With twelve team members, a working SaaS product, and an expanding customer base, your startup is off to a good start. Everyone cares about security, though no one holds “compliance manager” in their job title. Then, a prospective enterprise customer requests a SOC 2 report.
So, where should you start?
If you’re a founder researching how to get SOC 2 certification, don’t grab dozens of policies immediately. Start by making a few decisions that determine what your company needs to document, implement, and prove.
Decide What Your First SOC 2 Audit Should Cover
SOC 2 measures controls against the AICPA Trust Services Criteria. Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy are the areas they cover. Security is mandatory. Add the other categories only when they are relevant to the organization’s services and commitments. A startup running a straightforward business application may start with Security alone, as long as that scope meets customer expectations.
List the applications, infrastructure, employees, and service providers involved before collecting evidence. A broader scope brings extra work, but not always a more valuable report.
Choose the Report That Matches Your Deadline
People searching for how to get SOC 2 certified often discover two reporting options. Type 1 looks at the design of controls as of a specified date. Over a defined period, Type 2 examines both their design and operating effectiveness. Type 1 may be a useful first step when an enterprise customer needs evidence fast, as long as 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. You do not have to complete Type 1 ahead of Type 2. Before paying for either examination, verify your customer’s requirements.
Begin With Day-to-Day Security Basics
Connecting security controls to ordinary business activities helps make SOC 2 preparation easier to manage. Think of enforcing multi-factor authentication for important accounts, establishing a documented employee offboarding process, and reviewing access permissions on a regular basis.
Evidence of production changes and approvals should be retained by development teams. Risk assessments and relevant supplier reviews should be documented by management. Policies must describe what employees actually do. There is limited value in a beautifully written procedure that no one follows.
Keep Your Evidence Organized Before Problems Start
Showing that relevant controls exist and, for Type 2, operate consistently is the heart of SOC 2 for saas companies. An auditor may well ask when a former employee’s access was removed or whether a production deployment received appropriate approval.
Gathering these records as activities occur is much easier than reconstructing them months afterward. Through built-in controls, editable policy templates, evidence checklists, and document storage, CertAssist supports small teams organize this work.
The platform doesn’t require direct integrations with company systems. Evidence gets uploaded by the team, and auditors can be given read-only access.
Know Exactly What the Independent Audit Requires
Technically, SOC 2 is an attestation rather than a certification. The SOC 2 report is issued by a licensed CPA firm that conducts the examination. Compliance software helps prepare and organize evidence, but it cannot replace the independent auditor.
A US$225 monthly promotional subscription that covers SOC 2, ISO 27001, and its other supported frameworks is advertised by CertAssist. Independent audits are a separate cost. A quote from an auditor reflecting your business size, selected criteria, and intended reporting period is worth requesting before you budget.
What Happens After Your First SOC 2 Report
Security work shouldn’t stop once the SOC 2 examination is completed. As time passes, employees join and leave, applications change, and new suppliers become part of your operations. Controls have to stay relevant.
Assign clear responsibilities, retain evidence throughout the year, and periodically review whether your documented procedures match 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.