Compliance Frameworks
Reviewed by Marcus Dunhill, CISA, CISSP SOC 2 costs $100,000 to $350,000 in the first year for a typical mid-market company when you include auditor fees ($30,000 to $150,000), internal labor ($50,000 to $150,000), and hidden costs like tooling, remediation, and contractor support.
Compliance Frameworks
Reviewed by Marcus Dunhill, CISA, CISSP A SOC 2 report is typically 80 to 150 pages, but the sections that matter to customers are only about 10 pages: the auditor's opinion (unmodified, qualified, or adverse), management's description of controls, and the exceptions list. According to a
Compliance Frameworks
Reviewed by Marcus Dunhill, CISA, CISSP SOC 2 preparation takes 6 to 12 months for most organizations starting near-zero on documentation. The process follows a predictable sequence: readiness assessment, gap remediation, control environment build-out, evidence collection, and audit trail organization. According to ISACA's 2024 State of
Compliance Frameworks
Reviewed by Marcus Dunhill, CISA, CISSP The SOC 2 audit moves through five distinct phases — planning and scoping, evidence collection, fieldwork, testing, and report issuance — over a total timeline of 3 to 4 months for Type 1 and 9 to 15 months for Type 2. Total first-year cost including
Compliance Frameworks
Reviewed by Marcus Dunhill, CISA, CISSP SOC 2 is a market-driven credential, not a legal requirement — no government agency mandates it or fines you for lacking it. The organizations that need SOC 2 are B2B service companies whose customers require third-party verification of security controls as a condition
Compliance Frameworks
Reviewed by Marcus Dunhill, CISA, CISSP The five SOC 2 Trust Service Criteria — Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy — define the categories of controls that auditors evaluate during a SOC 2 engagement. Security is mandatory in every audit; the other four are optional based on business model and customer
Compliance Frameworks
Reviewed by Marcus Dunhill, CISA, CISSP Type 1 is a point-in-time snapshot proving your controls exist and are properly designed on a single date; Type 2 is a sustained audit covering 6 to 12 months proving those controls actually operate effectively over time. Type 1 costs $15,000
Compliance Frameworks
Reviewed by Marcus Dunhill, CISA, CISSP SOC 2 is a market-driven audit framework — not a government regulation — created by the AICPA to verify that service organizations protect customer data across five Trust Service Criteria: Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy. First-year total cost ranges from $50,000