SOC 2 Audit: The Complete Guide to Getting It Right in 2025

If you're selling to enterprise clients or managing any kind of sensitive customer data, SOC 2 compliance is a baseline expectation. It signals that your company takes security, availability, and privacy seriously enough to be audited by a third party. 

According to a 2024 report by Gartner Digital Markets, 46% of software buyers prioritize security certifications and data privacy practices when choosing a vendor. Skip it, and you're likely to get dropped from the short list. 

But getting SOC 2 right isn’t quick or easy. The process forces your team to align on documentation, fix control gaps, and mature internal processes. This guide will help you get a clear understanding of how SOC 2 audits work, what it takes to prepare, and where most companies trip up. 

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TL;DR

• SOC 2 is essential for SaaS companies handling sensitive customer data. Without it, you risk losing enterprise deals and falling short during security due diligence processes.
• The framework revolves around five trust service criteria: security (mandatory), availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy, each mapped to how your systems manage and protect information.
• There are two types of SOC 2 reports: Type I (controls designed at a point in time) and Type II (controls operating effectively over months). Type II is critical for sustained enterprise growth.
• Choosing the right auditor matters. Prioritize firms experienced with SaaS environments, automation tools, and transparent communication to avoid prolonged audits and unexpected setbacks.
• SOC 2 compliance is not a one-time effort. Annual Type II audits are expected to maintain trust with customers, investors, and partners, and tools like CloudEagle.ai can streamline ongoing compliance monitoring.

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1. What Is a SOC 2 Audit and Why Does It Matter?

SOC 2 is a voluntary audit framework developed by AICPA to evaluate how a company manages customer data based on five trust service criteria: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.

If you're a SaaS company handling sensitive data, SOC 2 acts as your proof of due diligence. It’s often a prerequisite for closing enterprise deals, especially in industries with strict regulatory oversight.

A. How Does SOC 2 Differ from SOC 1 and SOC 3?

• SOC 1 is more applicable to payroll providers, accounting platforms, or companies that impact their clients’ financial statements.
• SOC 2 is geared toward tech companies, particularly SaaS vendors, that need to show how they protect data.
• SOC 3 is essentially a public summary of SOC 2, useful for marketing, but not accepted by procurement teams during due diligence.

B. Who Needs a SOC 2 Audit?

• SaaS companies targeting mid-market or enterprise clients
• Cloud service providers managing customer infrastructure
• B2B platforms dealing with third-party integrations and APIs
• Fintech, HealthTech, and LegalTech startups with regulated data flows

In short, if your client asks you to “fill out a security questionnaire,” that’s usually a prelude to asking for a SOC 2 report.

C. What’s at Stake If Your Company Skips It?

Skipping SOC 2 isn’t just about risk but about lost revenue. More procurement teams are making security compliance a make-or-break factor in vendor selection.

As Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, put it:

“Trust has to be the highest value in your company — if you lose it, you lose everything.”

Without that external validation of trust, companies not only miss out on enterprise contracts but also risk losing renewals, failing due diligence in mergers or fundraising rounds, and getting caught flat-footed after a security incident.

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2. What Are the Five Trust Services Criteria in SOC 2?

SOC 2 audits are built around five trust service criteria defined by the AICPA. These aren't just theoretical standards, but they guide how your systems are designed, monitored, and controlled. Not every company needs to comply with all five, but Security is mandatory in every SOC 2 audit.

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Here’s a breakdown of what each criterion covers and how it applies to modern SaaS environments:

• Security (Required): Protects systems from unauthorized access. Includes MFA, firewalls, endpoint protection, and incident response protocols.
• Availability: Ensures your service is reliably accessible. Focuses on uptime monitoring, backups, disaster recovery, and failover mechanisms.
• Processing Integrity: Verifies that systems process data accurately and completely. Applies to platforms with transactional or analytical workflows.
• Confidentiality: Controls access to sensitive business data like source code, contracts, or internal documents. Uses encryption, access restrictions, and data retention policies.
• Privacy: Governs how personal data (PII) is collected, used, and shared. Ties closely to GDPR, CCPA, and other data protection regulations.

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3. What Are the Different Types of SOC 2 Reports?

SOC 2 reports come in two types: Type I and Type II. Both evaluate the same trust criteria, but the scope and depth of testing differ. Moreover, they serve different purposes depending on your company's stage.

• SOC 2 Type I assesses whether the necessary security controls are designed and documented correctly at a specific point in time.
• SOC 2 Type II evaluates whether those controls are not only designed properly but also operating effectively over a period of time.

Early-stage SaaS companies often start with Type I to demonstrate intent and foundational maturity. It helps satisfy initial due diligence without the burden of long-term evidence collection. Once your internal controls are stable and you're facing stricter procurement demands, Type II becomes essential. 

One example would be CloudEagle.ai, a SaaS management and procurement platform, which completed its SOC 2 Type II audit in 2022. This showcases that the platform is capable of keeping customer data safe and secure. 

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4. Who Performs a SOC 2 Audit and How Do You Choose the Right Auditor?

SOC 2 audits must be conducted by a licensed CPA (Certified Public Accountant) firm. However, not all CPAs are qualified or experienced in auditing cloud-native companies, especially those in fast-moving SaaS or AI sectors.

According to a 2023 survey by ISACA, nowadays 62% of companies engage external auditors not just for compliance, but for guidance and clarity on internal control design. This shows the importance of relying on an auditor. 

