checklists tied to your applicable SQF elements
Findings recorded where they happen
Every finding routed to a corrective action with an owner
Root cause, correction, and effectiveness on one record
Completion blocked while a critical or major finding has no corrective action
A dated trail from schedule to close
Ready to assemble into a retailer or CB packet
Beacon audit-packet and internal-audit history dashboard

Any consultant can help you write an internal-audit procedure. The difference is whether the trail still holds up the day an external auditor actually reads it. See why teams build it with us.

Build an internal audit program your CB auditor recognizes as real

Bring your last internal audit report. In 20 minutes you'll know whether it would survive a certification-body reviewer's first look and where the gaps are.

Book a call Prepping for the certification audit itself? See audit prep

Prefer the phone? (313) 484-4887

What happens next

01

Discovery call

About your facility and goals. Not a sales pitch.

02

See it in action

A live walkthrough of Beacon scoped to your operation.

03

Custom proposal

Software, consulting, and training sized to your facility.

You'll talk with a food safety expert, not a sales rep.

20 minutes · No commitment · No pressure

Start with your last audit

Send us your last internal audit report

Send your most recent internal audit, findings and all. We come back with a read on independence, coverage, and whether your findings actually close, before you decide whether a call is worth your time.

A read on whether your program would pass a CB reviewer's first look
Where a finding has stayed open longer than it should
No commitment. Just a conversation
FAQ

Internal audit questions, answered

Common questions from QA teams building or running an internal audit program.

Yes. SQF requires you to audit your own system on a planned schedule, using auditors who are independent of the activity being audited, and to correct what the audit finds. It is one of the first things a certification body auditor checks, both for evidence the audits happened and for evidence the findings were fixed.
SQF expects your full applicable scope covered within your certification cycle, on a schedule you set and follow, not run once and forgotten. Higher-risk areas typically get audited more often than the minimum, and the schedule itself is something an external auditor reviews.
The person auditing an area cannot be the person who performed the work being checked. On a small team this takes planning, sometimes cross-training a second person or bringing in outside help for the areas you cannot audit independently in-house.
Internal auditing builds and runs your own, ongoing audit program, the one SQF requires you to operate year-round. Audit prep is the targeted push before your certification-body visit: mock audits, document review, and closing gaps before the real thing. Many facilities use both. See how audit prep is different.
Every finding routes to a corrective action with an owner and a due date. Root cause, correction, and verification of effectiveness get documented before the finding closes, and the audit itself cannot close while a critical or major finding has no corrective action opened against it.
The checklist should reflect the elements and areas in scope for that audit, not one generic form reused everywhere. We build it from your applicable SQF elements once, then it gets reused and refined as your program matures.
Beacon holds your internal audit schedule, the checklist, every finding, and the corrective action it opens, tied to the SQF elements they verify. Closing an audit is blocked while a critical or major finding has no corrective action opened against it, so the trail an external auditor reads is always current. See how Beacon handles audits and audit packets.