Your startup counts twelve team members, a live SaaS product, and a steadily growing customer base. Security matters to everyone, but nobody holds “compliance manager” as a job title. One day, a potential enterprise customer requests a SOC 2 report.
What exactly do you do first?
For founders researching how to get SOC 2 certification, the answer isn’t to download dozens of policies immediately. What matters is to make a few choices that decide what your company needs to document, put in place, and prove.
Define the Scope of Your First SOC 2 Audit
The AICPA Trust Services Criteria are what SOC 2 assesses controls against. The criteria are organized into five categories: Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy. Security is mandatory. Whether the other categories are included depends on whether they’re relevant to the organization’s services and commitments. As long as that scope meets customer expectations, a startup with a straightforward business application may begin with Security alone.
List the applications, infrastructure, employees, and service providers involved prior to collecting evidence. An unnecessarily broad scope creates additional work without necessarily increasing the report’s value.
Type 1 or Type 2? Let the Deadline Choose
People searching for how to get SOC 2 certified frequently discover two reporting options. At a specified date, Type 1 evaluates the design of controls. Throughout a defined period, Type 2 examines both their design and operating effectiveness. If an enterprise customer needs evidence quickly, Type 1 may be a useful first step, assuming the customer accepts it.
The process for how to get SOC 2 type 2 certification starts with an observation period, typically three to twelve months, and ends with an independent examination. Type 1 isn’t a mandatory prerequisite for Type 2. Before paying for either examination, verify your customer’s requirements.
Start With Day-to-Day Security Basics
Linking security controls to everyday business activities helps make SOC 2 preparation more manageable. For example, 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. Company leadership should keep records of risk assessments and relevant supplier reviews. Actual employee practice needs to be described in your policies. There is limited value in a well-written procedure that no one follows.
Gather Evidence While Things Are Happening
SOC 2 for saas companies comes down to demonstrating that relevant controls exist and, for Type 2, operate consistently. An auditor could request records showing when a former employee’s access was removed or whether a production deployment received appropriate approval.
Rebuilding these records months later is harder than gathering them as activities occur. With built-in controls, editable policy templates, evidence checklists, and document storage, CertAssist helps small teams organize this work.
No direct integrations with company systems are required. Auditors can be provided with read-only access, while teams upload evidence themselves.
Understand the Independent Audit Requirement
What SOC 2 produces is formally an attestation, not a certification. The examination is conducted by a licensed CPA firm, which issues the SOC 2 report. Software can help prepare and organize evidence, but it can’t replace the independent auditor.
A monthly promotional subscription of US$225 covering SOC 2, ISO 27001, and its other supported frameworks is offered by CertAssist. Fees for the independent audit are separate. Get an auditor’s quote that reflects your business size, selected criteria, and intended reporting period before budgeting.
Make Compliance Manageable After the First Report
Finishing a SOC 2 examination shouldn’t be the end of your security activities. Over time, employees join and leave, applications change, and new suppliers join your operations. Your controls must stay relevant.
Three habits help: assigning clear responsibilities, retaining evidence throughout the year, and periodically reviewing whether your documented procedures match reality. This discipline makes future examinations easier as a startup grows, and it supports the security expectations of customers who depend on your software.
