SOC 2 Type 1 & Type 2 Readiness
SOC 2 is where most SaaS and technology companies first feel enterprise security scrutiny. We map your environment to the AICPA Trust Services Criteria, close the gaps that will fail an examination, build the evidence library your auditor expects, and hand the engagement over cleanly to the independent CPA firm performing the attestation.
Common reasons teams come to us
- An enterprise prospect has asked for a SOC 2 report as a condition of signing
- Deals are stalling in security review while procurement waits on evidence
- Investors or partners raised SOC 2 during diligence
- There is no readiness roadmap — just a deadline and a vendor questionnaire
- Leadership is unsure whether existing controls actually operate as described
- A first audit produced exceptions that need to be remediated before the next window
Talk through your scope, timeline, and customer pressure on a 30-minute call.
- SaaS and technology companies moving upmarket into enterprise deals
- Fintech and payment teams pursuing a first SOC 2 Type 1 or Type 2 report
- Companies re-doing SOC 2 after a rocky first examination
- Engineering leaders who want the security work to be real, not just documented
- Scoping across products, environments, and Trust Services Criteria (Security, plus Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, Privacy as needed)
- Gap assessment against the SOC 2 common criteria and applicable additional criteria
- Policy and procedure build-out or refresh, written to match how the team actually works
- Access control, change management, vendor management, and incident response process design
- Evidence library structure — what to collect, from which system, on what cadence
- Readiness for the observation window, including control-operation checkpoints
- Auditor selection guidance and clean handoff to the independent CPA firm
What the readiness engagement covers
Scope and criteria
Which products, environments and Trust Services Criteria belong in the report — and which do not.
Control design
Controls that map to the criteria and can actually be operated by your team every week.
Policies
A policy set that reflects real operations, so evidence and documentation do not contradict each other.
Evidence
A structured library with a defined source system, owner and cadence for each artifact.
Operating effectiveness
Checkpoints through the observation window to catch controls that stop running before the auditor does.
Auditor handoff
Selection guidance, kickoff support and walkthrough preparation for the independent CPA examination.
Have a SOC 2 deadline attached to a deal?
A short readiness call establishes realistic scope, sequence and timeline before anyone commits to a date.
- Enter the examination knowing exactly what the auditor will ask for
- Cut audit surprises, rework, and timeline slippage
- Turn the SOC 2 program into real operational security, not paperwork
- Unblock enterprise deals waiting on a defensible SOC 2 report
- SOC 2 scope and system description draft
- Trust Services Criteria gap matrix with owners and target dates
- Policy set aligned to your actual operations
- Evidence library plan and collection schedule
- Readiness summary suitable for leadership and prospective customers
A clear path from scope to remediation
- 01
Scope
Define products, environments, users, and which Trust Services Criteria apply.
- 02
Assess
Gap assessment against the SOC 2 common and additional criteria.
- 03
Prioritize
Rank gaps by audit risk and effort, with owners and target dates.
- 04
Design
Design controls and refresh policies so they match how the team actually operates.
- 05
Remediate
Close the control gaps that would produce exceptions.
- 06
Evidence
Stand up the evidence library and the collection cadence behind it.
- 07
Operate
Run the controls through the observation window with light-touch check-ins.
- 08
Handoff
Support auditor selection, kickoff, and evidence walkthroughs.
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Learn more →Questions we hear most
- Is SOC 2 readiness the same as a SOC 2 audit?
- No. A SOC 2 examination is performed by an independent CPA firm, which issues the report. ControlSolid performs the readiness work that comes before it — scoping, gap assessment, control build-out, policy work, and evidence preparation — and then hands the engagement over cleanly. We do not issue SOC 2 reports or opinions.
- Should we start with Type 1 or Type 2?
- Type 1 assesses control design at a point in time and is often the fastest way to unblock a specific deal. Type 2 assesses operating effectiveness over an observation window, typically three to twelve months, and is what most enterprise buyers ultimately want. Many teams do Type 1 first and roll straight into the Type 2 window.
- How long does SOC 2 readiness take?
- Most SaaS teams need roughly 6–12 weeks of readiness work before a Type 1, depending on how much control and documentation groundwork already exists and how much engineering time is available. The Type 2 observation window then runs on top of that.
- Do we need a compliance automation platform?
- Not necessarily. Automation platforms help with evidence collection and monitoring, but they do not design controls or decide scope, and buying one before the control set is settled tends to encode the wrong process. We work with whatever tooling you have or plan to adopt.
- Which Trust Services Criteria apply to us?
- Security (the common criteria) always applies. Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity and Privacy are added based on the commitments you make to customers. Adding criteria you have not committed to increases audit effort with no commercial return, so scoping this correctly matters.
- Can you help after a difficult first audit?
- Yes. Remediating exceptions from a prior report is common work — we identify why the control failed in operation rather than on paper, redesign it, and rebuild the evidence trail before the next observation window.
Need a clear view of your security gaps?
Start with a focused readiness call. We'll discuss your customer pressure, compliance goals, application risk, and the best next step.