It’s the question every executive asks—and rightly so. As organisations recognise the importance of improving the security of their information assets, ISO/IEC 27001 (ISO 27001) has emerged as one of the most adopted security framework frameworks, providing not only a structured approach to managing information security risks but also a formal certification to demonstrate conformance to customers, vendors, government agencies and others.
While we wish we could provide a straightforward answer, the reality is more complex. However, the cost can be better understood by identifying what the certification process entails and where your organisation should direct its investment. The following diagram provides a high-level end-to-endISO27001 certification.
For a small to medium-sized organisation with one or two offices in Australia and a modest IT environment, the cost of an ISO 27001 certification audit generally ranges from AUD 15,000 to AUD 25,000. This figure may vary depending on factors such as:
• The scope of certification, i.e. is the certification covering the whole of the business or a section/department
• The complexity of IT operation, including hosting, is on-prem, public, private cloud or a combination of the above
• The reputation and pricing structure of the certification body
• The auditor’s location, travel costs, and daily rates
Admittedly, this is not a small budget. Where expert consultants like us Spartans Security (ISO27001/ISMS Compliance Services) can offer the most value is not in reducing the cost of certification, which is largely fixed and driven by the market. Instead, we help organisations minimise the cost of ISO27001 implementation, which is often the most time-consuming and resource-intensive part of the journey.
Despite what people may think, the biggest cost impacting ISO27001 is not related to Annex A controls, but it resides in implementing an Information Security Management System (ISMS).
Achieving ISO27001 certification does not require an extensive overhaul of your systems or the purchase of expensive new technology; most of the ISO27001 compliance requirements can be met within your system's existing controls and tools. Certification is not about the number of controls you have in place but how well your organisation conforms to the ISMS system clauses outlined in the standard.
Consultants play a critical role in helping organisations streamline the ISO27001 implementation journey by taking the following strategies:
Rather than buying new tools or systems, our consultants look at ways to leverage your existing tools, such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or your ticketing systems. We check what needs to be configured, upgraded or documented to meet control requirements.
For example, access control, logging, or incident management capabilities can often be achieved through simple and native features in tools you're already paying for.
Developing documentation from scratch is time-consuming and costly. Rather than re-inventing the wheel, consultants use good fit-for-purpose templates for policies, risk registers, audit plans, and incident response procedures, and then tailor them to your business context.
This drastically reduces the time spent drafting documents and ensures alignment with audit expectations.
We work with organisations to target high-risk areas first, ensuring your limited resources are spent where they provide the greatest value. Not all controls from Annex A need to be implemented immediately; controls should be selected based on a risk-driven approach.
A lightweight, risk-based Statement of Applicability (SoA) saves time and money while satisfying certification criteria.
We design implementation roadmaps that align with your priority to meet certification, financial capacity and resource availability. Instead of attempting to complete everything at once, a phased approach enables the business to build capability gradually while still working toward certification. Since many of the required process changes will need some time to be well implemented and mature within the business’s DNA, rushing or compressing the implementation timeline may not be advisable or achievable for the company. We suggest that the implementation should take place over 6-18 months.
After an organisation puts a lot of time and effort into meeting ISO27001 and gets certified in the first year, many businesses struggle to keep their compliance status in subsequent years; as such, they face the risk of losing their current certification status in Year 2 onward. Our team helps build the right process and schedule in place to ensure that organisations maintain their ISO27001 compliance after the first year.
Training internal staff to manage parts of the ISMS, such as internal audits, risk assessments, or awareness programs, can significantly reduce reliance on external support in the long term.
This also ensures the ISMS becomes part of your organisation’s operational culture, rather than a consultant-led project.
Achieving an ISO27001 certificate is not simple or cheap, but it doesn’t have to be extravagant either if businesses employ the right strategy and partner with the right resources. The key is to focus on building a fit-for-purpose management system that meets the standard’s requirements, aligns with the organisation’s goals, and reflects the realities of the budget.
At Spartans Security, our consultants deliver compliance and help you maximise the value of every dollar you spend, avoid unnecessary complexity, and build a sustainable, risk-based security posture.
So yes, the certification cost may not be shoestring—but the journey to get there can be.
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