FSC audit: what the auditor asks for and how to organize chain of custody from the ERP
What an FSC audit really looks at
FSC chain-of-custody certification guarantees that the certified material coming into the printing plant is the same material leaving with the FSC claim on the invoice. The rules are in standard FSC-STD-40-004, and the annual audit checks whether the company can prove it with records.
In practice, the auditor does not want a speech: they want to see documents that match each other. Purchasing, inventory, production and sales telling the same story.
What the auditor asks for (and where it usually falls short)
1. Purchases of certified material
- Purchase invoices with the FSC claim and the supplier's certificate code.
- Proof that the supplier's certificate was valid and covered that product on the purchase date. You check this in the FSC certificate database.
Where it falls short: a purchase recorded in the ERP without the claim, or a supplier certificate that expired without anyone noticing.
2. Product groups and control system
The company defines the product groups it sells as FSC and the control system for each one: transfer, percentage or credit. The chosen rule must be followed on every order.
Where it falls short: the control system is in the manual, but not in day-to-day production.
3. Conversion factors
How much paper goes in and how much product comes out, per product group. This is what lets you prove that the quantity sold as FSC is not greater than the quantity purchased.
Where it falls short: a conversion factor estimated once and never reviewed.
4. Sales with claims
Sales invoices and delivery documents with the correct FSC claim and the printer's own certificate code.
Where it falls short: the claim text typed by hand on some invoices and forgotten on others.
5. Annual volume summary
Inputs and outputs of certified material per product group for the period. It is the reconciliation that cross-checks everything above.
Where it falls short: put together in a spreadsheet the week of the audit, with numbers that do not match the ERP.
6. Records, training and trademark
- Records kept for at least 5 years.
- Staff trained in the chain-of-custody procedures.
- Use of the FSC trademark on products and materials only with approval.
Why the spreadsheet is the biggest risk
All the data the auditor needs already flows through the ERP: purchase invoices, requisitions, production orders, sales invoices. When FSC control lives in a parallel spreadsheet, someone has to copy and check that data by hand. That is where the number that does not add up, the invoice without a claim and the expired certificate discovered in front of the auditor come from.
Checklist to arrive with confidence
- List your FSC suppliers and check each certificate's validity.
- Check that purchase invoices carry the claim and the certificate code.
- Review product groups and the control system for each one.
- Update conversion factors with actual production data.
- Check a sample of FSC sales invoices.
- Build the volume summary from the ERP, not from memory.
- Record team training.
Where SENSO IT comes in
SENSO IT's FSC Control organizes the chain of custody from ERP data, with a tracking dashboard all year round and alerts before the auditor's visit. When integrations are in place, it combines data from more than one system. The SENSO IT team reviews the information with the company's FSC lead and stays alongside them through the audit. The certificate is issued by the accredited certification body. Explore FSC Control.