PwC Australia recently launched a new certification and compliance service as an expansion into the quality assurance market.

The new service, which will sit within the PwC’s assurance business, offers certification against International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards, compliance audits for organizations with multiple operating sites, and training in ISO management systems.

“With trust in business in decline, organizations worldwide are looking at how they can reverse this trend, demonstrate quality, and build confidence in their products, services and systems,” says Matt Graham, assurance managing partner. “Demonstrating compliance with industry, global, and local standards is one of the ways they can do this.

“This is reflected in the rising number of ISO certificates issued globally over the past few years, particularly in Asia, and the continuing emergence of new standards for example around food safety and information security.”

Graham reports that PwC often hears from clients that the journey to certification is overwhelming, fragmented, and complex.

“Ultimately we want to flip the idea that certification and compliance is simply about being handed a report card from an auditor on what needs fixing,” Graham says. “We want to engage our clients in conversation around interesting findings we’ve discovered about their business that could help their growth and efficiency.”

In addition to standards certification, Graham explains that PwC can now work with organizations to perform compliance audits across multiple locations.

“Despite us entering a relatively mature market, certification and compliance will always be relevant for our clients because of the critical role it plays in their operations, strategy, and reputation.

“I am really excited about what this opportunity means for the firm as we start to build our presence in part of the assurance market that we have not historically tapped into.”