Frequently Asked Questions

SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2) is a compliance framework that evaluates how well a company protects customer data. It’s designed for service providers that store or process information in the cloud.

Unlike prescriptive checklists, SOC 2 is principles-based. It assesses whether your internal controls meet five key trust criteria: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.

A SOC 2 report, issued by an independent auditor, is often required by enterprise customers before they’ll trust you with sensitive data. It’s proof that your systems are secure and your operations are reliable.

Because trust isn’t just earned. It has to be proven.

SOC 2 compliance shows that your company has strong controls in place to protect customer data. For enterprise buyers, it is often a non-negotiable requirement before signing a contract.

Without it, you may face long sales cycles, endless security questionnaires, and lost business opportunities. With it, you build credibility, speed up procurement, and show that your security practices meet industry expectations.

It is not just about passing an audit. It is about showing your customers that their data is in safe hands.

Any company that stores, processes, or transmits customer data in the cloud should consider SOC 2 compliance. This includes SaaS providers, data processors, and managed service providers.

If your customers are asking you to fill out security questionnaires or provide proof of your data protection practices, that is usually a sign you need SOC 2. It becomes especially important when selling to regulated industries like finance, healthcare, or enterprise tech.

SOC 2 is not legally mandatory, but in many cases, it is the ticket to doing business with security-conscious clients.

SOC 2 is built around five key principles, called the Trust Services Criteria:

1. Security – Protecting systems and data from unauthorized access. This is the only mandatory criterion for all SOC 2 audits.
2. Availability – Making sure systems are up and running when users need them.
3. Processing Integrity – Ensuring systems process data accurately and on time.
4. Confidentiality – Keeping sensitive data protected from unauthorized sharing or exposure.
5. Privacy – Respecting how personal information is collected, used, stored, and shared.

You can choose which of these apply to your business. Most companies start with just Security and add others based on customer needs or industry expectations.

SOC 2 Type I looks at whether your controls are designed properly at a specific point in time. Think of it as a snapshot.

SOC 2 Type II goes further. It tests whether your controls actually work over a period of time, usually 3 to 12 months. This gives customers more confidence that your systems are reliable day to day.

Most companies start with Type I to get a report quickly, then move to Type II to show long-term trustworthiness.

A SOC 2 report is issued by a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or a firm authorized by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Only these qualified auditors can perform the assessment and sign off on the report. They evaluate whether your systems meet the chosen Trust Services Criteria based on evidence, documentation, and testing.

If you are working with a compliance platform like Scrut, they can help you prepare for the audit and even connect you with vetted auditors.

You should start working on SOC 2 as soon as your customers begin asking about your security posture, especially if you’re targeting mid-market or enterprise deals.

For early-stage startups, the right time is usually after building your MVP and closing your first few paying customers. Waiting too long can slow down deals or raise red flags during procurement.

Getting SOC 2 ready takes time. Most companies spend a few months preparing before the audit even begins. Starting early gives you space to put the right policies, tools, and controls in place without rushing.

Yes, early-stage startups can absolutely become SOC 2 compliant. In fact, many do it early to win customer trust and close enterprise deals faster.

You do not need a large team or a dedicated security function to get started. With the right tools, policy templates, and guidance, even small teams can meet SOC 2 requirements without getting overwhelmed.

It is less about company size and more about showing that you take security seriously from day one.

No, SOC 2 is not limited to US companies.

While it was developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), SOC 2 is widely adopted by companies around the world — especially those offering cloud-based services to US clients.

If you handle customer data and want to build trust with US-based businesses, having a SOC 2 report can be a strong advantage, no matter where your company is based.

The SOC 2 audit process checks whether your company has the right systems and controls in place to protect customer data. Here’s how it typically works:

1. Readiness assessment – You review your current security practices to identify any gaps before the audit.
2. Control implementation – You put policies, processes, and tools in place to meet the chosen Trust Services Criteria.
3. Evidence collection – You gather proof that your controls are working. This could include logs, screenshots, or completed training records.
4. Audit – A certified auditor reviews your controls and evidence. For a Type II audit, they also test how well these controls work over time.
5. Report issuance – If all goes well, the auditor issues a SOC 2 report that you can share with customers.

