SOC 2 Compliance Readiness and Audit Preparation for Small and Mid-Sized Companies
SOC 2 readiness starts the day a large customer's procurement team asks for your report and you do not have one. The report itself comes from a licensed CPA firm. Everything before that, the scoping, the controls, the policies, the months of evidence, is engineering and discipline, and it is where most small companies stall. NetSys builds the controls, runs them inside your managed IT stack, and hands the auditor a tidy evidence library.
The short answer
SOC 2 compliance means an independent CPA firm has examined your controls against the AICPA's Trust Services Criteria and issued a SOC 2 report; there is no SOC 2 certificate. NetSys gets you ready for that examination with a readiness assessment that turns the gaps into a dated list with named owners, then helps close them and organizes the evidence. The CPA examination itself is a separate engagement with an independent firm.
Companies usually come to SOC 2 readiness with a deadline set by someone else: a contract renewal, a security questionnaire that has gone unanswered, an enterprise deal on hold. The temptation is to buy a compliance platform, connect it to your cloud accounts and hope the dashboard turns green. Dashboards observe controls. They do not configure MFA, restore backups or hold a manager to a quarterly review.
Our approach treats readiness as an operating change. Every control gets an owner with a name, a procedure that person can follow, and an artifact the auditor can test. Since NetSys already runs identity, endpoints, email and backups for its managed clients, most Security criteria are satisfied by systems we operate anyway, and the evidence comes from those systems on a schedule.
Scope, Gap, Build, Observe, Then Audit
We begin with our free remote external penetration test, limited to available information and agreed external scope. A separate scoping session settles which Trust Services Criteria and which systems belong in the report; smaller is cheaper and still credible. The gap assessment maps your current state against each criterion and produces a work list with owners. We implement the technical controls in Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Intune and your cloud platform, write policies your team will follow, and start the evidence calendar. For a Type 2 report the controls then operate through an observation period. When you are ready, we help you select a CPA firm and support fieldwork.
What Our SOC 2 Readiness Services Cover
Scoping and Gap Assessment
Decide what the report covers before spending on controls.
- Trust Services Criteria selection based on what customers ask for
- System description drafted: services, infrastructure, data, people and vendors in scope
- Gap assessment against each criterion with a dated remediation list
- Control ownership matrix so no control belongs to 'IT' in general
Technical Controls
The criteria as configured, monitored systems.
- MFA, single sign-on and conditional access; joiner, mover and leaver procedures with quarterly access reviews
- Endpoint management, encryption and detection and response on every device
- Logging, alerting and vulnerability management with tracked remediation
- Backups, restoration testing and a disaster recovery plan that matches the Availability criteria
Policies and Evidence
Written for how you work, then proven from records.
- Policy set covering security, access, change, incident, vendor and business continuity, tailored to your size
- Evidence calendar with automated exports where possible and named owners where not
- Vendor inventory and risk reviews for the services your product depends on
- Security awareness training records and phishing simulation results
Audit Support and Ongoing Operation
Fieldwork, then next year's fieldwork.
- Help selecting an independent CPA firm and agreeing on scope and period
- Auditor request list answered from the evidence library, with engineers on the calls
- Controls kept running after the report, because the next period starts immediately
- Delivered remotely to companies anywhere in the U.S.; on-site in our coverage areas
Why Companies Choose NetSys for SOC 2 Readiness
Fifteen minutes with a NetSys engineer, not a salesperson, and you will know where your soc 2 readiness services stands and what it would take to fix it. Call 845-203-3914 or request a call to discuss the scope and next steps.
Who does the work: meet the NetSys team on our About page.
- Controls are implemented and operated by the engineers who already run your environment, so evidence is a byproduct of normal work
- Scope is kept honest and small, which lowers both the readiness cost and the audit fee
- Every control has a named owner and a procedure, not a checkbox in a platform
- Clear line between our role and the auditor's, stated up front
- Month to month, with a free remote external penetration test within an agreed external scope to begin
SOC 2 readiness timeline: six phases to the report
Each phase ends with something concrete. How long each takes depends on where you start and which report your customer needs, so dates are set in your plan, not promised here:
| Phase | What happens | What you have at the end |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Scoping | Choose the Trust Services Criteria and the systems the report will cover, and draft the system description | A written scope the CPA firm can confirm |
| 2. Readiness assessment | Compare current controls with each criterion in scope | A dated gap list with an owner for every item |
| 3. Remediation | Close the gaps: technical controls in Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Intune and your cloud platform, plus policies your team will follow | Controls running, each with a named owner and a procedure |
| 4. Evidence calendar | Evidence collected on a schedule, exported automatically where possible | An evidence library organized by criterion |
| 5. Observation period (Type 2 only) | Controls operate across the period agreed with the CPA firm | Records showing the controls held up over time |
| 6. CPA examination | The independent CPA firm performs fieldwork, and requests are answered from the evidence library | The SOC 2 report, issued by the CPA firm |
A Type 1 report can follow once the controls are in place; a Type 2 needs the observation period first. The next period starts the day the report is issued.
