How to Prepare for Your First SOC 2 Audit

Your first SOC 2 audit feels overwhelming. Hundreds of controls to implement, evidence to collect, policies to write. Here's exactly how to prepare, step-by-step, so you pass on the first try.

Phase 1: Readiness Assessment (2-4 Weeks)

Before you engage an auditor, assess your current state. This prevents wasting time and money on an audit you're not ready for.

Step 1: Understand SOC 2 Requirements

• Read the Trust Service Criteria: Download the AICPA TSC from their website. Focus on Security (mandatory).
• Decide Type 1 or Type 2: Type 2 is required for most enterprise sales.
• Choose additional TSC: Start with Security only unless customers specifically need Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, or Privacy.

Step 2: Define Your Audit Scope

Clearly define what's in scope:

• Systems: Which applications, infrastructure, and services?
• Locations: Which offices, data centers, cloud regions?
• Personnel: Which teams interact with in-scope systems?
• Third parties: Which vendors have access to customer data?

Tip: Start with narrow scope. You can expand in future audits. Broader scope = higher cost and more work.

Step 3: Conduct Gap Assessment

Map your current controls to SOC 2 requirements. For each control:

• Exists and works: Document it, collect evidence
• Exists but needs improvement: Fix gaps before audit
• Doesn't exist: Implement from scratch

DIY or hire consultant?

• DIY: Free, but requires 40-80 hours. Use free gap assessment tools (Vanta, Drata offer free trials).
• Consultant: $10K-$30K, expert guidance, faster preparation.

Phase 2: Control Implementation (1-4 Months)

This is the heavy lifting. You're building and documenting all security controls required for SOC 2.

Security Policies (2-4 Weeks)

Document these core policies:

1. Information Security Policy (ISP): Overall security program
2. Acceptable Use Policy: Employee device and data usage
3. Access Control Policy: Authentication, authorization, MFA requirements
4. Change Management Policy: Code review, testing, deployment procedures
5. Incident Response Plan: Detection, response, recovery procedures
6. Risk Assessment Policy: Annual risk identification and treatment
7. Vendor Management Policy: Third-party risk assessment procedures
8. Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery Plan: Backup, recovery, failover
9. Data Classification and Handling: How you protect different data types
10. Human Resources Security: Background checks, onboarding/offboarding

Templates: Don't start from scratch. Use templates from Vanta, Drata, or Secureframe. Customize for your environment.

Technical Controls Implementation (4-8 Weeks)

Access Controls

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Required for all production access and admin accounts
• Single Sign-On (SSO): Centralize authentication (Okta, Google Workspace, Azure AD)
• Role-based access control (RBAC): Least privilege access model
• Password requirements: Minimum length, complexity, rotation (if not using MFA)

Network Security

• Firewalls: Segment production from non-production networks
• VPN or Zero Trust: Secure remote access to production systems
• Network monitoring: IDS/IPS, traffic logging
• Security groups/ACLs: Restrict traffic to minimum necessary

Encryption

• Data at rest: Encrypt databases, file storage (AES-256)
• Data in transit: TLS 1.2+ for all external communications
• Key management: Use cloud KMS (AWS KMS, GCP KMS, Azure Key Vault)

Logging and Monitoring

• Centralized logging: Collect logs from all production systems
• Log retention: Minimum 90 days for Type 2 audit
• Security monitoring: SIEM or log analysis tool (DataDog, Splunk, CloudWatch)
• Alerting: Automated alerts for security events

Vulnerability Management

• Vulnerability scanning: Weekly or monthly scans (Qualys, Nessus, AWS Inspector)
• Patch management: Critical patches within 30 days, high within 60 days
• Dependency scanning: Scan application dependencies (Snyk, Dependabot, WhiteSource)

Change Management

• Version control: All code in Git with branch protection
• Code review: Peer review before production deployment
• CI/CD pipeline: Automated testing, security scans, deployment
• Change tracking: Document all production changes (Jira, Linear, GitHub issues)