Working with a platform like Scrut can make this process faster and smoother by automating evidence collection and control tracking.

The timeline depends on your starting point and the type of report you need.

For a Type I report, it usually takes 4 to 8 weeks, since it only checks if your controls are in place at a single point in time.

For a Type II report, you need to operate those controls over a 3 to 12 month period before the audit can be completed. Including prep time, the full process can take up to 6 months or more.

Starting early helps avoid last-minute stress. Using a compliance platform like Scrut can speed things up by automating evidence collection and guiding you through setup.

If you do not pass the SOC 2 audit, it usually means the auditor found gaps in your controls or that some controls were not working as expected.

You won’t receive a clean report, but all is not lost. The auditor will share a detailed report explaining what went wrong. You can then fix the issues and go through a follow-up assessment.

Failing the first time is more common than you might think, especially for companies rushing into the audit without preparation. That’s why many start with a readiness assessment and use platforms like Scrut to close gaps before the audit begins.

SOC 2 audits are typically conducted once every 12 months. This helps prove that your controls continue to work as expected over time.

If you have a Type II report, your customers will expect a new one each year to ensure there are no gaps in coverage. Some might even ask for overlapping audit periods to avoid blind spots.

Treating SOC 2 as a one-time project can backfire. It is better to build processes that keep you audit-ready all year, especially if you want to maintain trust with enterprise clients.

SOC 2 compliance typically costs between $30,000 and $80,000 per year. This includes:

• Platform subscription (like Scrut): $10,000–$30,000
• Audit fees: $15,000–$60,000 depending on Type I or II
• Internal effort: $5,000–$30,000, based on how much is manual

Using Scrut can reduce internal effort through automation, making the overall process faster and more cost-effective.

Without a platform, SOC 2 can take hundreds of hours across security, engineering, HR, and legal teams — mostly spent gathering evidence, writing policies, and filling out documents.

With a platform like Scrut, much of that work is automated. Most teams spend just a few hours a week reviewing alerts, approving policies, or uploading key evidence.

The effort depends on your current setup, but with the right tools, SOC 2 does not have to slow your team down.

Not necessarily — but it helps a lot.

You can go through SOC 2 manually, but it often means juggling spreadsheets, writing policies from scratch, and chasing down evidence across teams. That’s where most companies get stuck or delayed.

Using a platform like Scrut simplifies the process. It gives you pre-built policies, automated evidence collection, real-time control tracking, and even connects you with auditors. It’s especially useful if you don’t have a dedicated compliance team.

If you’re early-stage or short on bandwidth, a platform can save you time, reduce errors, and get you audit-ready faster.

Yes, you can — but not with everyone.

SOC 2 reports are confidential and meant for specific stakeholders like customers, partners, or prospects who need assurance about your security practices. You’ll usually share it under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

If you want something more public, you can request a SOC 3 report instead. It’s a summarized, general-use version that you can share freely on your website.

A SOC 3 report is a public version of a SOC 2 report. It covers the same Trust Services Criteria but without the detailed technical findings.

SOC 3 reports are designed for marketing and general sharing. You can publish them on your website, send them to prospects, or include them in investor decks — no NDA required.

Use a SOC 3 report when you want to show that your company meets industry standards for security and trust, without revealing sensitive audit details.

Once you’re certified, you receive a SOC 2 report that you can share with customers under NDA. But the work doesn’t stop there.

SOC 2 is valid for 12 months, so you’ll need to maintain your controls continuously and prepare for the next audit cycle. That means keeping your policies updated, collecting evidence regularly, and staying alert to any security gaps.

Using a platform like Scrut helps you stay audit-ready year-round by tracking control status, automating evidence collection, and flagging issues before they become problems.

SOC 2 is not a one-time project — it is an ongoing commitment.

