SOC 2 Cost for US Start-ups: What You Pay and What Changes It

• Done for you, end to end

  We write the policies, set up the controls and evidence, run the internal audit and coordinate the independent audit. You deal with one team from first call to final report.

• Simple and quick

  A free gap assessment, then one plan with dates from day one. Effivity, our GRC automation platform, is included to keep the evidence moving.

• 8,100+ client engagements

  In 60+ countries over 20+ years, with experts who bring 30+ years of experience.

• Under US$10,000, all-inclusive

  For most start-ups and SMEs: SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, HIPAA or ISO 9001, including the independent audit. A fixed quote follows a free gap assessment.

Every Sterling consulting engagement comes with the following, so you are not buying extras to get to the finish line:

• Effivity, Sterling's GRC automation platform, with a full-year subscription, to run your controls, evidence, tasks and audits in one place.
• Sterling Academy: preferential course access, with complimentary awareness training for your people.
• Internal auditor training for your audit team, as applicable to your standard.
• For information-security engagements, a vulnerability assessment.

These are part of the engagement, not a separate purchase. The details depend on the standard you are working toward, which we confirm during the free gap assessment.

Consulting and auditing are always separated: the people who consult never audit you. That keeps your internal audit objective and protects the independence of the CPA firm, Qualified Security Assessor or certification body that performs the final step.

Behind this are 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries over 20+ years, led by experts with 30+ years of experience.

What the fee covers, and what it doesn't:

• It is the fee for your first SOC 2 report or your first certification only.
• Annual work is always additional and billed the following year: later SOC 2 report periods, and ISO surveillance and recertification audits.
• It assumes a typical start-up or SME scope: one product or service and one main location.
• Larger or multi-site scopes get a fixed quote after the gap assessment.
• PCI DSS is quoted separately: a fixed quote follows a free gap assessment.

^[1] Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: 15-1212 Information Security Analysts, national annual median wage. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. accessed October 23, 2026.

The outcome. One fixed number, one invoice and a report your US customers accept, delivered on the date your deal needs it.

The cost question usually starts with a US customer. The AICPA notes that customers often request a SOC 2 report because they need information about the design, operation and effectiveness of controls inside a supplier's system^[1]. Regulated US buyers carry their own vendor duties:

• Financial institutions under the FTC Safeguards Rule. They must oversee service providers, including requiring safeguards by contract and periodically assessing providers based on risk^[2].
• SEC-registered companies. Their annual disclosure describes whether they have processes to oversee and identify cybersecurity risks from third-party service providers^[3].

Neither rule names SOC 2. In Sterling's experience, a current SOC 2 report is the fastest way a US supplier gives those reviewers what they need, which is why the budget line appears before the contract does.

The outcome. Your team keeps shipping product while we carry the work to a finished report, with a 100% success and on-time completion record behind us.

For most start-ups and SMEs, Sterling's all-inclusive fee for a first SOC 2 report is under US$10,000. Inside that one number:

• Done-for-you consulting. Gap assessment, scope, policies, controls, the system description and evidence collection.
• Internal audit. Run before the examiner arrives, by people who did not advise you on the controls.
• The examination. The SOC 2 report is issued by a US-licensed CPA firm, as AICPA standards require. That firm's fee sits inside our fee, never on a second invoice.
• Coordination end to end. Scheduling, evidence requests and follow-up questions, with one Sterling contact.
• The engagement bundle. Effivity with a full-year subscription, Sterling Academy access with awareness training, internal auditor training and a vulnerability assessment.

A fixed quote follows a free gap assessment, so you see one number for a defined scope before you commit.

The under-US$10,000 figure rests on a typical scope. Here is where that scope ends, so nothing surprises you later.

The outcome. One quote, one contract, one contact, and a report that holds up when a US buyer's security team reads it.

Founders expect two lines, consultant and auditor. With Sterling you see one, because we coordinate the CPA firm from scoping through fieldwork to the issued report. Independence is protected all the same: the people who consult for you never audit you, and the examination belongs to the CPA firm.

Quality matters as much as price. The AICPA has published warnings that promises of "fast and easy" SOC work threaten the credibility of the reports (February 2026) and on the risks of quick-turn SOC engagements (April 2026). It also states that it assists regulators, including referrals to state boards of accountancy, regarding unlicensed firms and practitioners^[4]. A low fee is only worth paying when the report behind it survives scrutiny.

The outcome. You decide the scope with eyes open, and the quote reflects your real company, not a generic band.

1. Trust Services categories. The AICPA criteria cover security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy^[5]. Every category added brings more controls to run and more for the CPA firm to test. 2. System boundary. Management's description of the system is the base of the examination^[6]. One production product on one cloud is quick to describe and test; each extra platform adds its own description, controls and samples. 3. Headcount and vendors. Onboarding, access reviews and training scale with people; every vendor touching production data becomes part of the story. 4. Readiness. If single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, device management and change review already run, the budget goes on documentation and evidence. If not, controls come first. 5. Deadline. A fixed contract date can make a Type 1 worthwhile before the Type 2, which means two examinations.

