What is SOC 2 Certification for SaaS?

SOC 2 certification is the everyday name for a SOC 2 report: an independent CPA firm’s attestation, under the AICPA’s SSAE 18 standard, on a service organization’s controls over the systems that process customer data. The audit looks at how you store and process data. It considers different aspects, such as multi-factor authentication, disaster recovery, and performance monitoring.

The Trust Services Criteria, also known as TSC, are the different areas that you’ll be audited against in a SOC-2 examination. These are typically:

• Privacy
• Security
• Confidentiality
• Processing Integrity
• Availability

The auditor does not score these criteria; the report gives an opinion on whether your controls meet those in scope. It’s worth checking whether you’re compliant before getting a SOC-2 audit and plugging gaps if you find them.

Legally, you are not required to get a SOC-2 report. However, since it’s becoming the industry standard, not having one will be clear to your customers, and it’s therefore a good idea to ensure that you’re SOC-2-compliant.

SOC-2 is recommended for companies handling sensitive data, and it’s likely that businesses wanting to work with a SaaS provider will look for a SOC-2 report.

Under SSAE 18 (Google Cloud), there are two kinds of SOC 2 reports that can be issued: a type I, which covers the design of your controls at a particular point in time, while type II includes both design and operating effectiveness over a period of time.

A SOC 3 report addresses the same criteria with less detail, so it can be freely distributed (AICPA); a SOC 1 instead covers controls likely to be relevant to customers’ internal control over financial reporting (AICPA).

While SOC-2 and ISO 27001 are recognized internationally and across different industries, they differ in their focus. Here’s what you need to know.

• SOC-2 is about security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. Only security is required in every report (Barr Advisory, 2026).
• ISO 27001 is broader than SOC-2, and it’s about your information security management system (ISMS).

Whether you get SOC-2 or ISO 27001 will depend on your business’s needs. Here’s what you need to think about when choosing one:

• Customer requirements: You need SOC-2 compliance if your customers request it.
• Industry focus: If you’re in SaaS or tech, you should go for SOC-2, as this is the norm. ISO 27001, on the other hand, is common in other industries.
• Scope: Use ISO 27001 if you need a broader information security framework. SOC-2, on the other hand, is used to highlight security controls for your customers.
• Resources: You might want to consider getting both, but regardless, plan your time and monetary resources before choosing.

Depending on your industry and data handling, you may also need to comply with GDPR, PCI DSS, and HIPAA.