SOC Reporting Services

What is a SOC Report?

System & Organizational Controls (SOC) reports are internal control reports that outline the services that are being provided by a service organization and the controls related to the service that is being offered. This provides valuable information to potential customers and allows the service organization to build trust and confidence around their service offerings. A Service Auditor's Report can help a service organization to:

Build trust with customers
Be a key differentiator to prospective clients
Ensure that all requests from user organizations and their auditors rely on the SOC report

SOC reports are intended to build consumer trust, and are required or beneficial for organizations such as: Data Centers, Loan Servicing, Payroll, Medical Claims, SaaS, Software Developers, etc. Not all SOC reports are alike. These documents come in the following variations:

SOC 1 Report

A SOC 1 report examines internal controls at a service organization that impact a user entity’s (your customers) controls over financial reporting. This report is only to be issued when an auditor of your customer needs to gain comfort with your controls to be able to issue audited financial statements. This report can only be used by the auditors of user entities and user entities’ management.

SOC 2 Report

The SOC 2 report deals specifically with controls related to Security, Confidentiality, Privacy, Availability, and Processing Integrity and are known as the 5 Trust Services Criteria (TSC). SOC 2 reports provide organizations with a broad range of information and assurance in regards to the controls and organization has in place for their systems that deal with the information processed by these systems.

SOC 3 Report

The SOC 3 report is intended to be publicly shareable, and can be provided to clients or posted on an organization's website to boost consumer confidence in the organization's controls, whereas the SOC 1 & 2 can't be publicly shared. SOC 3 covers the same areas as SOC 2, but the report removes confidential information and details.

These reports can be performed as either a Type I or Type II:

Type I Report

The Type I report is a report on management's description of the system(s) in scope and the suitability and design of the controls related to the Trust Services Criteria (TSC) at a point in time.

Type II Report

The Type II report is more detailed. The Type II report includes the statements above, related to a Type I report, but takes it a step further to outline the operating effectiveness of the controls in place over a period of time, not less than 6 months.

How Compass IT Compliance can help you?

For organizations new to the SOC process or organizations interested in reviewing high risk areas that may have emerged since their last audit, Compass offers the SOC Readiness Assessment. Services are performed by skilled Compass IT Compliance professionals who have experience in risk and control oriented audits and information security to validate, prior to an actual service audit, the different criteria for the 5 Trust Services Criteria (TSC) defined in conjunction with our independent CPA firm, Compass Assurance & Advisory Group LLC. After Compass IT Compliance completes the readiness assessment, Compass Assurance & Advisory Group will complete your SOC Report. This approach ensures your preparedness and future success for this type of engagement and reduces the possibility of a qualified opinion or reporting exception. The Compass Readiness Approach is a multi-step assessment process outlined below:

Step 1 - Readiness

The first step is to review the customer scope of the SOC report. Compass IT Compliance will review the existing control environment and supply guidance with management’s description of controls. The importance of this step is to become familiarized with the company and the personnel, systems, and business processes involved in delivering these products and services to their customers. Compass IT Compliance will evaluate existing controls in areas such as infrastructure, software, people, procedures, and data.

Step 2 - Remediation

Compass IT Compliance will provide the necessary clarity around required remediation work prior to your organization’s SOC engagement.

Step 3 - Attestation

Compass Assurance and Advisory Group LLC, an independent CPA firm, will complete the required SOC Report Attestation documentation & partner with you and your organization throughout this crucial final step to ensure a smooth process.

SOC Reporting Services

SOC Reporting Services