With twelve team members, a working SaaS product, and a growing customer base, your startup is off to a good start. Security matters, but nobody carries “compliance manager” in their job title. A potential enterprise customer suddenly requests a SOC 2 report.
What exactly do you do next?
Grabbing dozens of policies immediately is not the first step for founders researching how to get SOC 2 certification. Begin by making a few decisions that define what your company needs to document, put in place, and prove.
Settle the Scope of Your First Audit
SOC 2 measures controls against the AICPA Trust Services Criteria. The criteria are organized into five categories: Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy. Among them, only Security is required. The remaining categories are included when they’re relevant to the organization’s services and commitments. For a startup running a straightforward business application, beginning with Security alone can work, provided that scope meets customer expectations.
Before collecting evidence, identify the applications, infrastructure, employees, and service providers involved. Keeping the scope overly broad creates additional work, and it doesn’t necessarily increase the report’s usefulness.
Choose the Report That Matches Your Deadline
Anybody wondering how to get SOC 2 certified soon runs into two reporting options. The design of controls as of a specified date is what Type 1 evaluates. Type 2 examines their design and operating effectiveness throughout a defined period. Type 1 may be a useful starting point when an enterprise customer needs evidence fast, provided the customer accepts it.
For businesses investigating how to get SOC 2 type 2 certification, the process includes an observation period, commonly three to twelve months, followed by an independent examination. Type 2 does not require completing Type 1 first. Before paying for either examination, check your customer’s requirements.
Tackle the Everyday Security Gaps Before Anything Else
Linking security controls to ordinary business activities makes SOC 2 preparation more manageable. For example, require multi-factor authentication for important accounts, set up a documented employee offboarding process, and review access permissions on a regular basis.
Evidence of production changes and approvals should be kept by engineering teams. Risk assessments and relevant supplier reviews should be recorded by leadership. Write policies that reflect what employees actually do. There is limited value in a beautifully written procedure that nobody follows.
Keep Your Evidence Organized Before the Auditor Asks
In practice, SOC 2 for saas companies involves demonstrating that relevant controls exist and, for Type 2, operate consistently. An auditor may well ask about when a former employee’s access was removed or whether a production deployment received appropriate approval.
Reconstructing these records months later is harder than gathering them as activities occur. Small teams that need help can organize this work with CertAssist’s built-in controls, editable policy templates, evidence checklists, and document storage.
There’s no need for direct integrations with company systems. Evidence gets uploaded by the team, and auditors can be provided with read-only access.
Understand the Independent Audit Requirement
Strictly speaking, SOC 2 is an attestation rather than a certification. A licensed CPA firm performs the examination and issues the SOC 2 report. Software can help prepare and organize evidence, yet it cannot replace the independent auditor.
A monthly promotional subscription of US$225 covering SOC 2, ISO 27001, and its other supported frameworks is advertised by CertAssist. Independent audits are a separate expense. A quote from an auditor reflecting your business size, selected criteria, and intended reporting period is worth requesting before you budget.
Make Compliance Manageable After the First Report
A completed SOC 2 examination shouldn’t mark the end of your security activities. As time passes, employees join and leave, applications change, and new suppliers become part of your operations. Your controls must stay relevant.
Make sure each responsibility has a clear owner, evidence is retained throughout the year, and documented procedures are reviewed regularly against reality. For a growing startup, keeping this up will make future examinations easier and supports the security expectations of customers who depend on your software.