Achieving security certification (such as PCI DSS or another of the PCI family) is not just a formality – it is a process that requires precise planning, resources and awareness of hidden costs. The industry rarely talks openly about what the price of certification is dependent on, leaving customers in the dark until the quotation stage. At Patronusec, as a company with more than several decades of experience in audits for Fortune 100 organisations, we believe that transparency builds trust. In this article, we offer a clear and practical overview of certification costs, using PCI DSS as a primary example. We outline effective strategies for managing these expenses while avoiding common pitfalls associated with traditional billing models. Although the focus is on PCI DSS, the insights, challenges, and recommendations shared here are equally relevant to other standards, including PCI P2PE, PCI SSF, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, ISO 9001, Cyber Essentials, TISAX, and beyond.
Who can issue a PCI certificate?
A PCI certificate (any certificate in the PCI family) can only be issued by an organisation that is accredited by the PCI SSC. This is important because there are a lot of companies on the market that provide consultancy services, including even some Acquirers, but it is important to remember that trusting such companies is using internet rather than goining to a doctor when you are ill. Firstly, for non-accredited firms, you cannot validate their experience. Secondly, their activities—many of which may lead to additional costs—are typically not covered by any form of insurance. As a result, clients who are misled have little to no recourse for compensation. In contrast, QSA-certified companies maintain comprehensive insurance coverage to protect clients in the event of unforeseen issues. When engaging with a non-listed QSA provider, it becomes your responsibility to verify whether they carry appropriate insurance coverage. And finally – they are not subject to any QSA company evaluation or quality assurance programmes, have not paid the licence fee and do not train their employees as registered QSA companies do. Remember that every QSA company has to pay the licence fee, train its employees and deepen and consolidate knowledge. At Patronusec, our team completes over 20 professional exams annually to stay ahead of fast-evolving industry developments.
Why is the cost of certification not a “fixed amount” and what does it depend on?
When asking any QSA company about the cost of certification, you will most often get the answer – “it depends”. The price of certification depends on the unique context of your organisation and a number of other factors, but to be transparent – below are the most important elements that influence the cost. Remember that even two companies in the same industry can incur dramatically different costs due to factors such as the scale of infrastructure, level of standardisation or number of suppliers.
The key elements affecting price are:
1. Scope of certification
The more business processes, systems, servers, locations, people and service providers are audited, the higher the likely costs. This is a very obvious approach.
For example, a retail chain with 500 shops has to make up to 30 randomly selected outlets available for audit (according to the 10% sampling rule, max. 30), which generates travel and time costs for the auditors. Each model of POS device increases the workload.
2. Environment standardisation
Standardisation is always an element of scope and cost reduction. Based on our experience, organisations with standardised management processes (e.g. configuration of all servers by a Terraform solution, standardised management procedures, automation of IT management) reduce costs by up to 40-60% compared to companies managing components manually or with high granularity. Automation allows auditors such as ourselves to check a representative sample much more efficiently, rather than analysing each component individually. With use of automation, we might also not need to sample and just check the entire population.
3. Locations and logistics
Although the approach to on-site auditing is changing, PCI SSC would like to see PCI QSA companies spend time at the client’s site all the time. So the on-site element is an important factor here, especially if as a Client you have locations in multiple locations – countries, regions or even continents. An audit of 30 shops scattered across the country is a completely different cost than an audit of 30 sites in one city. Remember also that in some specific cases, security standards (e.g. requirements such as PCI P2PE) mandate a full review of all devices/locations, without sampling.
4. Suppliers and their compliance
Using certified suppliers (e.g. PCI DSS, ISO 27001 etc.) allows you to exclude them from the scope of the audit, reducing your time and costs. Remember that while you are not obliged to use PCI-certified suppliers, if a supplier does not meet the standards, its scope of services must be reviewed, and unfortunately, at your expense. One more important element to consider – the certification of the provider must be a PCI DSS certification. This means that if your supplier is ISO 27001 certified – unfortunately, we cannot use it for your certification.
5. Technology diversity
PCI Assessment is primarily an overview of technology configurations in scope. Each unique technology (e.g. separate systems for online and fixed payments, different types of operating systems, databases) requires a separate documentation, configuration and testing standard. A company with a unified technology stack will pay less than an organisation using 5 different tools for the same purpose.
6. Organisational readiness
Keep in mind that the PCI assessment is the final step in your compliance journey—not the starting point. Reaching that stage requires thorough preparation. Skipping the internal audit is akin to taking a driving test without any prior lessons. Re-certification costs caused by documentation gaps, technical deficiencies, or misinterpretation of the standard can exceed 200% of your initial budget. A gap analysis is a smart investment that helps identify and resolve issues early, avoiding unnecessary expenses down the line.
Pricing models: Time & Material vs. Fixed Fee. Why it matters?
The industry predominantly uses Time & Material billing, where clients pay for auditors’ hourly work. This is risky: as unforeseen issues (e.g., missing encryption in subsystems) can double costs.
At Patronusec, we use a Fixed Fee model – a predetermined price for a defined scope. We absorb the risk of additional work, ensuring clients know the total cost upfront.
How to reduce certification costs? 4 proven strategies
1. Bundling of services: Why combine certification with other projects?
By purchasing a package of services – such as a PCI DSS audit together with penetration tests and vulnerability scanning -you could reduce your overall costs by as much as 25–30%. This is due to inherent synergies: the results of penetration testing are used to validate elements of your infrastructure, technical implementations, which, in turn, shortens the time required by consultants.
