SOC 2 Compliance Services

SOC 2 Type 2 Reports are important for security and profitability. First, you’ll want to know whether your organization is doing what it says it will do regarding security controls. If you’re not doing what you say you’re going to do, how can you be sure that your controls are doing what they say they’ll do? If you don’t have eyes and ears all over the cloud, you’ll have difficulty assessing how secure your information is when third-party vendors access it. You’ll want peace of mind knowing that your organization is doing everything it says it will do to keep your sensitive data safe.

Reassurance is an excellent sales tool, but SOC 2 Type 2 reports are increasingly improving profitability by opening doors to otherwise closed enterprises. More and more organizations are doing due diligence on their cloud vendors and implementing internal controls to track third-party vendor security. Demonstrating compliance can be a key factor in landing these accounts.

Compliance with SOC 2, which is often needed to compete successfully in the business of sensitive companies, could certainly be beneficial for cloud-based suppliers who seek enterprise accounts. Other companies are, however, helped by the assessment. An examination shows that firms that have suffered a data breach are committed to rigorous security practices. It gives a layer of protection to partners that can guarantee they will not face security challenges in the future.

Companies with uncertified competitors can also benefit. They’ll prove they’re serious about security and can anticipate clients’ needs for transparent processes.

A SOC 2 Type 2 report uses the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) TSPs, from security to privacy. A certified CPA will first determine which criteria will be included in the scope of your report by asking what kind of customer data you collect, your storage methods, and your business needs and operations.

To complete a SOC 2 assessment, companies need only undergo an audit of a single category: security. But that doesn’t make the process simple. Security alone can include nearly 100 controls, like password security, employee onboarding, training, physical access controls, background checks, security training, incident response, and multifactor authentication. SOC 2 Type 2 is flexible because you’ll only assess those that apply to your business at the needed levels.

For each TSP you choose to assess, like security, there is a list of AICPA requirements you designed controls to handle. A SOC 2 Type 1 report describes the internal control policies you have in place at a single point in time and describes their suitability. But the scope of a SOC 2 Type 2 report is greater, testing those systems over time (typically six months).

Preparation for both assessments includes drafting system descriptions, control mapping, research, and risk assessment for each area. Then, in a SOC 2 Type 2 assessment, auditors conduct fieldwork to observe controls, select samples, and test processes over weeks or months.