The Standard
Certification Standards
What Trusted Firms Global certifies, the values a firm or adviser must meet, and how a score is computed and corrected. Clause 2.1 of the Certification Services Terms refers to this page.
Certification standards
Criteria version 2025.12. Effective 10 September 2026.
Firm certification
| Criterion | Standard | Verified | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Survey basis | The firm’s complete invoiced client population for the assessment period – every invoiced client given the opportunity to provide feedback. No firm-chosen sample. | The firm’s complete invoiced client population for the assessment period – every invoiced client given the opportunity to provide feedback. No firm-chosen sample. | The firm’s complete invoiced client population for the assessment period – every invoiced client given the opportunity to provide feedback. No firm-chosen sample. |
| Minimum response rate | No minimum. The response rate is published on the verification page. | No minimum. The response rate is published on the verification page. | No minimum. The response rate is published on the verification page. |
| Minimum responses | 250 | 250 | 250 |
| Minimum score | NPS ≥ 70 | NPS ≥ 70 | NPS ≥ 70. From 10 December 2026, Gold requires NPS ≥ 80. |
| Assessment period | Twelve months to the assessment date | Twelve months to the assessment date | Twelve months to the assessment date |
| Validity | Twelve months from issue | Twelve months from issue | Twelve months from issue |
| Process standards | – | – | Sustained coverage across every cycle for a full year – every client in the firm’s population given the opportunity to provide feedback each cycle, at a frequency proportionate to the client base – with structured detractor follow-up, evidenced. |
Firms with fewer than 250 invoiced clients in the assessment period qualify on coverage rather than volume, assessed over the 24 months to the assessment date: responses from at least 40% of clients, all clients surveyed, and no fewer than 50 responses.
For a firm’s managing principal, Trusted Firms may assess on the full period since the firm joined the program where the twelve-month sample is too small.
Firm certification is assessed by Trusted Firms against these values on the complete verified record; the assessment date and values are shown on the verification page.
At Standard, Trusted Firms does not verify the completeness of the client population and publishes no score. At Verified and Gold, completeness is verified and the score is published. The tiers are described below.
Adviser credential
| Criterion | Trusted Adviser |
|---|---|
| Survey basis | The adviser’s clients within the firm’s complete invoiced client population for the assessment period, as the responsible adviser. No chosen sample. |
| Minimum response rate | 15% |
| Minimum responses | 15 |
| Minimum score | NPS ≥ 45 |
| Assessment period | Twelve months to the assessment date |
| Validity | Twelve months from issue |
Trusted Adviser credentials are issued to advisers within a Trusted Firm. The firm’s certification establishes the survey basis – the complete client population, independently measured – and the adviser standard is an evidence test on the adviser’s own clients within it. A sole practitioner is assessed as a small firm.
What is published
- A credential is a point-in-time assessment against this standard, and its verification page is the record of that assessment: the response count, the assessment window, the basis of the client list and, at Verified and Gold, the score, stated as at the certification date and fixed there. The record is not live. It is corrected only in place, with the correction visible.
- The reviews pages and the widget are the living surfaces. They show all-time figures, labelled “since [month year]” and refreshed on the schedule stated on the page, with what clients value most, adviser pages and consented reviews. They come with the reviews service; the score’s publication does not depend on it – the record publishes it.
- Every figure carries its count and its window. Nothing on the record is suppressed, and the firm does not choose the window: twelve months is the assessment window (24 months on the small-firm basis); all-time, labelled, is the window on reviews pages. Both are legitimate when labelled; neither is legitimate unlabelled.
- One public score: the average client score out of 10. NPS is the assessment metric, seen by the firm on the platform, and appears on the record only as the test (“Standard met: NPS ≥ 70”). A score is displayed only where the response count is at least 30, always with its count and window; firm records at Verified and Gold clear that by definition. Adviser records show the response count, the response rate and that the standard was met, and no score. Reviews pages show the all-time score at 30 or more responses and otherwise say “score published at 30 responses”.
- The standards are code. An assessment function computes the figures from the verified response record held by Client Culture – never from a separately maintained copy – stores the assessment and gates issuance. An operator may issue against the function’s answer only with a recorded reason, and the record says so.
Corrections, fees, review and notice
- A correction is made in place and remains visible as a correction.
- Fees have no bearing on certification outcomes.
- A firm may ask for a review of an assessment or withdrawal decision under clause 6.2 of the Certification Services Terms.
- Changes to these standards are published on this page with at least 90 days’ notice.
Six Standards of Professional Service Excellence
Trusted Firms Global certification is built on six service standards that reflect what clients consistently value in professional services firms. These standards are assessed through independent feedback.
Responsiveness & Reliability
Clients receive timely, reliable responses appropriate to the urgency of their needs.
Clarity & Communication
Clients understand advice and feel kept informed throughout the engagement.
Expertise & Proactive Value Delivery
Clients see value beyond the transaction – advice that anticipates needs and creates forward momentum.
Relationship & Trust-Building
Clients trust their advisers personally and professionally, and feel the relationship is genuinely valued.
Service Accountability & Follow-Through
Clients see promises delivered and issues resolved. Commitments are tracked and honoured.
