How to get SQF certified, without the guesswork.
Your biggest customer asked for SQF. Most first-time facilities certify in 6 to 9 months: register with SQFI, build the program, run it on the floor, pass a scored audit. A former SQF lead auditor walks you through each step, and the program you build stays audit-ready after the auditor leaves.
Certification is a system, not a checklist.
SQF certifies a working food safety management system. An auditor checks these four pillars in every certification audit, and each one has a home in Beacon from day one.
HACCP food safety plan
The core of any SQF program. A documented hazard analysis, defined critical control points, and monitoring that proves each one is in control. SQF expects a living record your team works from, not a document you dust off for audit week.
In Beacon: HACCP Plans
Prerequisite programs & SOPs
Sanitation, allergen control, pest control, GMPs, supplier approval, and the SOPs that govern them. Every program documented, controlled, and current, with the version history to prove what was in force on any given day.
In Beacon: Document Control
Monitoring and records
The day-to-day evidence: monitoring forms completed on the floor, deviations caught, corrective actions logged and closed. This is where most facilities lose points on paper, and where digital records on tablets quietly change the game.
In Beacon: Floor Workspace
Internal audit and review
SQF requires you to audit yourself and review the results with leadership. A scheduled internal audit program, tracked findings, and documented management review close the loop and show an auditor the system actually runs.
In Beacon: Audits & Management Review
From kickoff to certificate
Most first-time facilities certify in 6 to 9 months. Facilities with an existing HACCP or GFSI program move faster. Either way the path is the same, and every record we build lives inside Beacon from the first week.
Scoping is straightforward: facility size, how much of a program already exists, and your timeline set the effort. You get a specific number after the discovery call and gap assessment, not a rate-card guess.
Start with a gap assessmentRegister with SQFI
1 dayCreate a SQFI Assessment Database account, register the facility, and select your program and food sector. An annual fee is paid directly to SQFI.
Build your program
3-6 monthsThe biggest piece. HACCP plan, prerequisite programs, SOPs, and monitoring procedures, developed with a consultant and built straight into the platform.
Implement and train
1-3 monthsRun the program on the floor, train the team, and collect at least 30 to 90 days of operational records before the audit.
Choose a certification body
1 weekSelect a licensed SQF certification body. The CB is independent and audits and certifies separately. We can recommend, the choice is yours.
Certification audit
1-3 daysA 1 to 3 day on-site audit: documentation review, facility inspection, and staff interviews, scored on the 100-point model.
Certify and maintain
ongoingClose required non-conformances, earn the rating, and keep monitoring, corrective actions, and reviews running year-round so next year's audit starts from a live program, not a rebuild.
The auditor's read, before the auditor arrives.
Our SQF work is run by a practice, not a single consultant: a team running preventive controls inside a working, SQF-certified plant, led by Jeffrey Strout, SystemPath's Food Safety Director. He spent his career on the other side of the table, 7,500+ audits from the farm through manufacturing to the store, so your program gets the auditor's read before the auditor arrives.
And because the program is built inside Beacon rather than a consultant's files, certification is the start of a system, not the end of an engagement. The difference shows up in year two.
Who you're working with
Both sides of the table
Years of audit-side experience
A former SQF Lead Auditor and HACCP Alliance Instructor leading every engagement.
Audits conducted
On the side of the table that asks the questions.
Working SQF-certified plant
PCQI-certified, FSPCA-trained practitioners running preventive controls on Beacon every day.
Three programs. Most manufacturers need the Food Safety Code.
SQFI retired the old level numbers with Edition 9, but retailers still use them, so here is both vocabularies. Which program you need depends on what your customers require.
SQF Fundamentals
Small and developing businesses
Entry-level certification covering basic food safety management, GMPs, and prerequisite programs. No formal HACCP plan required.
Food Safety Code
What retailers still call Level 2, the requirement
A full HACCP-based food safety plan, prerequisite programs, and management systems. This is what Walmart, Costco, and most major retailers mean by "SQF certified."
Quality Code
The old Level 3: food safety plus quality
Everything in the Food Safety Code plus a full quality management system: product quality plans, quality objectives, and KPIs. Required by some premium retailers and export markets.
Whichever program your customer named, the path above is the same. We confirm the right one on the discovery call and scope the build once. Not sure which applies? Ask us.
Your certification program lives in Beacon. Not on a shelf.
Everything we build during certification stays inside Beacon: organized, version-controlled, and open to your whole team. When the engagement ends, your program keeps running.
Get SQF certified with a team that has been through it
Bring your deadline. In 20 minutes you'll know whether certification by your customer's date is realistic, and what it takes from where you stand today.
Prefer the phone? (313) 484-4887
What happens next
Discovery call
About your facility and goals. Not a sales pitch.
See it in action
A live walkthrough of Beacon scoped to your operation.
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
Tell us about your facility
Send the basics and we come to the call already knowing your products, your timeline, and roughly where your program stands.
SQF certification questions, answered
Common questions from food manufacturers navigating the certification process.