ISO/IEC 27001 for US Start-ups Selling Beyond the US

• 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: an internationally recognized certificate for your information security management system, prepared for you and audited by an accredited certification body, so overseas buyers stop asking for something your SOC 2 work did not give them. Sterling does not certify.

ISO/IEC 27001 is the international requirements standard for information security management systems^[1]. No US law requires a start-up to hold it. In Sterling's experience, it reaches US start-ups through these situations:

• Your first customer outside the US. A European, Gulf, Asian or Australian buyer whose vendor policy names ISO/IEC 27001 and not SOC 2.
• US enterprises with global supply chains. A multinational that wants one supplier standard in every region.
• Tenders and frameworks. A public-sector or corporate bid that scores a recognized security certificate.
• US investors planning international growth. A board that prefers a certificate maintained through scheduled audits.

The outcome: one security system that answers US and international reviewers alike, so you never run two projects.

• SOC 2. The report US enterprise buyers know best. The SOC 2 report is issued by a US-licensed CPA firm, as AICPA standards require^[2]. Access, change, vendor and incident controls carry straight across to ISO/IEC 27001.
• NIST CSF 2.0. NIST publishes the Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 for industry, government and organizations to reduce cybersecurity risks, with informative references that map it to other resources^[3]. Many US security teams think in its terms; we can show your controls against both.
• US public-company customers. SEC Regulation S-K Item 106 requires registrants to describe their processes for managing material cybersecurity risks, including whether they oversee risks from third-party service providers^[4]. A certificate with a clear scope is evidence those reviewers can file.

The outcome: a scope statement that covers the product your customers buy, so procurement reads it once and moves on.

• Product. One sentence a customer would recognize.
• Organization. Usually the whole company at this stage.
• Locations. Your office, any co-working space, and remote work stated plainly.
• Technology. Production cloud, development tools, source control, identity and managed devices.
• Dependencies. Hosting, payroll and support platforms, and where your responsibility ends.

Two start-up questions need early answers. A fully remote team needs clear device and home-working rules inside the scope. A second product on the way means deciding whether it joins now or at a later audit.

Scope also sets the effort. One product with one main location is a very different project from several products across regions, and a larger scope gets a fixed quote after the gap assessment. We test the draft statement against the questionnaires and tenders you are trying to answer before it is fixed.

The outcome: a working management system, not a binder. These are Sterling's plain-English descriptions, not text from the standard.

1. Risk method. Assets, threats, likelihood and impact; a decision on each risk; a list of applied controls with reasons for any left out. 2. Leadership. Founders approve the policy, set objectives and review results, with minutes. 3. Access and devices. Least privilege, strong authentication, joiner-mover-leaver records. 4. Engineering. Code review, testing, controlled release, secrets kept out of repositories. 5. Suppliers, incidents and continuity. A vendor register, a rehearsed response plan, tested backups. 6. The improvement loop. Internal audit, management review and corrective action. Start-ups underestimate this most, and certification bodies read it closely.

None of this needs an enterprise-sized team. It needs each element written down plainly, owned by a named person and repeated often enough that the records exist when the auditor asks.

The outcome: we remove these before the certification body arrives.

• Documents written for an auditor. Interviews test whether engineers' answers match the paper.
• A scope that dodges the product. International buyers notice.
• No internal audit or review minutes. Both are part of running the system.
• Two parallel programs. Separate ISO and SOC 2 documents drift apart; keep one control library.
• Overclaiming. Say "ISO/IEC 27001 certified" only after an accredited body has issued the certificate, and quote the scope.

The outcome: done for you, on time. Sterling's record is 100% success and on-time completion, built over 20+ years and 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries, led by experts with 30+ years of experience. The people who consult never audit you.

1. Free gap assessment. Your product, tools and practices, returned as a scope, a gap list and an order of work. 2. System design. Policy set, risk method and procedures sized for a small team. 3. Records. Your team runs the system; Effivity holds the risk register, tasks and evidence. 4. Internal audit and management review. We test first; findings are closed. 5. Certification audit. We coordinate with the accredited body you choose and support you to its decision.

Ready for your first overseas customer? Get a proposal and a Sterling expert will reply.

ISO management system standards such as ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 42001 and ISO 9001 are certified by an accredited certification body, not by a consultant^[1]. Sterling never certifies. The certificate carries the name of the body that issued it, and that independence is what makes it credible to your buyers.

What Sterling does is prepare your company so that the certification body's audit goes smoothly. We coordinate:

• a gap assessment against the standard;
• the management system itself: scope, risk assessment, policies, procedures and records, sized for your company;
• training for your people and an internal audit before the certification audit;
• management review and corrective actions;
• the certification audit process, from choosing an accredited body to closing any findings.

Consulting and auditing are always separated. The people who consult never audit you, so the internal audit is a genuine test and the certification body's audit is independent.

Sterling has completed 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries over 20+ years, and our experts bring 30+ years of experience.

^[1] About the IAF MLA (multilateral recognition arrangement). International Accreditation Forum (functions transferred to Global Accreditation Cooperation Inc., 1 Jan 2026). accessed October 23, 2026.

• ISO/IEC 27001: standard overviewStandard overview
• SOC 2: standard overviewStandard overview
• Win Buyers Abroad: Compliance for US Companies ExpandingUnited States
• SOC 2 vs ISO 27001 for US Companies: Which to Start WithUnited States
• ISO 27001 Cost for US Start-ups: What You Pay and What Drives ItUnited States
• SOC 2 for US Start-ups: Your First Report, Done for YouUnited States
• Sterling in the United StatesUnited States

1. ISO/IEC 27001, Information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection, Information security management systems, Requirements. ISO. accessed October 23, 2026.

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

3. Cybersecurity Framework (CSF 2.0 resource page). NIST. accessed October 26, 2026.

4. 17 CFR 229.106 (Item 106 of Regulation S-K) Cybersecurity, paragraph (b)(1). Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (SEC). 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.