Your startup counts twelve team members, a working SaaS product, and an expanding customer base. No one at the company has “compliance manager” in their job title, although security is important. Soon, a potential enterprise customer wants to see a SOC 2 report.

What should you do next?

Grabbing dozens of policies right away isn’t the answer for founders researching how to get SOC 2 certification. A handful of choices decides what your company needs to document, implement, and prove, and that is where to start.

Define the Scope of Your First SOC 2 Audit

Controls are evaluated against the AICPA Trust Services Criteria in a SOC 2 examination. There are five areas: Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy. Security is required. Include the remaining areas only when they are relevant to the organization’s services and commitments. For a startup offering a straightforward business application, beginning with Security alone may be enough, provided that scope meets customer expectations.

Identify the applications, infrastructure, employees, and service providers involved before collecting evidence. Making the scope overly broad creates additional work, and it doesn’t necessarily improve the report’s usefulness.

Choose the Report That Matches Your Deadline

Anyone wondering how to get SOC 2 certified quickly finds two reporting options. Type 1 examines the design of controls as of a specified date. Type 2 goes further, examining both design and operating effectiveness over a defined period. If an enterprise customer needs evidence quickly, Type 1 may be a useful first step, as 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 2 does not depend on completing Type 1 first. Before paying for either examination, confirm your customer’s requirements.

Fix Everyday Security Gaps First

If security controls are linked to ordinary business activities, SOC 2 preparation gets more manageable. For instance, require multi-factor authentication for important accounts, create a documented employee offboarding process, and review access permissions on a regular basis.

Retain evidence of production changes and approvals inside the development team. Record risk assessments and relevant supplier reviews at the management level. Write policies that describe what employees actually do. There is limited value in a well-written procedure that no one follows.

Gather Evidence as You Go

SOC 2 for saas companies means demonstrating that relevant controls exist and, for Type 2, operate consistently. An auditor might request records showing when a former employee’s access was removed or whether a production deployment received appropriate approval.

It’s much easier to collect these records as activities occur than to rebuild them months later. With built-in controls, editable policy templates, evidence checklists, and document storage, CertAssist helps small teams organize this work.

Direct integrations with company systems aren’t required. Evidence gets uploaded by the team, and auditors can be provided with read-only access.

Understand the Independent Audit Requirement

SOC 2 is technically 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.

On the software side, CertAssist offers a US$225 monthly promotional subscription covering SOC 2, ISO 27001, and its other supported frameworks. Fees for the independent audit are separate. Before budgeting, get an auditor’s quote based on your business size, selected criteria, and intended reporting period.

What Comes After Your First SOC 2 Report

A completed SOC 2 examination shouldn’t mark the end of your security work. As time passes, employees join and leave, applications change, and new suppliers become part of your operations. It matters that your controls stay relevant.

Define clear responsibilities, retain evidence throughout the year, and periodically review whether your documented procedures match reality. For a growing startup, that discipline makes future examinations easier and supports the security expectations of customers who depend on your software.