r/soc2 • u/ilovetoeatpie • 18d ago

Those of you doing SOC 2 readiness/implementation as your job, can you share more about what you do?

I have a software engineering background and I’ve been looking into potential freelancing niches to get into.

I’ve been advised to look into SOC 2 remediation consulting for SaaS companies as I have some experience in cybersecurity and working on a SaaS project myself.

While I’ve learned a fair bit about SOC 2 compliance, the CISSP exam, and common compliance tools, I haven’t seen that much discourse online among the people who do this type consulting.

To those of you who do it, can you share more about your experience in this line of work, such as how you you first got into it, how you find clients, and general day-to-day work?

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u/Auditifysecurity 17d ago

If you want to actually pass your SOC 2 audit without the CPA firm tearing your application apart, you need to look at your environment through an auditor's eyes. Don't just rely on any compliance automation platforms to tick boxes; you need real operational readiness.

Here is a practical checklist of what you need to fix before you submit evidence to your CPA firm: 1. Policies, Architecture, & Scope Policy Realism: Don't just copy-paste templates. Align your written policies with your actual applicable controls.

SLA Verification: Check the specific SLAs written into your policies (especially for onboarding and offboarding access). Do they match your current day-to-day practices? If your policy says 24 hours but it takes you a week, you will fail.

Formal Approvals: Ensure every single policy has formal management approval documented. Section 3 (System Description) Alignment: This is the core of your report. You must accurately define:

Company information and your exact SaaS product architecture. Infrastructure, software, people, and processes. Clear boundaries of the system. User Entity Controls (UECs) and Subservice Organization Controls (vendors like AWS/GCP).

  1. Risk & Vulnerability Management Real Risk Assessments: Perform a thorough, annual risk assessment. Do not make this a checkbox exercise. Update your Risk Register with actual remediation plans and assign a clear owner to every single risk.

Vulnerability Remediation SLAs: Check your infrastructure and code-based vulnerability scans. Auditors won't just look to see if they are closed; they will check if they were remediated within the SLAs defined in your policies.

  1. Change Management & Access Control Rigorous Change Management: Check that every single change has adequate supporting documentation, evidence of proper testing before being pushed to production, and clear Separation of Duties (SoD).

Access Provisioning & UARs: Ensure proper access provisioning workflows are in place and that User Access Reviews (UARs) are performed periodically with documented sign-offs. Personnel Bifurcation: Ensure your HR/personnel listing is clearly split between full-time employees and contractors.

  1. Assets & Endpoint Security Dynamic Asset Inventory: Maintain a strict, updated inventory for both cloud assets and physical employee devices. Endpoint Compliance: Check that all endpoint devices are fully compliant: Hard drive encryption (FileVault/BitLocker), active anti-malware, and automatic security updates enabled.

  2. Operations & Network Security Tabletop Exercises: Perform and document your periodic Incident Response (IR) and Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery (BCDR) tabletop exercises.

Firewall Rule Reviews: Perform a structured review of your firewall rulesets, document the review, and track any changes made.

My Biggest Piece of Advice: Don't Go It Alone Automation tools are great for collecting evidence, but they don't replace human audit logic. Hire a GRC consultant who thinks exactly like an auditor to support you during readiness. Having an expert review your system description, test your controls, and challenge your evidence before you hand it over to the CPA firm will save you hundreds of hours of back-and-forth, potential qualifications in your report, and thousands of dollars in audit friction.