SOC 2 for Series A: What Founders Need and When

• 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.

Sterling handles preparation end to end while your engineers keep building. We run the free gap assessment, write policies and controls to fit your stack, set up evidence collection, run the internal audit and coordinate the independent examination. The SOC 2 report is issued by a US-licensed CPA firm, as AICPA standards require. You deal with Sterling throughout, and the people who consult on your controls never audit you.

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. You walk into diligence and procurement with a dated plan, then a report, instead of a stalled deal.

US founders usually meet SOC 2 in one of two ways: a lead investor's diligence list includes a security section, or a first US enterprise customer's questionnaire ends by asking for a SOC 2 report. These are different requests and need different answers.

The AICPA describes SOC as a suite of services through which CPAs give users assurance reports on a service organization's controls^[1]. A SOC 2 engagement is an examination of the description of your system and of controls relevant to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality or privacy^[2]. The AICPA has also warned that promises of "fast and easy" SOC work threaten the credibility of the reports^[1]. The right question is therefore "what do we show, to whom, and by when".

The AICPA publishes illustrative materials for both a Type 1 and a Type 2 examination^[4][5]. As commonly described, a Type 1 speaks to the design of your controls at one date; a Type 2 speaks to whether they operated over a period. Our guide to SOC 2 Type 1 vs Type 2 goes deeper.

The outcome. One evidence pack answers both audiences, so neither slows your close.

• US investors. Diligence teams generally want to know whether a security failure could damage the investment: who owns security, what is written down, how access and incidents are handled. A clear control picture and a dated plan often suffice at this stage.
• US procurement and vendor risk teams. Their question is narrower: can this supplier be approved? In Sterling's experience, a current SOC 2 report lets a reviewer clear many lines at once; without one, expect longer questionnaires and stalled deals.
• US legal teams. Check whether the contract names a specific report. If it does, plan to it or negotiate an interim step.

No rule says a Series A company must hold a SOC 2 report. The decision turns on where your US revenue comes from.

Start before the round if:

• A signed or near-signed customer has made a report a contract condition.
• Your pipeline is mid-market and enterprise, where a report is routine procurement.
• You handle regulated or sensitive data.

Start right after the round if:

• Your buyers are small and accept a completed questionnaire.
• Engineering time before closing is better spent on product.
• A major architecture change is due within two quarters.

Either way, a gap assessment is the best first move: it shows what you have, what is missing and the sequence. See also compliance for fundraising and due diligence.

The AICPA's Trust Services Criteria cover five categories: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy^[3]. An examination can address any combination^[2]. We recommend starting with security.

Each added category adds controls, evidence and testing you must keep meeting. Add them only when needed:

• Availability. Customers rely on uptime commitments in contracts.
• Confidentiality. You hold customer information under NDA terms the buyer expects tested.
• Processing integrity. Accuracy of what you compute or transmit is the product.
• Privacy. You collect personal information directly and customers want it examined.

Also fix the system boundary. For most start-ups the cleanest first scope is one product on one cloud environment; widening later is easier than narrowing a report already shared.

The outcome. A sequenced plan your sales team can quote to US prospects. In Sterling's planning view, a first SOC 2 runs in five stages: 1. Gap assessment. Sets scope and shows what is missing. 2. Policy and control build. Documents match what you actually do; missing controls are put in place. 3. Evidence collection. Controls start generating records an examiner will sample. 4. Internal readiness review. Catches problems before the CPA firm sees them. 5. Examination. Performed by a US-licensed CPA firm.

A Type 1 can follow once the design is in place. A Type 2 needs an observation period to elapse, so effort alone cannot compress it. The CPA firm's availability also affects fieldwork dates. If the report is a condition of closing or of a named contract, start the gap assessment when the term sheet or contract request arrives; otherwise, start so a Type 2 period is running before your first large customer reviews you. See the SOC 2 timeline guide.

For most start-ups and SMEs, Sterling's all-inclusive fee for a first SOC 2 report is under US$10,000. That covers our done-for-you consulting and the examination itself, with the report issued by a US-licensed CPA firm, as AICPA standards require. Conditions and inclusions are in the pricing note on this page. A fixed quote follows a free gap assessment.

What can move a scope outside that range:

• More categories than security alone.
• A wider boundary: several products, regions or environments.
• Headcount, and vendors with access to production data.
• Documentation and control work still to be built.
• More than one main location.

Later annual periods are billed the following year. Our SOC 2 cost guide covers the drivers.

Give investors and buyers a specific, verifiable account of where you stand, without overstating.

• Dated roadmap. One page naming scope, stages and target months.
• Policies that match reality. Security, access, incident response, vendor, change and continuity policies, each with a named owner.
• Readiness result. A gap assessment or internal review, described as that, never as a report.
• Trust center and questionnaires. Practices, NDA-shareable policies and status, kept current.
• Basics evidenced. Single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, endpoint management, logging, tested backups, security training.
• Bridge. Offer a call with your security lead plus your plan. Once you hold a report, a bridge letter can cover the time since the period ended; the AICPA lists it in its SOC 2 report walkthrough^[6].

Say "we are preparing for" a SOC 2 examination until an engagement with a CPA firm is signed. Never say "SOC 2 compliant" before a report exists.

This is Sterling's recommendation, not an AICPA or investor requirement. For most Series A software companies: 1. Run a gap assessment before the term sheet closes, so diligence receives a dated plan. 2. Scope security only, unless a signed contract calls for another category. 3. Keep the boundary to your production product and its cloud environment. 4. Plan a Type 1 only if a named customer needs something sooner, then start the Type 2 period straight afterwards. 5. Use the trust center and questionnaires as the bridge. 6. If you also sell in Europe, the UK or Asia, compare ISO/IEC 27001 at the same time; one control set can serve both. See the SOC 2 hub.

Ready to move? Get started with a conversation about your round and your pipeline.

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
• Pass US Investor Due Diligence on Security, FastUnited States
• SOC 2 Type 1 vs Type 2: Which Report US Buyers ExpectUnited States
• SOC 2 Timeline for US Start-ups: How Long Each Stage TakesUnited States
• SOC 2 Cost for US Start-ups: What You Pay and What Changes ItUnited States
• Sterling in the United StatesUnited States

1. System and Organization Controls: SOC Suite of Services. AICPA & CIMA. accessed October 23, 2026.

2. 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 23, 2026.

3. 2017 Trust Services Criteria (With Revised Points of Focus - 2022). AICPA & CIMA. accessed October 23, 2026.

4. Illustrative Management Representation Letter: SOC 2 Type 1. AICPA & CIMA. accessed October 23, 2026.

5. Illustrative Service Auditor's SOC 2 Type 2 Report. AICPA & CIMA. accessed October 23, 2026.

6. SOC 2 Report Walkthrough. AICPA & CIMA. accessed October 23, 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.