How To Get SOC 2 Compliance and Audit Completed For Small Businesses?

Data security and cybersecurity risks should be top priorities for all businesses. Security measures are important for protecting your customers’ data and showing that your business is adept at handling sensitive information. They can also help your company gain a competitive advantage in the market, and every advantage counts for small businesses.

As more consumers realize the implications of security breaches, even small businesses are being asked for guarantees that the information they share with them is kept private and safe. Clients today are more prone to asking for security or compliance documentation, such as a certification. In light of this, adhering to compliance standards, such as SOC 2, is essential.

Knowing that most sales conversations revolve around concerns regarding your organization’s data infrastructure and overall security practices is important for your small business as it strives to attract large and enterprise clients. A SOC 2 audit serves as a single source of truth for your customers to confirm the efficiency of the security infrastructure, personnel, and controls. Including SOC 2 audits in your cybersecurity toolkit is essential to keeping your defenses robust against cyber threats.

In this blog, we will discuss SOC 2 audits for small businesses, including why they are important, how to prepare your business for a SOC 2 audit, how long it takes to complete a SOC 2 audit for a small business, and the costs involved.

But first, let’s give you an overview of SOC 2 audits for small businesses.

SOC 2 Audits for Small Businesses — An Overview

A SOC 2 audit is an independent evaluation of an organization’s internal controls to guarantee the security of sensitive data, including customer information.

SOC 2 audits are built around the five trust service areas established by the AICPA: security, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity, and privacy. Even if a small business handles its data, a medium-sized or large corporation still requires verification that a strong cybersecurity system is in place. Thus, SOC 2 is strongly recommended for small businesses.

However, certain differences exist between conducting a SOC 2 audit for a small business and a large organization — primarily in scope, resources, security maturity, and third-party relationships. The audit process entails in-depth planning, thorough implementation, and formal audit and reporting for small organizations. Based on its timeframe and specifications, the company may request Type 1 or 2 SOC 2 reports.

So why is a SOC 2 audit important for small businesses and startups? We will discuss that in the following section.

Why is a SOC 2 Audit Important for Small Businesses?

The SOC 2 audit report offers an audited guarantee of a formal information security policy and stringent security measures that the company has implemented to secure customer data from cyber threats.

Therefore, a SOC 2 audit is crucial for small businesses that handle sensitive data and must comply with regulations. These can include companies that offer cloud services, software as a service (SaaS), payment gateways, suppliers of electronic health records, etc. It also strengthens internal security measures and increases market reputation.

Here are some more benefits of achieving a SOC 2 certification for your small business:

Getting Ahead of Competitors in the Market

Customers of cloud-based solutions are becoming increasingly concerned about security and privacy violations.

A SOC 2 compliance report enables an attractive and competitive product, regardless of the company’s size — from small startups to large multinationals. It shows how committed you are to data security and could help you take your business to the next level.

Maintaining Uniformity in Compliance Processes

Obtaining SOC 2 compliance early will enable you to maintain compliance with specified security, privacy, and quality assurance standards without needing to make more substantial changes once your procedures are in place.

This provides peace of mind that you’re scaling your startup properly and clear of serious mistakes.

Helping Address Internal Control Weaknesses

The SOC 2 process is also essential to identify and address gaps in internal controls as part of a thorough SOC 2 audit process.

This helps strengthen the organization’s security posture and lowers the possibility of cyberattacks and data breaches.

Reducing Vendor Questionnaire Burdens

Many small businesses must complete lengthy security questionnaires from vendors, which takes time and resources.

Obtaining a SOC 2 audit speeds up the vendor onboarding process and substitutes this with a standardized document about security measures that serve as the single source of truth.

Elevating Customer and Partner Satisfaction

Upholding the confidence of current customers and partners is essential to guaranteeing recurring business, increased revenue, lower expenses, and a positive brand image.

Obtaining a SOC 2 audit helps a small business keep its current customers and shows potential prospects the efficacy of the controls it has put in place for long-term success.

Now, let’s dive into the steps of conducting a SOC 2 audit for a small business.

Steps To Conduct a SOC 2 Audit for a Small Business

A successful small business security audit involves several crucial actions to guarantee that your company’s systems, data, and assets are sufficiently safeguarded.

Here are the steps for carrying out a small business security audit successfully:

1. Define Scope and Objectives: To start, ensure your security audit goals are understood. Establish the scope of the audit and decide what you hope to achieve. Think about the areas of your company that you would like to evaluate, like data security, employee training, network security, and compliance with industry standards and laws.
2. Form an Audit Team: Put together a group of security professionals to carry out the audit. This group could include outsourced cybersecurity consultants, security specialists, or internal IT personnel. Ensure team members have the abilities and know-how to evaluate your company’s security.
3. Create Administrative Guidelines: Design or update administrative policies and standard operating procedures (SOPs) based on the firm’s size, structure, workflows, and activities. You must establish clear standards on personnel, methods, and technology that fall under the purview of audits. This can contain user access regulations, risk analyses, roles and responsibilities in security, training schedules, etc.
4. Determine Data and Assets: Inventory your company’s resources and information, including hardware, software, private data, intellectual property, and more. Understanding what you must safeguard is essential to the audit’s success.
5. Conduct a Risk Assessment: Conduct a thorough risk assessment to find potential security threats and weaknesses. Take into account threats from the inside as well as the outside, such as malware, phishing scams, breaches in physical security, and human mistakes. Evaluate the possible effects of these hazards on your company. You should also note down the current processes in place for mitigating the identified risks.
6. Examine Your Compliance Requirements: Evaluate your adherence to industry or legal requirements if your company is subject to them. Make sure that the security procedures you follow comply with all applicable regulations.
7. Implement Security Measures: Based on the risks and vulnerabilities identified, establish administrative, technical, and physical security safeguards. These may consist of controls over access, controls for network security, encryption, response to incidents, security controls for applications, surveillance systems, etc. System re-configurations in compliance with industry best practices may also be necessary. For instance, adjusting backup systems or firewalls.
8. Documentation and Reporting: Record the complete results of your security audit in your documentation. Write a report outlining the vulnerabilities detected, the improvements that should be made, and a plan of action for remedying the problems. This report will function as a guide for improving your security protocols. Documents that may be included in this report are —

