Having your biggest enterprise client require SOC 2 compliance as part of your contract is a pressure situation. Many people think that it is as simple as updating a few policies and scheduling audits. Unfortunately, it is much more complicated, as most organizations find out a lot later down the road. If it is your first SOC 2 audit, you must know the true challenges you are going to face so that you save your time and money. Here are the things that you are going to face during the audit.
Challenge #1: Interpreting the Framework for Your Specific Business
The Core Problem
SOC 2, unlike other compliance verification services that have checklists, is operating on principle-based trust services criteria. So, you must understand those high-level principles and modify them into specific controls that work for your business model.
The Five Trust Services Criteria You’ll Navigate:
| Criterion | What It Covers | Your Challenge |
| Security | Protection against unauthorized access | Defining “adequate” security for your risk profile |
| Availability | System uptime and accessibility | Determining acceptable downtime thresholds |
| Processing Integrity | Complete, accurate, timely processing | Establishing validation controls for your processes |
| Confidentiality | Protection of confidential information | Identifying what qualifies as confidential data |
| Privacy | Personal information handling | Mapping privacy controls to your data flows |
Why This Creates Confusion
- There are many times an auditor may respond with \”it may depend on your business instead of What are the specific requirements.
- What works for a payment processor looks way different than a payment processor for a project management tool.
- You can’t just take the model of another company and assume the auditors will be okay with it.
- You will make judgments calls, articulate your reasoning, and may make changes based on the auditors comments
What you will actually need to do:
- Conduct a risk assessment for your organization
- Articulate your understanding and your interpretation of each of the relevant criteria
- Map your business processes to the Trust Services Criteria
- Construct controls for each of your unique risks
- Get your auditor to validate your approach before you actually do the work of implementing the entire thing
Challenge #2: Building Audit-Ready Documentation from Scratch
What auditors need
You already have strong passwords, perform regular backups, conduct security training, and have change management procedures. You have good security practices in place.
What you need
To your auditors, without written policies, evidence of implementation, and proof of continual operation, your control doesn’t exist.
What You Need to Document:
Policy Layer:
- Information security policy
- Access control policy
- Change management policy
- Incident response policy
- Business continuity policy
- Risk assessment methodology
- Vendor management policy
Operational Evidence Layer:
- Access review logs and approvals
- Change approval records and release notes
- Vulnerability scan results and remediation tracking
- Backup verification reports
- Training completion records and attendance sheets
- Incident response documentation
- Risk assessment results and decisions
- Vendor security assessments
Challenge #3: Balancing Compliance Work with Business Priorities
The Resource Reality Check
A SOC 2 audit will require lots of time and effort from several teams. This creates an immediate paradox of resource availability for startups and mid sized companies that do not have compliance staff.
Time Investment by Team:
| Team | Initial Preparation | Ongoing Maintenance | Key Activities |
| Security/IT | 300-500 hours | 10-20 hours/month | Control implementation, evidence collection, tool configuration |
| Engineering | 100-200 hours | 5-10 hours/month | System changes, integration work, change management compliance |
| Operations | 100-150 hours | 5-10 hours/month | Process documentation, vendor management, access reviews |
| Legal | 50-100 hours | 2-5 hours/month | Contract reviews, policy reviews, privacy assessments |
| Executive | 40-80 hours | 3-5 hours/month | Strategic decisions, budget approvals, auditor meetings |
FAQs
How long do you think it will take to prepare for an SOC 2 audit?
First-time preparation requires an average of 3 to 6 months depending on the size of your organization and the current level of security maturity. Organizations that have pre-existing security programs will move to the next stage quicker while those that have no security programs and will have to build things like adequate security to a level will take 9 to 12 months to obtain the required level of control and adequate evidence to proceed.
What is the difference between a Type 1 and Type 2 SOC 2 audit?
The difference is that Type 1 is a snapshot. It is an audit that assesses if your controls are in place, properly designed, and if they are adequate to meet industry and organizational compliance at a single point in time. On the other hand, Type 2 evaluates if the controls that were designed and were in place are doing what they are supposed to do for a sustained period of time, usually between 3 to 12 months. Type 2 is more desired of the two reports and is a requirement of most customers. Type 2 demonstrates ongoing SOC 2 compliance rather than being a snapshot.
Can I obtain SOC 2 compliance without any external consultants?
Certainly, it is possible to achieve SOC 2 without external consultants and solely using internal resources, however it will take a lot of time and your team will have to work at a level that will require deep expertise. Because of this most organizations will hire consultants to add value, to avoid prolonged timelines and to reduce risk of making expensive mistakes.
What Should You Budget For A SOC 2 Audit?
These costs will differ depending on the size of the company, the scope, complexities, and the number of systems.
Do Small Companies Have To Consider SOC 2 Compliance?
Although legally not required, SOC 2 compliance is becoming a defacto must-have for B2B SaaS companies and for any companies that deal with sensitive information and other customers’ data. Many enterprise clients will not work with a vendor who does not have a SOC 2 audit certificate, regardless of company size. This means that for a business, it is a requirement, not just a means of getting an advantage.
How Often Do You Have To Renew SOC 2 Certification?
SOC 2 Reports have a lifetime of one year, and the clock starts running the moment the audit period is over. Most companies have what is called a ‘annual audit’ in order to keep their certification and ‘audit periods’ overlapping each other to provide ‘continuous coverage’. This means you have to maintain your controls and collect the evidence every day of the week, each week of the year, and not just for the period of time that you have audits.
What happens if your SOC 2 audit has major problems?
You don’t really “pass” or “fail” a SOC 2 audit. Instead, your auditor will issue a report describing your controls while noting any exceptions. Major control failures might lead to an unflattering report which will lower your report’s value to customers. Collaborate with your auditor to comprehend and address any issues before the report is finalized.
In case you need any further guidance with regard to online SOC2 Compliance , please feel free to contact us at 8881-069-069.
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