Every process step is literally send and call. The artefact of record is an email thread; the control is a diary entry.
Built for SANAS-accredited verification agencies
A verification file that is a system of record, not an email thread.
Every step, every document and every number traceable back to the gazette paragraph that mandates it. Verista runs the full verification lifecycle for your agency — evidence, scoring, sign-off, certificate.
Recognition levels
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
The current landscape
The artefact of record is an inbox.
Most agencies run verification on four tools that were never built for it. Each one works. Together they leave no defensible trail.
What it costs
SLA slippage nobody sees until it is late. Files that reach certification with empty elements. An audit trail that exists only in somebody's inbox.
01
Outlook and a phone
02
Excel, versioned by filename
Gathering-claim sheets and sampling lists live in spreadsheets whose authority is whichever copy was attached last.
03
A scoring tool that cannot show its work
An external tool produces a number nobody can trace to a gazette paragraph — a black box at exactly the moment a technical signatory has to put their name to it.
04
A document portal bolted on
Generic portals move files. They know nothing about elements, evidence sufficiency, or the five-role approval chain.
[STAT]
Reduction in days from engagement letter to certificate issue.
[STAT]
Of files reach sign-off with every element evidenced on first pass.
[STAT]
Coefficients on a scorecard that carry a gazette citation.
I
Defensible numbers
A technical signatory signs a number they can defend line by line.
01 · Traceable scoring
Every coefficient cites its gazette, series and paragraph.
Rules are versioned by effective date, and the engine will not certify against a rule that has not been signed off. Open any point on the scorecard and read the authority beneath it.
02 · Gazette authoring
When the codes are amended, your signatory authors the change.
New rules are written in-product and signed off by a technical signatory. No developer, no spreadsheet transcription, no database access.
II
The file, end to end
Four verification types, five elements, one structure.
03 · Four workflows
Configuration, not four processes held together by memory.
Full Verification / Re-Evaluation, ARL, Non-Compliant and Joint Venture each carry their own steps, owners, durations and gates.
04 · Portal-first evidence
Tokenised client links, per-element workspaces.
Structured evidence items and verifier tasks, accept or reject with analyst notes, and a needs-revision resubmit loop the measured entity can follow.
05 · Sufficiency gates
A file cannot leave evidence collection with an empty element.
The gate belongs to the platform, not to the analyst's memory.
06 · Five elements
Elements are first-class objects, priority elements included.
Ownership, Management Control, Skills Development, Enterprise & Supplier Development and Socio-Economic Development, each with its own evidence, tasks and score.
III
Nothing lost between steps
Send and call becomes a record instead of a habit.
07 · SLA clocks
Phase health you can see before it is a problem.
Target dates per phase, and a status of on track, at risk or overdue on every job in the book.
08 · Every touchpoint
Emails, calls and meetings logged against the step they belong to.
With outcome and who logged it, so a handover does not depend on one person's recollection.
09 · Certificate & public check
Preliminary report, client response, certificate, public page.
Issue the preliminary report, record accept, object or resolve, then issue a certificate with number and expiry — and a page a procurement officer can check in seconds.
Comparison
What changes, job by job.
From the agency's side of the desk. Where email and Excel already work, we say so.
| Job to be done | Email, Excel & diary | Generic document portal | Verista |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence collection | Attachments in a thread; whoever replies last is the version. | Files land in folders. Upload works well. | Tokenised portal, evidence items per element, accept / reject / needs revision. |
| Element-level structure | Lives in the analyst's spreadsheet layout. | Folder names only. No concept of an element. | Five elements as objects, priority elements flagged. |
| Who's waiting on whom | Ask the analyst. Often accurate. | Upload status, not task ownership. | Verifier tasks and portal requests with an owner and a due date. |
| SLA visibility | A diary entry. Visible to one person. | None. | Phase target dates with on track / at risk / overdue across the book. |
| Scoring auditability | Formulas are visible — if you trust the sheet's lineage. | Not in scope. | Every coefficient cites gazette, series and paragraph, versioned by effective date. |
| Technical-signatory sign-off | A signature on a printed pack. | Generic approvals, no verification context. | Five-role chain; sign-off blocked until rules and evidence gates pass. |
| Four verification types | Held in experienced staff's heads. Flexible, and fragile. | One folder template for everything. | Full Verification / Re-Evaluation, ARL, Non-Compliant and Joint Venture as configuration. |
| Certificate issue & public verification | Word template, emailed PDF. Fast, once set up. | Stores the PDF. No verification page. | Certificate with number and expiry, plus a public page for procurement officers. |
| When the codes change | Rebuild the sheet, re-check every formula. | Unaffected — it does not score. | Your signatory authors and signs off the new rule set in-product. |
Evidence collection
- Email, Excel & diary
- Attachments in a thread; whoever replies last is the version.