The free gap assessment tells us which of these apply to you.

US buyers expect a current report, and a Type 2 speaks to a defined period, so SOC 2 is annual work. The fee covers your first report. Later report periods need fresh evidence, a refreshed internal audit and a new examination, and we bill that work the following year. We say so on day one, so no one budgets for a single year.

Year one carries most of the effort. After it, policies exist, tooling is connected, owners know their tasks and Effivity, already in your first-year fee, keeps the evidence calendar running.

• Your people's time. Someone approves access, joins walkthroughs and answers evidence requests. We keep those asks short, scheduled and tracked in Effivity.
• Product fixes. If the gap assessment finds logging switched off or releases shipped without review, the engineering time is yours. We flag it early so it lands on the roadmap before the examination period starts.
• Delay. A report that arrives after a US contract deadline is worth less. Our SOC 2 timeline guide shows where calendars slip.

Put each quote through the same questions, side by side:

• Is the CPA firm's examination inside the fee or billed separately?
• Type 1, Type 2 or both, and how long is the observation period?
• Which Trust Services categories are in scope?
• Which later years are included, and which are billed afterward?
• Who writes policies, collects evidence and runs the internal audit: your team or the provider?
• Is the CPA firm licensed in the United States, and are consulting and examination kept apart?
• What happens if fieldwork finds a deficiency?

Any unanswered line is a question to settle in writing before you sign.

This is Sterling's recommendation, drawn from 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries over 20+ years, not an AICPA or buyer rule:

1. Ask for a fixed quote on a defined scope, never an hourly estimate. 2. Scope security alone unless a signed US contract names another category. 3. Keep the first boundary to one production product and its cloud environment. 4. Close the largest gaps before the examination period opens. 5. Budget year two on day one and put the renewal date in your calendar. 6. If you also sell in Europe or Asia, see how ISO/IEC 27001 reuses much of the same work, and the SOC 2 hub for the standard itself. Choosing a report type? Read Type 1 vs Type 2.

Want your number? Get a proposal built on a free gap assessment of your actual scope.

A SOC 2 engagement has one deliverable that no consultant can hand you: the report. The SOC 2 report is issued by a US-licensed CPA firm, as AICPA standards require^[1]. What Sterling does is make sure you get there ready, and that nothing between today and the report lands on your desk.

With Sterling, you deal with one team from start to finish. We coordinate:

• a readiness review and a gap assessment against the Trust Services Criteria;
• the policies, procedures and controls you need, written for how your company actually works;
• evidence collection, so the examination does not become a scramble;
• an internal audit before the examiner arrives, carried out by people who did not advise you on the controls;
• the Type 1 or Type 2 path that fits your deal timeline, and the examination itself, including scheduling, requests and follow-ups.

Our experts bring 30+ years of experience, and the firm has completed 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries over 20+ years. You get a single plan, a single point of contact and a clear view of what happens next.

^[1] SOC (System and Organization Controls) Suite of Services. AICPA & CIMA. accessed October 23, 2026.

• SOC 2: standard overviewStandard overview
• ISO/IEC 27001: standard overviewStandard overview
• Clear US Enterprise Security Reviews and Questionnaires FastUnited States
• SOC 2 Timeline for US Start-ups: How Long Each Stage TakesUnited States
• SOC 2 Type 1 vs Type 2: Which Report US Buyers ExpectUnited States
• SOC 2 for Series A: What Founders Need and WhenUnited States
• Sterling in the United StatesUnited States

1. SOC 2 Reporting on an Examination of Controls at a Service Organization Relevant to Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, or Privacy. AICPA & CIMA. accessed October 26, 2026.

2. 16 CFR 314.4 Elements (Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information). eCFR, Office of the Federal Register. accessed October 26, 2026.

3. 17 CFR 229.106 (Item 106) Cybersecurity. eCFR, Office of the Federal Register. accessed October 26, 2026.

4. System and Organization Controls: SOC Suite of Services. AICPA & CIMA. accessed October 26, 2026.

5. 2017 Trust Services Criteria (With Revised Points of Focus - 2022). AICPA & CIMA. accessed October 26, 2026.

6. 2018 SOC 2 Description Criteria (With Revised Implementation Guidance - 2022). AICPA & CIMA. accessed October 26, 2026.

The information on this page is provided for general informational purposes only. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from a qualified attorney about your own situation.

Requirements depend on your scope, your customers' contracts, your industry and the regulations that apply to you. Two companies asking for the same standard can have very different obligations. We confirm yours during a gap assessment, and we update our content as standards change, but you should check the current text of any standard or rule that matters to you.

Sterling consults and prepares. It does not decide whether you meet a standard. That decision belongs to the independent party that performs the final step: the US-licensed CPA firm for a SOC 2 report, the Qualified Security Assessor or acquirer for PCI DSS, and the accredited certification body for ISO certificates. Timelines and outcomes depend on your readiness and on those parties.

Standards and marks named on this site belong to their respective owners.