To stay compliant, you need to:

• Keep your controls active and up to date
• Train employees regularly and track attestations
• Monitor systems for security issues
• Collect and store evidence continuously
• Review and update policies as your business evolves

Using a platform like Scrut can automate much of this work. It alerts you when controls slip, collects evidence in real time, and keeps you prepared for your next audit — without last-minute scrambles.

SOC 2 and ISO 27001 both focus on information security, but they take different approaches.

• SOC 2 is an attestation. An independent auditor reviews your controls and issues a report based on the Trust Services Criteria. It is widely used in the US, especially by SaaS companies.
• ISO 27001 is a certification. You build an Information Security Management System (ISMS) and get certified by an accredited body. It is more common internationally and emphasizes ongoing risk management.

Think of SOC 2 as a snapshot of how well your security controls are working, while ISO 27001 is more like a blueprint for building and running a long-term security program.

Yes, and many companies do. SOC 2 and ISO 27001 share similar goals and overlapping controls, especially around access management, risk assessments, incident response, and data protection.

Working on both together can save time and effort. With the right platform, you can map one set of controls to both frameworks, reuse evidence, and avoid doing the same work twice.

This approach is especially useful if you serve both US and international customers who ask for different certifications.

Automation takes the manual pain out of SOC 2.

Instead of chasing screenshots, logs, and policy updates, automation can:

• Collect evidence from tools you already use
• Track control status in real time
• Alert you when something breaks
• Schedule employee training and attestations
• Generate audit-ready reports without last-minute stress

With automation, your team spends less time on admin work and more time focusing on actual security. It also helps you stay continuously compliant, not just compliant at audit time.

Yes. Platforms like Scrut use automation and AI to reduce the time and effort it takes to prepare for a SOC 2 audit.

They automatically collect evidence, monitor control status, manage tasks like policy updates and employee attestations, and alert you to any gaps. This means less back-and-forth with auditors and fewer surprises during the audit.

For most teams, this can cut audit prep time by more than half.

Scrut makes SOC 2 easy by automating the heavy lifting. It connects to your existing tools, collects evidence in real time, and keeps your controls audit-ready.

You get 75+ pre-built policies, real-time control tracking, employee training workflows, and secure report sharing — all in one place. Scrut also connects you with auditors and helps you stay compliant year-round.

Yes. Scrut supports the full SOC 2 journey — whether you’re starting with a Type I report or aiming for a full Type II.

For Type I, Scrut helps you set up controls, draft policies, and collect initial evidence. For Type II, it tracks control performance over time, automates evidence collection, and alerts you if anything falls out of compliance during the audit period.

You can manage both from a single dashboard, without duplicating effort.

Yes. Scrut helps you get audit-ready and also works closely with auditors throughout the process.

You get guided checklists, pre-mapped controls, and automated evidence collection to prepare your environment. Once you’re ready, Scrut connects you with vetted audit partners and gives them controlled access to the documentation they need — no back-and-forth emails required.

This makes the entire audit process faster, smoother, and far less stressful.

Scrut connects with over 80 tools across your cloud, HR, IT, and DevOps stack — including AWS, GitHub, Google Workspace, Okta, Jira, and more.

It continuously pulls audit-relevant data like access logs, configuration settings, asset inventories, and policy updates. This evidence is automatically mapped to the relevant SOC 2 controls, so you don’t have to collect it manually.

You get real-time visibility into which controls are passing, what evidence is missing, and what needs attention — all without chasing screenshots or spreadsheets.

Scrut connects to over 80 widely used tools to automate evidence collection and ongoing control monitoring across your tech stack. Key integrations include:

• Cloud platforms: AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure
  
  
• Identity & access: Azure AD, Google Workspace
  
  
• Ticketing & IT tools: Zendesk, Jira
  
  
• HR systems: (e.g., onboarding/training tools for attestations)
  
  
• Security & infrastructure: MDM, code repositories, IT security services

With these integrations, Scrut automatically pulls logs, policy updates, user access records, and infrastructure configurations. Evidence is mapped directly to SOC 2 controls, giving you:

• Real-time control monitoring with alerts for failures
• Automated evidence collection covering over 65% of audit requirements

Together, these integrations dramatically reduce manual effort and continuously prepare you for audits.

