SOC 2 has become the de facto trust standard for SaaS companies and service providers selling to enterprise customers. If your buyers are asking for it, here's everything you need to know to get started.
What Is SOC 2?
SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2) is an auditing standard developed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). It evaluates how service organizations handle customer data across five Trust Service Criteria: Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy. Security is required; the others are optional depending on your business.
Type 1 vs. Type 2
A SOC 2 Type 1 report evaluates whether your controls are suitably designed at a point in time. A Type 2 report evaluates whether those controls operated effectively over a period of time (typically 6–12 months). Most enterprise buyers require Type 2. Start with Type 1 if you're building from scratch — it establishes your baseline and can shorten the Type 2 observation period.
The Trust Service Criteria You Actually Need
For most SaaS companies, Security and Availability are the most relevant criteria. Security covers access controls, encryption, vulnerability management, and incident response. Availability covers system uptime and recovery capabilities. Confidentiality becomes relevant if you handle sensitive client data. Assess which criteria your customers actually care about before choosing your scope.
How to Prepare: A High-Level Roadmap
Month 1–2: Gap assessment. Evaluate your current controls against the SOC 2 criteria. Identify what's missing or insufficient.
Month 3–4: Remediation. Build or improve the controls identified in your gap assessment. This typically includes access management, vulnerability scanning, logging and monitoring, vendor management, and incident response procedures.
Month 5–6: Policy documentation. Document all policies and procedures. SOC 2 is as much about documentation as it is about controls.
Month 7–12: Observation period. Your controls need to run consistently for a period of time before audit. Evidence collection should be automated where possible.
Month 13+: Audit. Your auditor reviews your controls and evidence. If everything is in order, you receive your SOC 2 report.
Common SOC 2 Mistakes
The most common mistake is underestimating the documentation burden. Controls that exist but aren't documented don't count in a SOC 2 audit. The second most common mistake is failing to collect evidence continuously — scrambling to reconstruct evidence before an audit is a stressful and risky approach.
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