Question 1

Is SOC 2 a certification?

Accepted Answer

Not exactly. SOC 2 is an independent attestation report issued by a licensed CPA firm, not a certification you pass or fail. The auditor expresses an opinion on whether your controls are designed — and for Type II, operating — effectively against the AICPA's Trust Services Criteria. There is no central registry and no "SOC 2 certificate"; what you receive is a report you share under NDA with customers and prospects.

Question 2

What is the difference between SOC 2 Type I and Type II?

Accepted Answer

A SOC 2 Type I report evaluates whether your controls are suitably designed at a single point in time. A Type II report goes further and tests whether those controls operated effectively across a review period, typically 3 to 12 months. Most enterprise buyers want Type II because it proves controls work over time, not just on paper. Many companies start with a Type I to unblock a deal, then move to a rolling Type II.

Question 3

What are the five SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria?

Accepted Answer

SOC 2 is built on five Trust Services Criteria: Security (the only required one, also called the Common Criteria), Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy. You scope your report to the criteria that match the promises you make to customers — most SaaS companies start with Security and add Availability and Confidentiality as their commitments grow.

Question 4

How long does it take to get SOC 2 compliant?

Accepted Answer

Most companies reach audit-ready in 8 to 16 weeks depending on their starting security posture, followed by the observation window for a Type II. Agency's forward-deployed engineers compress that timeline by operating the work directly — implementing controls, writing policies, and collecting evidence — instead of handing you a checklist and a dashboard.

Question 5

How much does a SOC 2 cost?

Accepted Answer

The all-in cost of SOC 2 is more than the audit fee. It includes the GRC platform (Vanta, Drata, or similar), the independent auditor, penetration testing, and — usually the largest line item — the internal engineering and compliance time spent implementing and maintaining controls. Agency lowers that total cost of ownership: we operate your GRC platform for you, so you capture its value without pulling engineers off the roadmap, and our clients save an average of 200+ hours and well over $100K in engineering and compliance time each year. For published numbers: Express Comply runs done-for-you SOC 2 at a flat rate from $5,000 for a full year, and SOC 2 without a GRC platform starts at $10,000 including the audit.

Question 6

Do we have to replace Vanta or Drata to work with Agency?

Accepted Answer

No. Agency is GRC platform agnostic and operates on top of Vanta, Drata, and the rest of your existing stack — there is no rip-and-replace and no migration. If you already own a platform, we run it for you. If you have not picked one yet, we help you choose and stand it up.

Question 7

Vanta vs Drata — which GRC platform is better for SOC 2?

Accepted Answer

Both Vanta and Drata are strong automation platforms, and the right choice depends on your stack, integrations, and budget rather than a single winner. Agency are experts in both and run thousands of SOC 2 programs across them, so we stay platform agnostic and recommend the tool that fits your environment — then operate it end-to-end so the platform actually delivers outcomes instead of just dashboards.

Question 8

What evidence is required for a SOC 2 audit?

Accepted Answer

Auditors collect evidence that your controls operate as described — access reviews, change management records, vulnerability scans and remediation, security training completion, vendor risk assessments, backup and incident response records, and HR onboarding/offboarding artifacts, among others. Agency's engineers and AI collect and organize this evidence continuously, so audit fieldwork is a review of work already done rather than a last-minute scramble.

Question 9

How often do you need a SOC 2 audit?

Accepted Answer

SOC 2 Type II reports cover a defined period, so most companies renew on a rolling annual basis to keep continuous coverage for customers. That makes SOC 2 an ongoing program, not a one-time project — which is why Agency runs continuous monitoring and evidence collection year-round instead of only at audit time.

Question 10

Can an early-stage startup get SOC 2 compliant?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Startups regularly pursue SOC 2 to close enterprise deals that require it. The key is scoping the report to what you actually do and implementing right-sized controls rather than enterprise overhead. Agency runs SOC 2 for companies from seed stage through scale, and operates the program so a small team can stay compliant without hiring a dedicated security function.

Question 11

What if we need more than SOC 2?

Accepted Answer

The same forward-deployed team extends to ISO 27001, HIPAA, CMMC, GDPR, and more. Because controls and evidence overlap heavily across frameworks, multi-framework compliance runs as one coordinated program instead of separate scrambles — so adding a second or third framework is far cheaper than starting from zero each time.

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