What Are the Benefits of Getting a SOC 2 Audit?

A SOC 2 audit report is an attestation report on controls at a service organization relevant to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Trust Services Criteria for security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. SOC 2 reports are the established industry standard for assessing and evaluating a service organization’s internal controls and, therefore, a necessity for companies to manage the risk that comes with using service organizations. There are four benefits to a service organization undergoing a SOC 2 audit.

1. Customer and Vendor Assurance

The SOC 2 audit report provides service organization customers and vendors with a third-party assurance relevant to an organization’s controls pertinent to the AICPA Trust Services Criteria. The objective of the SOC 2 report is to provide a valuable report that allows customers and vendors to evaluate the service organization’s design and operating effectiveness of security controls. The report provides customers and vendors with pertinent details on the information security controls helping to create trusted relationships with vendors. In addition, SOC 2 reports will further clarify the specific responsibilities related to security controls with customers and partners, specifically around cybersecurity and data protection. SOC 2 reports provide an industry-leading reporting mechanism that can lead to significant time savings for service organization personnel responding to those vendor and customer diligence questionnaires.

2. Market Competitive Advantage

SOC 2 audit report differentiates service organizations from their competitors and demonstrates to customers, vendors, and prospective customers a commitment to information security internal controls. In this rapidly changing environment, the threats presented to information security systems and data are constantly evolving. Service organizations with the ability to provide the level of assurance granted by a SOC 2 report demonstrate that they take information security risks and controls seriously.

3. Compliance with Regulatory Standards

SOC 2 audit reports help organizations demonstrate and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements at both a national and industry-specific level. SOC 2 controls at service organizations can be structured around other regulatory requirements and frameworks. Healthcare organizations can structure the controls in their SOC 2 controls around the requirement for HIPAA to provide additional clarity into the organization’s ability to meet the HIPAA compliance requirements. The SOC 2 certainly provides organizations the ability to demonstrate compliance with not only the AICPA Trust Service Criteria but also other industry and regulatory standards and frameworks.

4. Commitment to Security

A SOC 2 audit report provides valuable information to the service organization management concerning the information security controls in place relevant to the control environment, logical access, physical access, risk management, and more. The results of the SOC 2 audit allow management to evaluate the organization’s information security posture, as well as to identify the need to implement additional controls to meet the risks. In addition, the SOC 2 audit provides the service organization with an annual assessment of the design and operating effectiveness of controls, allowing the organization to continually assess and implement controls to meet the changing business environment.

Before assessing the benefits of a SOC 2 audit, it may be useful to have a consultation with McKonly & Asbury to determine the best approach based upon your organization’s needs. For more information, be sure to visit our System and Organization Controls (SOC) service page, and don’t hesitate to contact Dave Hammarberg, CPA, CFE, CISSP, GSEC, MCSE, CISA with further questions regarding SOC 2 reports and our services.

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