SOC 2 Report Criteria and FAQs: What You Need to Know About SOC 2 Compliance
When preparing for a SOC 2 engagement, service organizations often ask what to expect from the auditing and reporting process. They want to know how to prepare, what the requirements are, and how auditors compare their controls to the Trust Service Critera. In this video, we take a deep dive into one aspect of the SOC 2 Security Principle and how auditors use it to examine service organization controls. After viewing, you'll have a deeper understanding of the SOC 2 audit process and what to expect from your SOC 2 engagement. Learn more at https://kirkpatrickprice.com/video/soc-2-report-criteria-faqs/ When a client pursues a SOC 2 audit for the first-time, they normally ask: What are the requirements of a SOC 2 audit? How are we going to be judged? What can I do to prepare? Which Trust Services Criteria should I select? KirkpatrickPrice strives to be your audit partner and will work with your organization to answer each of these SOC 2 FAQs. One of the best things to do when preparing for a SOC 2 audit is review the purpose of the final component of a SOC 2 audit report, which describes the controls in place to meet the Trust Services Criteria and describes the auditor’s test of controls to determine the effectiveness of the controls. Each category of the Trust Services Criteria has standards that you must meet to demonstrate your compliance. When preparing for a SOC 2 audit, your organization should go through these standards and review how you meet each one. For example, the security principle requires, “The entity has established workforce conduct standards, implemented workforce candidate background screenings procedures, and conducts enforcement procedures to enable it to meet its commitments and requirements as they relate to the applicable Trust Services Principles.” How would you organization review how you meet this standard? The first element of this criteria is workforce conduct standards. An assessor would your organization questions like: What are your workforce conduct standards? Do you have employees acknowledge the employee handbook? Do you offer training to teach what your workforce conduct standards are? The security principle criteria also specifies background screening procedures. To verify compliance with this criteria, an assessor would ask your organization questions like: Do you have written policies and procedures? Can we see evidence that background screening reports have been ordered? The last element in this example is conducting enforcement procedures. How do you enforce employee handbook standards that govern workplace conduct? How do you enforce the policies and procedures relevant to background screening? Do you communicate the consequences of violating these standards to your employees? How would your organization prepare for a SOC 2 audit? Preparing for a SOC 2 audit requires many exercises in risk management, internal control review, and comparison with the Trust Services Criteria. To discover answers to more of your SOC 2 FAQs, contact us today. More Free Service Organization Control Resources https://kirkpatrickprice.com/audit/soc-2/ https://kirkpatrickprice.com/audit/soc-2/resources https://kirkpatrickprice.com/audit/soc-1/ https://kirkpatrickprice.com/audit/soc-cybersecurity/ Stay Connected Twitter: https://twitter.com/KPAudit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kirkpatrickprice-llc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kirkpatrickprice/ Blog: https://kirkpatrickprice.com/blog/ Webinars: https://kirkpatrickprice.com/webinars/ Videos: https://kirkpatrickprice.com/video/ White Papers: https://kirkpatrickprice.com/white-papers/ About Us KirkpatrickPrice is a licensed CPA firm, PCI QSA, and a HITRUST CSF Assessor, registered with the PCAOB, providing assurance services to over 600 clients in more than 48 states, Canada, Asia, and Europe. The firm has over 12 years of experience in information security and compliance assurance by performing assessments, audits, and tests that strengthen information security and internal controls. KirkpatrickPrice most commonly provides advice on SOC 1, SOC 2, HIPAA, HITRUST CSF, PCI DSS, GDPR, ISO 27001, FISMA, and CFPB frameworks. For more about KirkpatrickPrice: https://kirkpatrickprice.com/ Contact us today: 800-770-2701 https://kirkpatrickprice.com/contact/
When preparing for a SOC 2 engagement, service organizations often ask what to expect from the auditing and reporting process. They want to know how to prepare, what the requirements are, and how auditors compare their controls to the Trust Service Critera. In this video, we take a deep dive into one aspect of the SOC 2 Security Principle and how auditors use it to examine service organization controls. After viewing, you'll have a deeper understanding of the SOC 2 audit process and what to expect from your SOC 2 engagement. Learn more at https://kirkpatrickprice.com/video/soc-2-report-criteria-faqs/ When a client pursues a SOC 2 audit for the first-time, they normally ask: What are the requirements of a SOC 2 audit? How are we going to be judged? What can I do to prepare? Which Trust Services Criteria should I select? KirkpatrickPrice strives to be your audit partner and will work with your organization to answer each of these SOC 2 FAQs. One of the best things to do when preparing for a SOC 2 audit is review the purpose of the final component of a SOC 2 audit report, which describes the controls in place to meet the Trust Services Criteria and describes the auditor’s test of controls to determine the effectiveness of the controls. Each category of the Trust Services Criteria has standards that you must meet to demonstrate your compliance. When preparing for a SOC 2 audit, your organization should go through these standards and review how you meet each one. For example, the security principle requires, “The entity has established workforce conduct standards, implemented workforce candidate background screenings procedures, and conducts enforcement procedures to enable it to meet its commitments and requirements as they relate to the applicable Trust Services Principles.” How would you organization review how you meet this standard? The first element of this criteria is workforce conduct standards. An assessor would your organization questions like: What are your workforce conduct standards? Do you have employees acknowledge the employee handbook? Do you offer training to teach what your workforce conduct standards are? The security principle criteria also specifies background screening procedures. To verify compliance with this criteria, an assessor would ask your organization questions like: Do you have written policies and procedures? Can we see evidence that background screening reports have been ordered? The last element in this example is conducting enforcement procedures. How do you enforce employee handbook standards that govern workplace conduct? How do you enforce the policies and procedures relevant to background screening? Do you communicate the consequences of violating these standards to your employees? How would your organization prepare for a SOC 2 audit? Preparing for a SOC 2 audit requires many exercises in risk management, internal control review, and comparison with the Trust Services Criteria. To discover answers to more of your SOC 2 FAQs, contact us today. More Free Service Organization Control Resources https://kirkpatrickprice.com/audit/soc-2/ https://kirkpatrickprice.com/audit/soc-2/resources https://kirkpatrickprice.com/audit/soc-1/ https://kirkpatrickprice.com/audit/soc-cybersecurity/ Stay Connected Twitter: https://twitter.com/KPAudit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kirkpatrickprice-llc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kirkpatrickprice/ Blog: https://kirkpatrickprice.com/blog/ Webinars: https://kirkpatrickprice.com/webinars/ Videos: https://kirkpatrickprice.com/video/ White Papers: https://kirkpatrickprice.com/white-papers/ About Us KirkpatrickPrice is a licensed CPA firm, PCI QSA, and a HITRUST CSF Assessor, registered with the PCAOB, providing assurance services to over 600 clients in more than 48 states, Canada, Asia, and Europe. The firm has over 12 years of experience in information security and compliance assurance by performing assessments, audits, and tests that strengthen information security and internal controls. KirkpatrickPrice most commonly provides advice on SOC 1, SOC 2, HIPAA, HITRUST CSF, PCI DSS, GDPR, ISO 27001, FISMA, and CFPB frameworks. For more about KirkpatrickPrice: https://kirkpatrickprice.com/ Contact us today: 800-770-2701 https://kirkpatrickprice.com/contact/