You are free to combine services as you see fit. Among the most popular options are:
- ASV scanning
- Internal vulnerability scanning
- Penetration testing
- Wi-Fi security assessments
- Policy creation and alignment
- vCISO services (Virtual Chief Information Security Officer)
- Staff training
2. Automated management
One of the most effective ways to lower the costs of PCI DSS certification is through the implementation of automation and standardisation across your organisation’s processes. Companies adopting Infrastructure as Code (IaC) or Security as Code approaches could reduce audit time by up to 50%. Why? Approach „as a code” is consistent, easier to verify, and eliminates errors associated with manual configuration management.
The more automated and standardised your processes, the less time auditors must spend assessing your environment. Key practices that significantly reduce costs include:
- Centrally managed CI/CD automation: Pipelines configured in code (e.g. Terraform, Ansible) enable auditors to review a single set of rules, rather than numerous individual setups.
- Automatic code testing: Automatic code testing tools save a lot of time and at the same time ensure that code is always properly tested and goes into production without holes.
- Technology unification: Eliminating redundant or duplicate tools (for example, two different log management systems) simplifies the audit process and decreases the scope of documentation required for verification.
Standardisation is about more than tidy records – it also saves time and resources. Organisations that implement a unified approach to technology management consistently achieve better results during audits. The cornerstones of effective standardisation include:
- A unified development process throughout the organisation: Consistent DevOps practices reduce the number of exceptions auditors must review.
- Training and awareness tools for employees: Deploying educational platforms enables automated tracking of team progress and compliance with security policies.
- ‘X as a Code’ approach: Whether it concerns infrastructure, cloud, or security policies, code is easier to review than manual configurations.
Code is precise, repeatable, and easily analysed by audit tools, allowing auditors to focus on holistic process compliance rather than individual, manually configured cases.
3. The choice of certified suppliers
In the context of PCI DSS certification, working with a PCI DSS certified POS provider or implementing software with the PCI SSF standard, eliminates the need to audit its solutions in your organisation. Why? Because the PCI DSS standard recognises that a PCI DSS or PCI SSF certified provider already provides built-in security (e.g. end-to-end encryption) that does not require additional verification on your part.
While PCI DSS does not oblige you to select certified providers, their use is a strategic convenience. Example: If you apply for PCI DSS certification and your cloud provider is certified, you can exclude its infrastructure from the scope of the audit. This reduces the number of systems to be checked, saving up to 30% of the auditors’ time – and therefore reducing costs.
However, the market is not black and white. Vendors offering certificate compliant services often charge more, arguing for “higher compliance costs”. In practice, supplier certification is a negotiating tool.
Indirect costs are lower. By paying more for the service offered by a certified supplier, you save on audits and remedial activities.
4. Preparing for Certification under Expert Guidance
PCI DSS certification can be likened to a driving test – without proper preparation, you risk failing at the first attempt and incurring the costs of repeated efforts. The key is to carry out an internal audit or gap analysis under the supervision of an experienced consultant. This approach enables you to identify weaknesses, understand the auditors’ expectations, and practise the certification process before the formal proceedings begin.
Although an expert consultant’s hourly rate is likely to be several times higher than that of your own staff, their experience can reduce preparation time by as much as 60–70%. Why?
Experts:
- Understand audit frameworks, helping you avoid mistakes that can prolong the process (for example, incomplete documentation).
- Propose proven solutions, such as automated access control, which lowers ongoing compliance costs.
- Work with precision, resolving issues within hours, which might otherwise take your internal team days.
- Work with so many organizations across many market sectors and can propose solutions you might not even be aware of.
Investing in expert-led preparation is not so much an expense as an economy. At Patronusec, drawing on experience from over 100 certifications in 60 countries, we consistently shorten audit times and eliminate the risk of costly corrections. Remember: a properly prepared single certification attempt costs far less than three insufficiently prepared ones.
What can you expect?
So how much? Of course, the final amount depends. As you have seen – it is not a simple Excel but a complex process – however, we can estimate some ranges.
If you are thinking about PCI DSS certification for your business, you have to assume an amount minimum €5,000 net. The upper limit is around €120-150,000, but this can really depend on other services, factors such as geographical distribution, whether you are also buying pen tests, scans, additional services etc. Of course, if you store card numbers, have multiple locations and a complex business model – don’t expect a figure of €5k – rather a multiple of that. However, remember that in this price you not only get an audit, but also advice and support throughout the entire process of obtaining certification.
Why choose Patronusec?
● Fixed Fee, no “surprises”: No hidden costs – even if the audit requires 3 rounds of revisions.
● Service quality guarantee: If we are the ones preparing you for certification, we reimburse 100% of the costs if PCI DSS certification is not awarded to you. We take responsibility for our advice – seriously.
● Global experience: We have served more than 200 clients in 60 countries, including financial sector entities covered by DORA. We have a broad view of the market and the experience to deliver the best solutions for you.
Ready to take control of your PCI DSS certification costs? Schedule a free consultation with us today. We’ll assess your specific situation and share proven strategies to reduce expenses—without sacrificing quality or compliance. With over a decade of international experience across Europe, Asia, and North America, Patronusec has helped every one of our clients avoid hidden costs through our transparent Fixed Fee model. No surprises. No uncertainty. Just results you can trust.