• Management Statement: Network requirements, physical security arrangements, internal control procedures, and operational objectives.
• Technical Security Documents: Policies for backup logs, password requirements, data retention and deletion, log management, etc.
• Operational Documentation: Vendor agreements, risk management plans, and physical office diagrams.
• HR Documents: Organizational charts, security awareness training logs, onboarding guidelines, employee evaluations, etc.
• Privacy and Compliance Documents: Confidentiality policy, notice of privacy practices, etc.
• Contracts with third parties, vendors, and other supplementary user entity controls (your service provider’s SOC 2 controls, for example)

9. Undergo a Readiness Assessment: A readiness assessment provides insight into how ready the organization is for a real audit. It is especially helpful for small businesses that might not have an internal audit staff. A readiness assessment is handled by a service auditor. It involves mapping the current controls to the Trust Services Criteria In order to identify any misfires and offer corrective steps so that the final audit requires less time, effort, and resources.

10. Get a Formal Audit: A formal audit involves many steps. However, you can always start with a security questionnaire. The next steps include gathering evidence and document controls followed by taking corrective measures that reinforce the security infrastructure. It can be a demanding process that involves a lot of back and forth if done manually, specifically between the auditor and the relevant staff assigned to take care of the various security tasks in your organization.

11. Obtain Final SOC 2 Report: The final SOC 2 audit report consists of a summary of audit results. You cannot essentially fail a SOC 2 audit, but you do get a report on how effective the controls are. For instance —

• An unqualified opinion indicates that the company passed the audit flawlessly.
• A qualified opinion indicates that there is a problem, but it is not a major one; therefore, most customers may accept it.
• An unfavorable opinion indicates potentially significant misstatements.

When the auditor finds insufficient evidence to offer an opinion, a disclaimer of opinion is issued. Rework the controls and try again if you don’t get a clear-cut answer.

12. Regular Monitoring and Audit Follow-Ups: Security is a continuous process. Keep an eye on your security precautions and update them as necessary to keep up with new threats and technological advancements. To make sure your small business stays safe and to evaluate the success of your security upgrades, you must also conduct follow-up audits on a regular basis.

It seems like a long-winding process, doesn’t it? But how much time does it really take to get through a SOC 2 audit for a small business? We have answered that below.

How Long Does It Take To Complete a SOC 2 Audit for a Small Business?

The duration of a SOC 2 audit for a small business varies depending on the type of SOC 2 audit report that your customers may seek.

For example, SOC 2 Type 1 audits take one to three months and solely examine the controls control design at one particular moment in time. It may take three to six months or longer to complete a SOC 2 Type 2 audit, which evaluates the efficacy of internal controls over time.

How Much Does a SOC 2 Audit Cost for a Small Business?

Small businesses may feel as though they are spending a lot of money on SOC 2 audits, but the cost of recovering from data breaches and reputational harm is tripled. This is why it is advisable to consider long-term benefits instead of getting fixated on the expenses involved. These costs will vary depending upon the size of the business, whether using an automation platform with an auditor or manually with a consultant and the auditor’s help. These days, it’s important to leverage a compliance automation platform such as Akitra Compliance Automation Platform that can help you get it done rapidly and cost-effectively.

SOC 2 Compliance Readiness with Akitra!

Establishing trust is a crucial competitive differentiator when courting new SaaS businesses in today’s era of data breaches and compromised privacy. Customers and partners want assurances that their organizations are doing everything possible to prevent disclosing sensitive data and putting them at risk, and compliance certification fills that need.

Akitra offers an industry-leading, AI-powered Compliance Automation platform for SaaS companies. With its expertise in technology solutions and compliance, Akitra is well-positioned to assist companies in navigating the complexities of these frameworks and can provide invaluable guidance in implementing the necessary frameworks and processes.

Using automated evidence collection and continuous monitoring, together with a full suite of customizable policies and controls as a compliance foundation, our compliance automation platform and services help our customers become compliance-ready for NIST’s 800–218 Secure Software Development Framework and other security standards, such as SOC 1, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 9001, ISO 13485, NIST CSF, NIST 800–53, NIST 800–171, FedRAMP, CCPA, CMMC, SOX ITGC, and more such as CIS AWS Foundations Benchmark, Australian ISM and Essential Eight etc. In addition, companies can use Akitra’s Risk Management product for overall risk management using quantitative methodologies such as Factorial Analysis of Information Risks (FAIR) and qualitative methods, including NIST-based for your company, Vulnerability Assessment and Pen Testing services, Trust Center, and AI-based Automated Questionnaire Response product to streamline and expedite security questionnaire response processes, delivering huge cost savings. Our compliance and security experts also provide customized guidance to navigate the end-to-end compliance process confidently. Last but not least, we have also developed a resource hub called Akitra Academy which provides easy-to-learn short video courses on security, compliance, and related topics of immense significance for today’s fast-growing companies.

The benefits of our solution include enormous savings in time, human resources, and cost savings, including discounted audit fees with our audit firm partners. Customers can achieve compliance certification fast and cost-effectively, stay continuously compliant as they grow, and become certified under additional frameworks from our single compliance automation platform.

Build customer trust. Choose Akitra TODAY!‍

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