With twelve employees, a functioning SaaS product, and a growing customer base, your startup is off to a good start. Security matters, but no one carries “compliance manager” in their job title. Then a prospective enterprise customer wants to see a SOC 2 report.
What exactly should you do first?
Downloading dozens of policies right away isn’t the answer for founders researching how to get SOC 2 certification. Instead, begin by making a few choices that decide 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. The criteria address Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy. Every SOC 2 report includes Security. The other categories are added when they’re relevant to the organization’s services and commitments. A startup offering a straightforward business application may begin with Security alone, as long as that scope meets customer expectations.
Before collecting evidence, identify the applications, infrastructure, employees, and service providers involved. A needlessly broad scope creates extra work without necessarily improving the report’s value.
Choose the Report That Matches Your Deadline
People searching for how to get SOC 2 certified often discover two reporting options. Type 1 examines the design of controls at a specified date. Throughout a defined period, Type 2 evaluates both their design and operating effectiveness. Where an enterprise customer needs evidence quickly, Type 1 may be a practical place to start, if the customer accepts it.
Anyone investigating how to get SOC 2 type 2 certification should expect an observation period, commonly three to twelve months, followed by an independent examination. You don’t have to complete Type 1 before Type 2. Make sure you know what your customer requires before committing to either examination.
Close the Day-to-Day Security Gaps First
SOC 2 preparation gets more manageable when security controls are connected to existing business activities. For instance, enforce multi-factor authentication for important accounts, establish a documented employee offboarding process, and review access permissions on a regular basis.
Engineering teams should hold on to evidence of production changes and approvals. Document risk assessments and relevant supplier reviews at the management level. What employees actually do needs to be reflected in the policies. When nobody follows it, even a polished procedure offers limited value.
Organize Evidence Before It Becomes a Problem
In practice, SOC 2 for saas companies means demonstrating that relevant controls exist and, for Type 2, operate consistently. An auditor may well ask when a former employee’s access was removed or whether a production deployment received appropriate approval.
Reconstructing these records months later is harder than collecting them as activities occur. CertAssist helps small teams structure this work using built-in controls, editable policy templates, evidence checklists, and document storage.
Direct integrations with company systems aren’t required. Auditors can be given read-only access, while teams upload evidence themselves.
Understand the Independent Audit Requirement
Strictly speaking, SOC 2 is an attestation rather than 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.
On the software side, CertAssist offers a US$225 monthly promotional subscription covering SOC 2, ISO 27001, and its other supported frameworks. Independent audit fees are billed separately. Before budgeting, get an auditor’s quote based on your business size, selected criteria, and intended reporting period.
Keep Compliance Sustainable After Your First Report
A completed SOC 2 examination shouldn’t mark the end of your security work. Team members join and leave, applications change, and new suppliers become part of your operations. Your controls need to stay relevant.
Three habits help: setting clear responsibilities, retaining evidence throughout the year, and periodically reviewing whether your documented procedures match reality. For a growing startup, that discipline makes future examinations easier while supporting the security expectations of customers who depend on your software.