Backups and DR

• Automated backups: Daily database backups, weekly full system backups
• Backup testing: Quarterly restore tests to verify backups work
• Geographic redundancy: Store backups in separate region/availability zone
• Retention period: Minimum 30 days for customer data backups

Operational Controls (2-4 Weeks)

HR Security

• Background checks: For all employees with production access
• Security training: Annual training for all employees, onboarding training for new hires
• Onboarding checklist: Document account provisioning, equipment assignment, training completion
• Offboarding checklist: Revoke access within 24 hours of termination, retrieve equipment

Vendor Management

• Vendor inventory: List all vendors with access to systems or customer data
• Vendor assessments: Review SOC 2 reports or complete security questionnaires
• Contracts: DPAs and BAAs with vendors handling customer data
• Annual reviews: Re-assess vendors annually

Risk Assessment

• Annual risk assessment: Identify threats, vulnerabilities, impacts
• Risk treatment plan: Document how you mitigate each risk
• Executive review: Present to CEO/board, document acceptance of residual risks

Incident Response

• Incident response plan: Define roles, procedures, communication
• Incident tracking: Log all security incidents (even minor ones)
• Post-incident reviews: Document lessons learned, implement improvements
• Tabletop exercises: Test your IR plan annually

Physical Security (If Applicable)

• Badge access: Electronic badge systems for office/data center access
• Visitor logs: Sign-in sheets and escort requirements
• CCTV: Surveillance cameras at entry points
• Equipment disposal: Secure destruction of hard drives and devices

Phase 3: GRC Platform Setup (1-2 Weeks)

A GRC (Governance, Risk, Compliance) platform automates evidence collection and saves 100+ hours during the audit.

Platform Options

• Vanta: $20K-$60K/year, best integrations, most popular
• Drata: $15K-$50K/year, strong automation, great UX
• Secureframe: $12K-$40K/year, affordable, solid features
• Strike Graph: $10K-$35K/year, budget-friendly for early stage

Platform Setup Tasks

1. Connect integrations: AWS, GCP, Azure, GitHub, Okta, Google Workspace, HR system
2. Configure monitoring: Set up continuous control monitoring
3. Upload policies: Import all security policies and procedures
4. Assign tasks: Assign evidence collection tasks to team members
5. Enable automation: Auto-collect logs, access reviews, vulnerability scans

Phase 4: Evidence Collection (Ongoing)

For Type 2 audits, you need to collect evidence of control operation throughout the observation period (3-12 months).

Evidence Types

Policies and Procedures

• All security policies (v1.0 or later)
• Procedure documents (incident response runbook, change management workflow)
• Training materials and slides

System Configurations

• Screenshots of MFA settings
• Firewall rules and network diagrams
• Encryption configuration (RDS encryption, S3 bucket policies)
• Logging configuration (CloudWatch, DataDog dashboards)

Operational Evidence

• Access reviews: Quarterly reviews of user access (who has access to what)
• Vulnerability scans: Monthly scan reports with remediation proof
• Change tickets: Sample change requests with approvals and testing proof
• Backup logs: Daily backup success logs
• Training records: Employee training completion certificates
• Background checks: Proof of background checks for employees with production access
• Vendor assessments: SOC 2 reports or completed security questionnaires

Incident Response

• Incident log (even if no incidents, document "no incidents during period")
• If incidents occurred: incident reports, root cause analysis, remediation proof

Evidence Organization Tips

• Create folder structure: Evidence/Access-Control/, Evidence/Change-Management/, etc.
• Name files clearly: 2025-01-Access-Review-Q1.xlsx
• Use GRC platform to organize and auto-collect where possible
• Start collecting NOW, not 1 month before audit

Phase 5: Auditor Selection (2-3 Weeks)

Once controls are in place, select your auditor.

