Your startup employs twelve employees, a live SaaS product, and a steadily growing customer base. People take security seriously, though no one has “compliance manager” as a job title. A potential enterprise customer next requests a SOC 2 report.
What exactly should you do first?
For founders researching how to get SOC 2 certification, the answer is not to download dozens of policies straight away. The real first step is to make a few choices that define what your company needs to document, implement, and prove.
Decide What Your First Audit Should Cover
Your controls are evaluated using the AICPA Trust Services Criteria in a SOC 2 examination. There are five areas: Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy. Among them, only Security is required. Add the remaining categories only when they are relevant to the organization’s services and commitments. Provided that scope meets customer expectations, a startup offering a straightforward business application may begin with Security alone.
Before you collect any evidence, identify the applications, infrastructure, employees, and service providers involved. A broader scope brings extra work, though not always a more valuable report.
Type 1 vs. Type 2? Let the Deadline Decide
There are two reporting options for anyone searching for how to get SOC 2 certified. As of a specified date, Type 1 examines the design of controls. Type 2 goes further, examining both design and operating effectiveness over a defined period. When an enterprise customer needs evidence quickly, Type 1 may be a practical starting point, so 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. Type 1 isn’t a mandatory prerequisite for Type 2. Verify your customer’s requirements before paying for either examination.
Fix Everyday Security Gaps First
Connecting security controls to everyday business activities makes SOC 2 preparation more manageable. For instance, enforce multi-factor authentication for important accounts, establish a documented employee offboarding process, and review access permissions regularly.
Evidence of production changes and approvals should be retained by engineering teams. Risk assessments and relevant supplier reviews should be recorded by management. Policies must reflect what employees actually do. There is limited value in a beautifully written procedure that no one follows.
Keep Your Evidence Organized Before the Auditor Asks
At its core, SOC 2 for saas companies means 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.
Gathering these records as activities occur is easier than reconstructing them months later. CertAssist assists small teams organize this work with built-in controls, editable policy templates, evidence checklists, and document storage.
There’s no need for direct integrations with company systems. Teams upload evidence themselves and can give auditors read-only access.
Understand the Independent Audit Requirement
SOC 2 is formally an attestation, not a certification. The SOC 2 report is issued by a licensed CPA firm that performs the examination. Compliance software helps prepare and organize evidence, but it cannot replace the independent auditor.
CertAssist promotes a US$225 monthly promotional subscription covering SOC 2, ISO 27001, and its other supported frameworks. Independent audits are a separate expense. Before budgeting, ask for an auditor’s quote based on your business size, selected criteria, and intended reporting period.
Make the Process Manageable After the First Report
A completed SOC 2 examination shouldn’t mark the end of your security work. Your operations keep changing: people join and leave, applications change, and new suppliers appear. It’s important that your controls remain relevant.
Set clear responsibilities, retain evidence throughout the year, and periodically review whether your documented procedures match reality. As your startup grows, keeping this up makes future examinations easier and supports the security expectations of customers who depend on your software.