TYPE I
A point in time.
Examines the design of controls as of a specified date.
GUARDVEST / SOC 2 READINESS
SOC 2 readiness.
Built around your business.
Turn customer requirements into a practical plan for controls, evidence and audit preparation. GuardVest helps your team understand the gaps, organize the work and prepare for an independent SOC 2 examination.
Understand the requirementGuardVest / 01
What is SOC 2?
SOC 2 is an independent examination of a service organization’s controls relevant to the AICPA Trust Services Criteria. A licensed CPA firm issues the resulting report.
The criteria address security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy. The applicable categories and system boundaries are chosen for your business and the commitments you make to customers.
Customers use the report to understand how you protect the systems and information they rely on. It provides assurance about the controls within the report’s scope; it does not eliminate security risk.
Learn about SOC reports from the AICPATYPE II
Evidence over time.
Examines control design and operating effectiveness over a specified period. Your team needs to operate the controls and retain evidence throughout that period.
Why it mattersGuardVest / 02
Make security easier
for your customers to trust.
Support customer diligence.
Enterprise buyers may ask for a SOC 2 report before entrusting you with their data. Readiness work helps you understand that requirement and prepare a credible response.
Clarify how work gets done.
Define who owns access reviews, change management, incident response and other controls. Replace informal practices with repeatable processes and retained evidence.
Find gaps before the examination.
Identify missing controls and weak evidence early, then give your team a prioritized plan to address them.
What GuardVest deliversGuardVest / 03
More than a checklist.
A plan your team can use.
We scope the work around your starting point, customer expectations and internal capacity. Your engagement can include:
Scope and requirements
Define the system, services, data, applicable trust categories, third-party dependencies and target report type. Connect the scope to customer requirements.
Control and gap assessment
Review existing practices and evidence against the agreed criteria. Document what is in place, what needs improvement and what still needs to be confirmed.
Evidence request list
Identify the artifacts needed for each control, the responsible owner and target date. Track missing evidence and questions that need follow-up.
Prioritized remediation plan
Translate gaps into specific actions with owners, priorities and completion criteria. Help your team focus its effort on the work that matters.
Policies and operating guidance
Develop or refine agreed policies and procedures so they reflect your actual business. Clarify how controls should operate and how evidence should be retained.
Leadership readout and auditor preparation
Summarize readiness, unresolved gaps and key decisions. Help organize agreed materials and prepare your team for discussions with its independent CPA firm.
The statement of work defines the deliverables, implementation support and responsibilities included in your engagement.
How we workGuardVest / 04
From an unclear request
to a clear next step.
Understand: Start with your customer’s request, current environment, target dates and team capacity.
Assess: Review controls and available evidence, and separate confirmed gaps from items that need follow-up.
Prepare: Agree on priorities, document actions and support the work included in your scope.
Hand off: Provide an organized readiness summary and materials for your team and its independent auditor.
Your team owns its controls and their operation. GuardVest provides readiness advice and agreed preparation support; the independent CPA firm performs the examination and issues the SOC 2 report.
See the workGuardVest / 05
Clear findings.
Specific actions.
Accountable owners.
See how a readiness review can connect a control gap to an evidence request and a practical remediation plan.
This example uses a fictional company and illustrates selected deliverables. It contains no client data and is not a SOC 2 report.
Common questionsGuardVest / 06
Know what you’re preparing for.
Is this the same as GuardVest’s Security Readiness Program?
No. SOC 2 readiness is scoped specifically around preparing for a SOC 2 examination. Our Security Readiness Program builds a broader security foundation and includes an assessment, GuardVest ClearSight, operating documents, a tabletop and service recommendations. We can discuss which engagement best matches your needs.
Do we need to buy a compliance platform?
We can work with the tools you already use and discuss whether additional tooling would help. A platform can organize evidence, but your team still needs to operate its controls and address gaps.
How long does readiness take?
Timing depends on your current controls, evidence quality, scope and available staff. A Type II examination also needs an observation period agreed with your auditor. We assess your starting point before recommending a timeline.
Does GuardVest issue the SOC 2 report?
No. GuardVest provides readiness and advisory support. An independent licensed CPA firm conducts the examination and issues the report. Readiness work does not guarantee a favorable audit opinion.
How much does it cost?
We define the scope and fee after understanding your requirements. Auditor fees and third-party platform costs are separate unless expressly included in your agreement.
Your next stepGuardVest / Let’s talk
Build boldly.
Grow securely.
Let’s talk about what your business needs. In a 30-minute scoping call, we discuss your priorities and recommend the right scope of support.
info@guardvest.co
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