- Generic document portal
- Files land in folders. Upload works well.
- Verista
- Tokenised portal, evidence items per element, accept / reject / needs revision.
Element-level structure
- Email, Excel & diary
- Lives in the analyst's spreadsheet layout.
- Generic document portal
- Folder names only. No concept of an element.
- Verista
- Five elements as objects, priority elements flagged.
Who's waiting on whom
- Email, Excel & diary
- Ask the analyst. Often accurate.
- Generic document portal
- Upload status, not task ownership.
- Verista
- Verifier tasks and portal requests with an owner and a due date.
SLA visibility
- Email, Excel & diary
- A diary entry. Visible to one person.
- Generic document portal
- None.
- Verista
- Phase target dates with on track / at risk / overdue across the book.
Scoring auditability
- Email, Excel & diary
- Formulas are visible — if you trust the sheet's lineage.
- Generic document portal
- Not in scope.
- Verista
- Every coefficient cites gazette, series and paragraph, versioned by effective date.
Technical-signatory sign-off
- Email, Excel & diary
- A signature on a printed pack.
- Generic document portal
- Generic approvals, no verification context.
- Verista
- Five-role chain; sign-off blocked until rules and evidence gates pass.
Four verification types
- Email, Excel & diary
- Held in experienced staff's heads. Flexible, and fragile.
- Generic document portal
- One folder template for everything.
- Verista
- Full Verification / Re-Evaluation, ARL, Non-Compliant and Joint Venture as configuration.
Certificate issue & public verification
- Email, Excel & diary
- Word template, emailed PDF. Fast, once set up.
- Generic document portal
- Stores the PDF. No verification page.
- Verista
- Certificate with number and expiry, plus a public page for procurement officers.
When the codes change
- Email, Excel & diary
- Rebuild the sheet, re-check every formula.
- Generic document portal
- Unaffected — it does not score.
- Verista
- Your signatory authors and signs off the new rule set in-product.
Comparison describes categories of tooling, not specific products. Verista is software built for SANAS-accredited agencies; accreditation belongs to the agency.
Traceability & compliance
From the recognition level back to the gazette paragraph.
Every number on a certificate resolves downward: level to scorecard, scorecard to element, element to evidence item, evidence item to the rule and the paragraph that mandates it — and the rule set that was in force on the measurement date.
- Rule sets are versioned by effective date and cannot be used to certify until signed off.
- Every accept, reject and sign-off carries a user, a timestamp and a reason.
- Aligned to the Codes of Good Practice; built for SANAS-accredited agencies.
The approval chain
Five roles, each with its own view.
01
Administrator
Opens jobs, configures workflows and rule sets, manages agency users and client portals.
02
Verification analyst
Works the file: evidence review, accept or reject, sampling, onsite visit, scorecard capture.
03
Technical signatory
Signs off rule sets and certificates, with the full citation trail behind every number.
04
B-BBEE champion
On the measured entity's side: uploads evidence, answers queries, tracks outstanding items.
05
Consultant
Refers work in and follows progress on referred files, without seeing the agency's book.
[CUSTOMER QUOTE]
Security & hosting
Data resident in South Africa.
Verification files carry payroll, ownership and financial records. They stay in-country, under your agency's control.
South African data residency
Hosted in South African regions; client evidence does not leave the country.
POPIA-aligned handling
Lawful-basis records, retention rules per job, and deletion on request.
Role-based access
Five roles, per-job assignment, and tokenised client links scoped to one file.
Immutable audit log
Every state change recorded with actor, timestamp and reason. Exportable per file.
Questions
Before you move a single file.
What happens to files already in flight?
Open jobs are brought in at whichever phase they are in, with the evidence already gathered attached to the right elements. You do not have to finish the current cycle on the old process.
How long does migration take?
Configuration of your workflows, rule sets and roles is the work; document history is loaded per client as their next cycle opens. Most agencies run one verification type in parallel first.
Who owns the data?
Your agency does. Evidence, scorecards, certificates and the audit log are yours, exportable per file at any time, and remain exportable for the notice period if you leave.
How is it priced?
[PRICING]
Does using Verista affect our accreditation?
Accreditation belongs to your agency, not to software. Verista is built for SANAS-accredited agencies and aligned to the Codes of Good Practice; it holds no accreditation, approval or endorsement of its own.
What happens when the codes are amended?
Your technical signatory authors the new rule set in-product and signs it off with an effective date. Files already certified keep the rule set they were measured against.
See a file run end to end on your own workflow.
Forty-five minutes with your technical signatory and one analyst. Bring a real job.
Book a demo
No obligation, no data required.