What SOC 2 costs: four separate budget lines
Readiness quotes are only comparable when they say which of these lines they include. NetSys publishes no rate card; this is how the cost splits:
| Budget line | Who charges it | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Readiness work | NetSys | Systems and criteria in scope, how mature your controls are, and how much evidence can be exported automatically |
| Technical remediation | NetSys or your current provider | The gaps the assessment finds, such as MFA, device management, logging, backups and recovery testing |
| Compliance software (optional) | The software vendor | Whether you want a platform to track evidence; it observes controls but does not configure them |
| CPA examination | An independent CPA firm | Report type, the criteria and systems in scope, and the length of the observation period |
Controls NetSys already runs under a managed agreement can supply records, but each still has to be checked against the agreed scope.
Where we deliver SOC 2 Readiness Services
SOC 2 Readiness Services in New York City · SOC 2 Readiness Services in Stamford, CT · SOC 2 Readiness Services in Jersey City, NJ · SOC 2 Readiness Services in Palo Alto, CA. We also support clients remotely wherever their systems run. See all locations and service areas.
SOC 2 Readiness Services FAQs
What is SOC 2 readiness?
SOC 2 readiness is everything a company does before an independent CPA firm audits it against the Trust Services Criteria: choosing scope, assessing gaps, implementing and documenting controls, assigning owners, training staff and collecting evidence. The audit is a separate engagement with a separate firm, and the report it produces is what customers ask to see.
How much does SOC 2 readiness cost?
Cost depends on systems and criteria in scope, control maturity, remediation work, evidence tooling and the intended report. Separate readiness consulting, technical projects, compliance software and the CPA examination in the budget. Existing managed services may supply useful controls and records, but readiness still requires checking their applicability and evidence against the agreed scope.
What is the difference between SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2?
A Type 1 report says your controls were suitably designed on a specific date. A Type 2 report says they were designed suitably and operated effectively across a period, commonly several months to a year. Customers increasingly ask for Type 2 because it shows the controls held up over time.
Can NetSys issue our SOC 2 report?
No. NetSys supports readiness, technical controls and evidence collection. A qualified independent CPA firm performs the examination and issues the SOC 2 report. Engage that firm early enough to confirm scope, independence requirements and the evidence it expects; NetSys does not promise an audit opinion or a successful result.
Do we need SOC 2 if we already fill out security questionnaires?
Ask the customer which report, scope and period its procurement process requires. A SOC 2 report can support due diligence, but it may not replace every questionnaire or contract-specific question. If no customer requires a report yet, distinguish the value of improving controls from the separate cost and timing of an examination.
How long does SOC 2 readiness take?
It depends on where you start. A company with managed identity, endpoints and backups already in place mostly needs policies, evidence and a few gaps closed, and can reach a Type 1 in a few months. A Type 2 then requires an observation period during which the controls run, so plan the calendar backward from the date a customer needs the report.
What does a SOC 2 readiness assessment include?
A SOC 2 readiness assessment compares your current controls with the Trust Services Criteria you plan to report on. It covers the scope and system description, each criterion in scope, the evidence you can already produce, and a dated remediation list with a named owner for every gap. It prepares you for the audit; it is not the audit.
Do small businesses need a SOC 2 readiness assessment before the audit?
Usually yes, because gaps found before fieldwork cost less to fix than exceptions found during it. A small company can keep the assessment tight: the Security criteria every SOC 2 report covers, plus only the other criteria customers ask for, applied to the systems behind the service being reported.
Is SOC 2 a certification?
No. SOC 2 is an attestation: a licensed CPA firm examines your description of the system and your controls against the Trust Services Criteria (Security, plus Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality or Privacy where you include them) and issues a report containing its opinion. Companies often say they are SOC 2 certified, but what a customer receives is that report, covering a point in time (Type 1) or a period (Type 2). Nobody, NetSys included, can certify you.
How do we become SOC 2 compliant?
Work through it in order. Decide which Trust Services Criteria and which systems the report will cover, then run a readiness assessment against them. Close the gaps with controls people actually operate, give each control a named owner and start collecting evidence on a calendar. For a Type 2, the controls then run through the observation period agreed with your CPA firm before fieldwork. After the report is issued, keep the controls running, because the next period starts that day.
Guides on this topic
- Review existing controls before planning remediation
- Assign security governance and control ownership
- Build recovery testing evidence
- SOC 2 Compliance for Small Business
- Microsoft 365 Management
- Vendor Risk Management for Small Business
- Free External Penetration Test
- What a SOC 2 report is, and the Trust Services Criteria
- ISO 27001 vs SOC 2: which one your customers expect
- SOC 2 vs SOC 3 reports
- SOC 2 Audit Cost: Readiness, Audit and Ongoing Work
- SOC 2 Type 1 vs Type 2 (and SOC 1 vs SOC 2) Explained
- SOC 2 Compliance Checklist: Requirements by Trust Services Criteria
Turn the customer deadline into a realistic readiness plan.
Bring the report your customer requests, the systems involved and any CPA engagement already underway. We will separate gaps, remediation, evidence collection and the independent examination.