Your startup employs twelve team members, a live SaaS product, and a growing customer base. Security matters, but no one holds “compliance manager” in their job title. Then a potential enterprise customer requests a SOC 2 report.
What do you do first?
Downloading dozens of policies right away isn’t the first step for founders researching how to get SOC 2 certification. Start by making a few decisions that define what your company needs to document, put in place, and prove.
Start by Deciding What Your First Audit Will Cover
Controls are assessed using the AICPA Trust Services Criteria in a SOC 2 examination. There are five areas: Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy. Among them, only Security is required. Whether the other categories are included depends on whether they’re relevant to the organization’s services and commitments. If a startup is offering a straightforward business application, starting with Security alone may work, provided that scope meets customer expectations.
Before collecting evidence, map out the applications, infrastructure, employees, and service providers involved. A broader scope brings additional work, but not always a more valuable report.
Choose the Report That Matches Your Deadline
Anyone wondering how to get SOC 2 certified quickly finds two reporting options. The design of controls at a specified date is what Type 1 covers. Throughout a defined period, Type 2 evaluates both the controls’ design and operating effectiveness. Where an enterprise customer needs evidence quickly, Type 1 can be a practical place to start, so 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 1 is not a mandatory prerequisite for Type 2. Confirm your customer’s requirements before paying for either examination.
Start With Everyday Security Basics
SOC 2 preparation gets more manageable when security controls are tied to ordinary business activities. A sensible place to start is requiring multi-factor authentication for important accounts, establishing a documented employee offboarding process, and reviewing access permissions on a regular basis.
Engineering teams should retain evidence of production changes and approvals. Management should document risk assessments and relevant supplier reviews. Actual employee practice must be reflected in your policies. A beautifully written procedure has limited value if nobody follows it.
Keep Your Evidence Organized Before Problems Start
SOC 2 for saas companies comes down to demonstrating that relevant controls exist and, for Type 2, operate consistently. An auditor could ask for records showing when a former employee’s access was removed or whether a production deployment received appropriate approval.
Reconstructing these records months later is much harder than gathering them as activities occur. Through built-in controls, editable policy templates, evidence checklists, and document storage, CertAssist helps small teams organize this work.
The platform does not require direct integrations with company systems. Teams add evidence themselves and can give auditors read-only access.
Why You Still Need an Independent Auditor
Strictly speaking, SOC 2 is an attestation rather than a certification. The examination is conducted by a licensed CPA firm, which then issues the SOC 2 report. Nothing replaces the independent auditor, not even compliance software, which helps prepare and organize evidence.
CertAssist offers a US$225 monthly promotional subscription covering SOC 2, ISO 27001, and its other supported frameworks. Independent audits are a separate cost. Before budgeting, request an auditor’s quote based on your business size, selected criteria, and intended reporting period.
Keep the Process Manageable After Your First Report
Completing a SOC 2 examination isn’t the end of your security activities. People join and leave, applications change, and new suppliers become part of your operations. It matters that your controls stay relevant.
Three habits keep things on track: setting clear responsibilities, retaining evidence throughout the year, and regularly reviewing whether your documented procedures match reality. For a growing startup, that discipline will make future examinations easier and helps meet the security expectations of customers who depend on your software.