Staff Recognition & Celebration of Excellence
Staff delivering great service are recognised and celebrated – building a culture of service excellence from within.
Our standards are grounded in established research on how clients experience professional services. Read the research foundations →
Certification Tiers
The certification tier reflects what Trusted Firms Global is willing to vouch for publicly – each tier a stronger public claim than the one below. At Standard: independent measurement and certified status; completeness is not vouched, so no public score is published. At Verified: completeness is verified from a client record the firm cannot curate, which unlocks a public, comparable score. At Gold: sustained rigour with closed-loop accountability.
The firm submits to independent measurement
Independent NPS measurement via Client Culture
Minimum 250 client responses
NPS ≥ 70
Annual measurement cycle
Completeness is not vouched at this tier – and so no public score is published
Client list may be a CRM export or a prepared list
Verification method
Client Culture integrity review – client-list shrinkage monitoring, statistical outlier flagging, and response-rate monitoring (manual review). Completeness is not separately attested at Standard; the public claim is independent measurement and certified status, not a score.
The measurement is structurally protected from selection
All Standard requirements, plus:
Client population drawn from a verifiable client record – the firm’s own, not a list assembled for the survey, so selective omission is detectable
Coverage cross-checked – surveys per fee-earner against firm size, with coverage consistency monitored across cycles
Measurement frequency proportionate to the client base
Survey population drawn by the firm’s operations or finance function – not fee-earners
Verification method
Client population taken from the firm’s own record of its clients – the invoiced-client ledger where the firm bills per engagement, the active-client register where it does not, with invoice amounts supplied where they exist. Coverage and year-over-year shrinkage are reconciled against firm size, making selective omission detectable. Completeness is verified structurally – which is what unlocks the public score.
Sustained rigour with closed-loop accountability
All Verified requirements, plus:
Sustained high coverage across every cycle for a full year – a demonstrated track record
Every client given the opportunity to provide feedback each cycle
Structured detractor follow-up, evidenced – closing the loop on poor scores, with proof it occurred
Verification method
Manual review (mandatory). Sustained coverage and frequency confirmed across a year; detractor follow-up evidence reviewed.
Note on Gold and NPS: Gold requires NPS ≥ 70 today, the same score as Standard and Verified; what distinguishes Gold is the process standards. From 10 December 2026, Gold requires NPS ≥ 80.
Tier comparison
| Criterion | Standard | Verified | Gold |
|---|---|---|---|
| NPS threshold | ≥ 70 | ≥ 70 | ≥ 70 (≥ 80 from 10 December 2026) |
| Min. responses | 250 | 250 | 250 |
| Response rate | Published; no minimum | Published; no minimum | Published; no minimum |
| Measurement cycle | Annual | Proportionate to client base | Proportionate, sustained 12 months |
| Client list source | Prepared list / CRM export | Verifiable client record (invoice amounts where they exist) | As Verified, sustained |
| Selection protection | Manual integrity review (no completeness claim) | Reconcilable client record + coverage checks | As Verified, sustained + tracked |
| Coverage check | Shrinkage + outlier monitoring | Coverage reconciled vs firm size | Sustained coverage every cycle |
| Detractor follow-up | – | – | Structured, with evidence |
| Data path | Firm-submitted | Operations/finance, not fee-earners | Operations/finance, not fee-earners |
| Verification method | Manual integrity review | Reconciliation + coverage review | Manual review (mandatory) |
| Annual renewal | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
How we maintain standards
Minimum participation thresholds – a minimum response count at every tier, and a minimum response rate for adviser credentials
Manual integrity review (Standard tier) – client-list shrinkage, statistical outlier flagging, and response-rate monitoring
Reconciliation of the firm’s own client record, with coverage checks (Verified and Gold tiers)
Year-over-year coverage and shrinkage monitoring helps detect selective omission
Annual renewal required (Gold sustains coverage across every cycle for a full year)
Public verification pages create accountability
Gold's sustained-coverage requirement and evidenced detractor follow-up make selective measurement impractical to sustain
Ready to meet the standard?
Apply for certification and choose your tier.
Common questions
- Why is no score published at Standard?
- Because completeness is not vouched at that tier. A score drawn from a client population whose completeness has not been verified is not comparable to one where it has – it could read high simply because unhappy clients were never in the file. Publishing it would be unfair to firms that did the additional work, so at Standard the public claim is independence and certified status rather than a number.
- What is the difference between Standard, Verified and Gold?
- They differ in what Trusted Firms Global is willing to vouch for publicly. Standard vouches for independent measurement. Verified adds that the client population came from a verifiable client record the firm did not assemble for the survey, which unlocks a public score. Gold adds that this was sustained across every cycle for a full year, with evidenced detractor follow-up.
- Does a higher tier mean a better firm?
- No. Tier reflects the strength of the evidence behind the public claim, not the quality of the firm. A Standard firm may deliver excellent service; what differs is how much Trusted Firms Global is prepared to assert publicly on the available evidence.
- Who decides whether a firm meets the standard?
- Trusted Firms Global sets the standards and awards credentials. The client feedback underlying them is collected and measured by Client Culture, independently of the firms certified. Standards are reviewed annually and certification must be renewed each year.