That said, here’s what to consider when choosing your SOC 2 audit partner:

• Experience with SaaS or Your Specific Industry: Look for auditors who’ve worked with startups or cloud-first companies. 
• Familiarity with Automation Platforms: If you’re using compliance tools like Vanta, Drata, or Secureframe, choose an auditor who’s familiar with them.
• Transparent Communication: Some firms simply "report what they find," while others actively help you prep for the audit window. 
• Cost and timeline Clarity: A Type I audit can take 4–6 weeks; Type II, 3–12 months. 
• Reputation in the Ecosystem: Ask for references. Look at companies of similar size and complexity. 

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5. How Long Does a SOC 2 Audit Take?

There’s no single answer here because the length of a SOC 2 audit depends on your audit type, control readiness, and how much of the work you've already done behind the scenes. But here’s a general breakdown:

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A. SOC 2 Type I Timeline

If you’re going for a Type I report, the process is relatively quick.

• Prep Time: 2–4 weeks (assuming you’re using a platform like Vanta or Drata)
• Audit Window: 1–2 weeks
• Final Report Delivery: Another 2–3 weeks

B. SOC 2 Type II Timeline

Type II requires you to operate your controls consistently over a defined observation period, typically 3, 6, or 12 months.

• Audit Window: Starts after your observation period ends
• Evidence Collection and Testing: 3–5 weeks
• Final Report Delivery: 2–4 weeks post-testing

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6. What Does the SOC 2 Audit Process Look Like from Start to Finish?

The SOC 2 audit process follows a well-defined path, but how smooth or chaotic that path is depends on how well you prepare. There are four key stages, and each plays a critical role in how fast you move and how clean your final report looks.

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A. Pre-Audit Preparation

This is where most of the heavy lifting happens. Before you even engage an auditor, you should:

• Identify which Trust Services Criteria apply to your business
• Draft and formalize internal policies (onboarding, incident response, access control, etc.)
• Assign ownership across teams (engineering, security, HR, IT, finance)
• Run a readiness assessment using either a consultant or a tool like Vanta or Drata

B. Evidence Collection

Once you're confident in your controls, it’s time to gather the proof. This includes:

• Access logs from identity providers (Okta, Google Workspace, etc.)
• Change management records (via Git, Jira, etc.)
• Vulnerability scans, backups, and recovery plans
• HR and IT checklists for employee lifecycle management

C. Auditor Fieldwork

Now the auditor steps in. During this phase, they’ll:

• Review your collected evidence
• Interview stakeholders to confirm real-world implementation
• Spot-check access controls, documentation consistency, and infrastructure setup
• Identify control failures, inconsistencies, or missing links

D. Report Delivery

Once fieldwork wraps up, the auditor prepares your final SOC 2 report. This includes:

• A management assertion letter from your team
• The auditor’s opinion on your controls
• Detailed descriptions of systems, control testing, and results

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7. How Often Do You Need to Repeat a SOC 2 Audit?

SOC 2 compliance isn’t a one-and-done deal. It’s an ongoing process. If your customers rely on you to handle their data responsibly, they’ll expect to see proof that you’re doing it consistently.

A. Annual Audits are Important

Most companies repeat their SOC 2 Type II audit every 12 months. Why? Because the report only covers a specific observation window (e.g., January to December). Anything that happens outside of that window isn’t covered, and that gap can raise concerns for prospects doing due diligence.

SOC 2 Type I audits don’t require annual updates, but most companies use them as a stepping stone to Type II.

B. Importance of Staying Current

Beyond just best practice, staying current with your SOC 2 report keeps you sales-ready, especially when enterprise customers ask for the “latest copy.” In other words, skipping your annual SOC 2 audit not only leaves a gap in your documentation and sends the wrong signal to prospects, investors, and partners.

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9. Using CloudEagle.ai to Stay Compliant with Industry Standards

Ongoing Compliance Monitoring

CloudEagle.ai takes on the task of continuous monitoring for compliance with standards like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and HIPAA. This eliminates the need for time-consuming manual SOC 2 audits. The platform automatically audits your SaaS stack to ensure that each application remains compliant with required security and regulatory benchmarks.

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In addition, real-time alerts notify your IT team of any compliance gaps, allowing them to address potential issues immediately and prevent them from becoming major violations.

Comprehensive Audit Trails and Reporting

CloudEagle.ai generates detailed audit trails that track every action within the platform. This is crucial for compliance with SOC 2 and ISO 27001 standards. The audit trails provide clear logs showing who accessed what data and when, offering the documentation needed for compliance verification during audits.

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With accurate and transparent records of all user activity, CloudEagle.ai simplifies the compliance process, saving time and effort while ensuring that your organization remains audit-ready.

Data Encryption and Protection

CloudEagle.ai ensures that sensitive data is encrypted during transit and while stored, adhering to the rigorous standards of ISO 27001 and HIPAA. This method helps protect against unauthorized access and keeps your data secure at every stage. 

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By safeguarding your information, CloudEagle.ai mitigates breach risks, upholds compliance, and enhances customer trust regarding data handling.

Automated User Access Reviews

Compliance regulations such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001 require periodic reviews of user access. CloudEagle.ai automates this process by continuously monitoring access permissions, ensuring that only authorized users have access to sensitive data and systems.

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By automating access reviews, CloudEagle.ai reduces the manual workload and minimizes the risk of unauthorized access. This helps your organization maintain tighter control over user privileges and stay aligned with compliance standards.

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10. Conclusion

If you've made it this far, you already know SOC 2 is about proving to your customers, investors, and team that you take trust seriously. It’s your chance to show that your company has not only built secure systems but is willing to stand behind them with evidence.

The process may feel daunting at first, especially if you’re starting SOC 2 audit from scratch. But with the right platform like CloudEagle.ai, you can stay compliant with industry regulations. So, schedule a demo with the experts and they will show you how CloudEagle.ai can benefit you.

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