Get 3-5 Quotes

Compare:

• Type 1 and Type 2 pricing
• Timeline and availability
• Industry experience and references
• Technology platform and integrations
• Responsiveness and communication style

→ Read our complete auditor selection guide

Phase 6: Pre-Audit Preparation (2-4 Weeks Before Audit)

System Description

Write a narrative description of your system (10-30 pages):

• Company overview: What you do, who your customers are
• System architecture: Infrastructure, application components, data flow
• Security controls: How you protect customer data
• Boundaries: What's in scope vs out of scope

Control Matrix

Create a spreadsheet mapping your controls to TSC:

• Trust Service Criteria: CC6.1, CC6.2, etc.
• Control description: What the control does
• Control owner: Who's responsible
• Evidence: Where evidence is located
• Frequency: How often control operates (daily, weekly, quarterly)

Team Readiness

• Assign roles: Who will respond to auditor requests?
• Calendar blocks: Reserve time for evidence collection and auditor calls
• Evidence portal access: Grant auditor access to your GRC platform
• Kickoff meeting prep: Prepare questions and scope clarifications

Common Preparation Mistakes

1. Starting Too Late

Mistake: "We lost a deal, let's get SOC 2 ASAP."

Reality: SOC 2 preparation takes 3-6 months minimum. Type 2 requires 3-12 month observation period. Start before you lose deals.

2. Over-Scoping

Mistake: "Let's include all 5 Trust Service Criteria and all systems."

Reality: Broader scope = higher cost, more work, longer timeline. Start with Security only, narrow scope. Expand later if needed.

3. Poor Documentation

Mistake: "We do security stuff, we just don't write it down."

Reality: If it's not documented, it doesn't exist. Auditors need written policies and evidence. "Trust me" doesn't work.

4. Not Using Automation

Mistake: "We'll collect evidence manually to save money."

Reality: Manual evidence collection takes 200+ hours. A $20K GRC platform saves $30K+ in labor and audit costs.

5. Insufficient Internal Resources

Mistake: "The CTO will handle SOC 2 in their spare time."

Reality: SOC 2 requires 300-600 hours of internal effort. Assign a dedicated owner (even if part-time).

6. Not Testing Controls

Mistake: "We wrote the policy, we're done."

Reality: Controls must be operating, not just designed. Test your backup restores, run access reviews, perform incident drills.

Preparation Checklist

Documentation (Before Audit)

• Information Security Policy
• Acceptable Use Policy
• Access Control Policy
• Change Management Policy
• Incident Response Plan
• Risk Assessment Policy
• Vendor Management Policy
• Business Continuity/DR Plan
• System Description
• Control Matrix

Technical Controls (Before Observation Period)

• MFA on all production access
• SSO or centralized authentication
• Network segmentation and firewalls
• Encryption at rest and in transit
• Centralized logging (90+ day retention)
• Vulnerability scanning (monthly)
• Patch management process
• Code review and CI/CD pipeline
• Automated backups and DR testing

Operational Controls (Ongoing)

• Quarterly access reviews
• Monthly vulnerability scans and remediation
• Security training (annual + onboarding)
• Background checks for new hires
• Vendor risk assessments (annual)
• Incident tracking and response
• Change management tickets

Pre-Audit Deliverables

• System description completed
• Control matrix finalized
• Evidence organized and accessible
• GRC platform configured
• Team roles assigned
• Kickoff meeting scheduled

Timeline Summary

Type 1 Audit Preparation

• Months 1-2: Gap assessment, policy writing
• Months 2-3: Technical control implementation
• Month 3: GRC platform setup, evidence collection
• Month 4: Auditor selection and kickoff
• Months 4-5: Audit execution
• Month 6: Report issuance

Total: 6 months

Type 2 Audit Preparation

• Months 1-3: Gap assessment, policy writing, technical control implementation
• Month 3: Auditor selection, observation period begins
• Months 3-9: Observation period (collect evidence continuously)
• Months 9-10: Audit testing and fieldwork
• Month 11: Report issuance

Total: 11 months

Related articles: What is SOC 2? • How to Choose an Auditor • SOC 2 Timeline Guide