Yes. Scrut gives you a live view of your SOC 2 compliance posture through a centralized dashboard.

It continuously tracks control status, flags failures, and highlights missing evidence — all in real time. You can see which controls are passing, which ones need attention, and what tasks are pending across teams.

This helps you stay ahead of audits and avoid last-minute surprises.

Yes. Scrut provides a library of 75+ expert‑vetted SOC 2 policy templates, all pre‑mapped to the relevant Trust Services Criteria. You can customize these policies using the in‑platform editor and get assistance from Scrut’s in‑house compliance team.

Additionally, Scrut maps controls to tasks and evidence requirements. Combined with automated evidence collection across over 80 integrations, this ensures that more than 65% of required controls are covered out of the box

Scrut makes it easy to meet SOC 2 requirements around employee awareness and accountability.

You can assign mandatory security training to new and existing employees, track completion, and automate reminders. For policy attestations, Scrut sends the right policies to the right people, captures acknowledgments, and stores them as audit-ready evidence.

This helps you prove that employees understand their responsibilities, a key part of SOC 2 compliance, without chasing them manually.

Yes. Scrut includes a built-in third-party risk management module designed to support SOC 2 requirements.

You can track all your vendors in one place, send out security questionnaires, assess risk levels, and store vendor documentation. Scrut also maps vendor risks to relevant SOC 2 controls, helping you stay compliant while managing real-world supply chain risk.

This simplifies due diligence and makes it easier to show auditors how you evaluate and monitor third-party relationships.

Yes. Scrut is designed to handle multiple frameworks on one platform.

You can manage SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, GDPR, and more — all from a single dashboard. Scrut automatically maps overlapping controls across frameworks, so you don’t have to duplicate work. Evidence collected once can be reused across audits, saving time and reducing confusion.

This is especially useful if you’re growing into new markets or working with clients that require different standards.

Yes. Scrut helps you stay compliant even after the SOC 2 audit is complete.

It continuously monitors your controls, collects fresh evidence, and flags any gaps that might affect your next audit. Scrut also automates recurring tasks like employee training, vendor assessments, and policy reviews — all mapped to SOC 2 requirements.

This means you stay audit-ready throughout the year, not just when the next audit is around the corner.

Scrut’s Trust Vault is a secure, centralized space where you can store and share your SOC 2 report and other compliance documents with customers, partners, or prospects.

You can control who gets access, set expiration dates, and require NDAs before viewing. It also tracks who has accessed your report, so you have a full audit trail.

This makes it easy to respond to security reviews quickly, build trust with prospects, and avoid endless email threads or manual document sharing.

Scrut’s pricing is based on your business needs and the scope of your compliance journey. The platform fee includes everything, from control monitoring and evidence collection to policy templates, employee portal access, and multi-framework support.

There are no hidden charges based on the number of users, frameworks, or vendor questionnaires. You can scale freely without worrying about tiered pricing.

Additional services like VAPT or audit coordination are available as optional add-ons, depending on your requirements.

You don’t need to find an auditor on your own — Scrut can connect you with vetted, licensed audit firms that specialize in SOC 2.

While the audit itself is performed by an independent CPA or authorized firm, Scrut helps coordinate the entire process. From sharing evidence to managing auditor access, everything happens through the platform, so you avoid back-and-forth emails and document chaos.

This saves time and ensures a smoother path to certification.

Most expenses are usually not related to hardware or software but to developing and implementing procedures, raising employee awareness and training, certification, and so on. The major cost components for ISO 27001 include:

• External ISO 27001 certified auditor charges
• Salaries for third-party consultants or senior-level staff for ISO 27001 certification process
• Productivity loss costs during ISO 27001 audit process
• Miscellaneous legal fees during the process
• Staff training costs for the ISO 27001 compliance audit
• Costs for implementing security tools and scaling cybersecurity architecture

To guide the enforcement of GDPR, the standard sets forth seven principles. They are:

• Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency
• Purpose limitation
• Data minimization
• Accuracy
• Storage limitation
• Integrity and confidentiality
• Accountability