Vendor Due Diligence Checklist: 31 Steps to Selecting a Third Party

Due diligence processes for vendor procurement vary by company, industry, and region. Some regulatory bodies dictate due diligence practices, and some industry groups have adopted standardized processes. In addition, requirements may change based on the type of vendor being assessed.

While there is no universal standard, there are certain pieces of information which all procurement and risk professionals should consider gathering while conducting vendor due diligence and creating their vendor due diligence checklist.

We’ve compiled this vendor due diligence checklist as an overview of the types of information that should play a role in procurement decision making. Not every item in this list is a necessity, but the more you complete, the more thoroughly you’ll be able to mitigate risk in the vendor selection process.

Vendor Due Diligence Checklist

Basic Company Information

Collecting this information helps ensure that the company is (1) legitimate and (2) licensed to do business in your area. You’ll also want to collect information on key personnel for use in further risk assessments.

• Articles of incorporation (or similar corporate charter)
• Business license
• Company structure overview
• Biographical information of executives and Board members
• Location (are they located in a high-risk country?)
• Proof of location, such as photographs or an on-site visit
• References from credible sources

[Learn how to perform a quantifiable vendor security analysis.]

Financial Information

Assessing financials isn’t as important for vendors as it would be for other vendor due diligence targets, like potential acquisitions. However, you do want to check whether the vendor is financially solvent and paying their taxes. There’s no sense working with a vendor that won’t be in business next month. Conversely, a strong growth pattern could forecast an increase in prices down the line.

• Tax documents
• Balance sheets
• Loans and other liabilities
• Major assets
• Compensation structure

Political & Reputational Risk

Vendors that will have access to important information or systems must be subject to an added level of scrutiny. Corruption or political weaknesses could potentially be dangerous, and their scandals could quickly become your scandals.

• Check the organization against key watch lists, global sanctions lists, and lists published by regulators
• Check key personnel against politically exposed persons (PEP) lists and law enforcement lists
• Risk-related internal policies and procedures
• Reports from agencies like the CFPB
• Litigation history of company and individuals
• Negative news reports
• Complaints and negative reviews

Cyber Risk

Data breaches that originate with third parties are becoming increasingly common, and they rank among the most expensive types of cyber attacks. Though assessing third-party cyber risk is traditionally left until after procurement, there is a strong argument for its inclusion in the due diligence process.

• BitSight Security Rating
• Cyber risk assessment questionnaire
• IT system outline
• Penetration test results
• Site visit to assess physical cybersecurity
• History of data breaches
• Security awareness testing performance

Operational Risk

As part of the vendor due diligence process, you’ll want to assess whether the vendor is exposed to operational risks that could negatively affect your company. One example of this type of risk would be downtime for a SaaS provider which could impact operations at the organizations in their network.

• Disaster preparedness plan
• Business continuity plan
• BitSight Discover map
• Employee turnover rates, employee lawsuits, and other indicators of toxic culture
• Code of conduct

What’s next?

After data is collected, it must then be verified and compared with best practices and your organization’s risk appetite to determine whether a vendor relationship should be pursued.

Many of the items listed above are not limited to the vendor due diligence process. Some, such as BitSight Security Ratings, also play a key role in ongoing vendor monitoring and third-party risk management.