SOC 1 Compliance and Consulting Services
Prepare your organization for a SOC 1 examination with practical consulting and readiness support from Qualitcert.
SOC 1 reports are designed for service organizations whose controls may be relevant to their customers’ financial reporting. For organizations providing technology, business process, financial, payroll, accounting, or other services, demonstrating effective controls can be an important part of customer assurance and vendor due diligence.
Qualitcert helps organizations understand SOC 1 requirements, assess their current controls, identify gaps, organize supporting evidence, and prepare for an independent SOC 1 examination.
What Is SOC 1?
SOC 1 is a reporting framework used to examine controls at a service organization that are relevant to its customers’ internal control over financial reporting.
A SOC 1 engagement can provide customers and other authorized users with information about the service organization’s control environment and the design and operating effectiveness of relevant controls.
SOC 1 reports are generally structured as either Type 1 or Type 2 reports.
SOC 1 Type 1 vs SOC 1 Type 2
SOC 1 Type 1
A SOC 1 Type 1 report evaluates the design of specified controls at a particular point in time.
It can be useful for organizations that need to demonstrate that relevant controls have been designed and implemented as of a specified date.
SOC 1 Type 2
A SOC 1 Type 2 report goes further by examining the design and operating effectiveness of specified controls over a defined period.
The organization generally needs to maintain evidence demonstrating that the relevant controls operated as intended during the examination period.
For organizations responding to customer security questionnaires, procurement requirements, or financial-control assurance requests, understanding the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 is important when determining the appropriate engagement.
SOC 1 Compliance Consulting
Qualitcert provides SOC 1 readiness and consulting support to help organizations prepare their control environment before an independent examination.
Our support can include:
- Understanding SOC 1 requirements
- Defining the scope of the engagement
- Identifying relevant business processes
- Control identification and mapping
- Gap assessment
- Policy and procedure review
- Control documentation
- Evidence readiness
- Risk and control assessment
- Internal control review
- Remediation guidance
- Internal audit support
- SOC 1 examination readiness
The exact scope of consulting depends on the organization’s services, systems, customers, and controls included in the SOC 1 engagement.
SOC 1 Readiness Assessment
A readiness assessment can help identify areas that may require attention before the formal SOC 1 examination.
Qualitcert can review your existing control environment and help identify gaps relating to areas such as:
- Access management
- User provisioning and deprovisioning
- Change management
- Logical access controls
- Backup and recovery
- Incident management
- Data processing
- System operations
- Financially relevant processes
- Vendor management
- Monitoring activities
- Business continuity
- Evidence collection
The objective is to help the organization understand what controls are expected, how those controls operate, and what evidence can demonstrate their operation.
A SOC 1 engagement is not a generic checklist that can be applied identically to every organization.
The relevant controls depend on the services provided by the service organization and their relevance to customers’ internal control over financial reporting.
Qualitcert can help organizations map their business processes to relevant controls and organize documentation and evidence around those controls.
This can help management and process owners understand their responsibilities before the independent examination begins.
SOC 1 Policies and Documentation
Well-defined policies and procedures can help organizations establish consistency in their control environment.
Depending on the scope of the engagement, documentation may cover areas such as:
- Information security
- Access control
- Change management
- Incident management
- Backup management
- Business continuity
- Vendor management
- Asset management
- Human resources controls
- IT operations
- Risk management
- Data protection
Qualitcert reviews existing documentation where available and helps organizations identify areas that need to be developed, updated, or better aligned with actual practices.
SOC 1 Evidence Preparation
Evidence is an important part of demonstrating that controls have been implemented and, for a Type 2 examination, operated over the relevant period.
Our readiness support can help teams establish an evidence collection process and understand what records may be required for applicable controls.
Examples may include:
- Access review records
- Approval records
- Change tickets
- System logs
- Incident records
- Backup records
- Training records
- Vendor assessments
- Review reports
- Management approvals
- Monitoring records
Evidence requirements vary according to the organization’s scope and control objectives.
SOC 1 Type 2 Readiness
Organizations preparing for SOC 1 Type 2 generally need to pay particular attention to consistency over the examination period.
A control that exists on paper but is not consistently performed can create challenges during the examination.
Qualitcert can help organizations establish practical control procedures, assign responsibilities, identify evidence requirements, and monitor implementation before the formal examination.
SOC 1 Consulting Process
Our SOC 1 consulting approach generally follows these stages:
- Scope Understanding
We understand your services, systems, customers, business processes, and intended SOC 1 scope.
- Current-State Assessment
Existing policies, procedures, controls, and evidence are reviewed against the defined requirements.
- Gap Identification
Potential gaps are documented and discussed with relevant process owners.
- Remediation Support
We help teams address identified gaps and improve control documentation and implementation.
- Evidence Readiness
We help establish an organized approach for collecting and maintaining control evidence.
- Examination Readiness
Before the independent examination, we help the organization review its readiness and address outstanding areas.
Why Choose Qualitcert for SOC 1 Consulting?
Qualitcert provides compliance and management system consulting services for organizations working across technology, information security, privacy, quality, and other governance requirements.
Our approach focuses on understanding how your organization actually operates and aligning documentation and controls with those processes.
We can also help organizations coordinate SOC 1 readiness with existing ISO and information security initiatives where appropriate.
Prepare for Your SOC 1 Examination
If your customer has requested a SOC 1 report or your organization is planning its first SOC 1 examination, early preparation can help your team understand the scope, controls, responsibilities, and evidence requirements.
Contact Qualitcert to discuss your SOC 1 Type 1 or Type 2 readiness requirements.