TacDesk Verified Compliance is an independent compliance standard built around the same seven criteria as the SIA’s Approved Contractor Scheme. It is designed to give UK security companies a structured, measurable pathway to compliance readiness, with a badge system that signals their status publicly and verifiably.
This post explains what TacDesk Verified is, how the badge tiers work, what it means for your business, and how it relates to ACS accreditation itself.
What Is TacDesk Verified Compliance?
TacDesk Verified Compliance is a compliance framework that runs in parallel with the SIA’s ACS. It uses the same seven criteria and the same standards. The goal is straightforward: if your company passes TacDesk Verified Compliance, you should be in a strong position to apply for ACS accreditation with confidence.
Where ACS is an external assessment carried out by an approved certification body, TacDesk Verified is driven by your ongoing performance within the TacDesk platform. Your compliance data, live SIA licence statuses, vetting records, training matrices, risk assessment review dates, and more, is assessed continuously against each criterion. There is no single assessment day. Your score reflects how your company is actually operating, every day.
Important disclaimer: TacDesk Verified Compliance is not ACS accreditation. It is not issued by the SIA, and it does not replace or substitute for formal ACS accreditation. Only the SIA can grant ACS accredited status. TacDesk Verified is a compliance readiness standard that runs alongside ACS.
The Three Badge Tiers
TacDesk User
The TacDesk User badge indicates that a company is using the TacDesk platform to manage its operations. It does not represent a compliance threshold. This is a starting point, acknowledging that the company is building toward better operational management, not a signal of compliance status.
TacDesk Verified
TacDesk Verified is the first substantive compliance tier. To achieve it, a company must:
- Pass all hard gates, including 100% valid SIA licences for operatives in licensable roles and completed BS 7858 vetting across the workforce
- Meet the minimum threshold score across all seven ACS criteria
The hard gates are non-negotiable. A company with even a single expired SIA licence in a licensable role cannot hold TacDesk Verified status until that is resolved. This reflects the reality of ACS compliance: some requirements are absolute, not scored.
Achieving TacDesk Verified tells clients, prospects, and staff that the company is actively managing compliance across all seven criteria and meeting the baseline standard.
TacDesk Verified Plus
TacDesk Verified Plus is the highest tier. To achieve it, a company must score 90% or above across all seven ACS criteria within TacDesk.
This represents a genuinely high compliance standard. It is for companies that are not just meeting the minimum threshold but are running their compliance function at a high level consistently. A Verified Plus company is one that should have every confidence in its readiness for an ACS assessment.
The Public Badge System
Companies that achieve TacDesk Verified or TacDesk Verified Plus can choose to display their badge publicly. This includes:
An embeddable badge for use on the company’s own website, proposals, and marketing materials.
A listing in TacDesk’s public badge directory at tacdesk.co.uk, where clients and prospects can search for verified companies.
A unique verification page at tacdesk.co.uk/verify/[token], showing the company’s current badge status, the criteria they have met, and when the status was last confirmed.
A QR code on the badge that links directly to the verification page, allowing anyone to confirm the badge is genuine.
Public display is entirely optional. Companies can use all of TacDesk’s compliance tools and maintain their compliance records without any public-facing element. The decision to display the badge is the company’s own.
Why TacDesk Verified Matters
For Your Business
Building and maintaining genuine compliance across seven criteria is significant operational work. TacDesk Verified is a way of recognising that work and making it visible. Rather than compliance existing only as an internal process known only to you and your assessor, Verified status allows you to demonstrate it proactively to clients and prospects.
For Your Clients
Clients who procure security services are often assessing multiple contractors simultaneously. A verifiable, independently readable badge that links to a live compliance status page is a more compelling signal than a written claim. Anyone can say they are compliant. TacDesk Verified shows the evidence in real time.
For the Sector
The security industry benefits when compliance standards rise. TacDesk Verified Compliance is a contribution to raising the baseline. Companies that work toward Verified status are building the operational foundations that make the industry safer and more professional.
The Relationship Between TacDesk Verified and ACS
TacDesk Verified Compliance is designed as a parallel track to ACS, not a replacement for it. The criteria are the same. The standards are the same. If a company maintains TacDesk Verified Plus status, it has been operating above the ACS threshold across all seven criteria, and should be in a very strong position to pursue formal ACS accreditation.
For companies that want ACS accreditation but are not yet ready to apply, TacDesk Verified provides a clear, structured pathway. The work you do to achieve and maintain Verified status is the same work that builds your ACS readiness. When you decide to apply, the evidence is already built and maintained.
To see all seven criteria and what they require, read The 7 ACS Criteria Explained. To understand how TacDesk tracks compliance in practice, see How TacDesk Automates ACS Compliance Tracking.
Book a demo at tacdesk.co.uk to see TacDesk Verified Compliance in action. Starting from £49/month, no contracts, no setup fees.