SOC for Supply Chain
Key Takeaways
- Identify Supply Chain Risks: SOC for Supply Chain helps organizations uncover vulnerabilities across suppliers, production, logistics, and technology dependencies.
- Strengthen Reliability and Quality: The framework evaluates whether physical and digital goods, suppliers, components, and processes are reliable and protected from disruption or tampering.
- Prepare for Vendor Disruptions: Organizations can proactively assess potential vendor failures and develop contingency plans to minimize the impact of supply chain disruptions.
- Build Resilience: SOC for Supply Chain provides a comprehensive approach to strengthening interconnected supply chains and preparing for inevitable disruptions.
How does a producer of raw materials or software, manufacturer of components or finished goods, and distribution company in logistics or warehousing manage their supply chain risks? That question is what a SOC for Supply Chain assessment would evaluate, and what a SOC Supply Chain report would answer.
As of August 28, 2026, it has been 182 days since the Strait of Hormuz was closed on February 28, 2026, due to the United States and Israel conflict with Iran that is causing a prolonged disruption to 20% of the global oil supply. As a result, Time reported in April 2026 that gas prices were above $6.00 a gallon in California and nations are taking action to manage the supply shortage. Gas prices have increased by 70%, as estimated by the EU, and these hikes look to continue if based on crude oil prices going up to $200 a barrel from $126 a barrel.
182 days and counting of nations, companies, and entities having to scramble, having to make drastic decisions to protect their supplies and supply chain. 182 days and counting of having the supply chain dependencies be stress-tested and possibly breaking.
Where SOC for Supply Chain Comes In
The SOC for Supply Chain framework, developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), uses Description Criteria (DC section 300) to describe the physical or digital goods, the production or delivery commitments, the risks to not being able to meet the commitments, the people, process, and technology that make up the system boundaries, and the reporting of incidents that affected the system. The framework also uses Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy that make up the Trust Services Criteria with Security being required.
SOC for Supply Chain focuses on the company’s responsibility to rigorously ensure the reliability of the production line and process, the quality of the goods, and the strength of the connections within supply chain networks to hold against stress or be managed well to be resilient. The company is responsible for ensuring that:
- Production of physical goods or digital goods are reliable.
- Quality of suppliers and the raw materials or components of physical goods or software libraries used in production are there.
- Fragility of the supply chains from physical logistics to manufacturing dependencies are identified, managed, and disclosed.
- Third-party software libraries or physical components are authorized, up-to-date, and safe from tampering.
- Potential vendor failures are evaluated to manage disruptions to the production or quality of the products.
Final Thoughts
In an interconnected global economy, the SOC for Supply Chain provides the expansive oversight necessary to ensure production reliability. This framework allows companies to move beyond surface-level checks by analyzing the intimate details of raw material providers, verifying the integrity of code libraries, and building robust contingency plans for delivery failures – whether those assets are physical goods or digital software.
“Be ready so you don’t have to get ready.” Disruptions are inevitable.
McKonly & Asbury’s SOC and HITRUST team is available to assist your organization in evaluating what assessment report best fits your needs. For more information, be sure to visit our HITRUST and System and Organization Controls (SOC) service pages, and don’t hesitate to contact Dave Hammarberg, CPA, CFE, CISSP, GSEC, MCSE, CISA with further questions regarding HITRUST, SOC reports, and our other services.
About the Author
Lynnanne Bocchi, CPA, CIA, CISA, MBA, CCSFP, CHQP, CISM, CCP is a Director with the firm. She is a key member of our firm’s System and Organization Controls (SOC) Practice, preparing SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3 reports for our clients. She is also a… Read more
