SOC 2 Compliance Checklist: Requirements & Audit Readiness

SOC 2 is principle-based, not prescriptive, which means teams need clear alignment and well-documented controls to stay on track. Without structure, it’s easy for internal processes to drift or become inconsistent across departments.

To meet SOC 2 compliance requirements, service providers must show they manage security, availability, and privacy in a way that's both consistent and auditable. That’s where a SOC 2 compliance checklist comes in. It provides a practical framework for interpreting the Trust Services Criteria, mapping controls, and preparing for audit scrutiny.

Whether you're gearing up for your first SOC 2 audit or maintaining your certification, this checklist will help ensure your controls are aligned, documented, and ready to withstand external review.

SOC Common Criteria vs. Trust Services Criteria

The Trust Services Criteria (TSC) form the foundation of SOC 2 standards and include five categories: Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy. Of these, only Security is mandatory, and it’s assessed through a detailed set of sub-criteria known as the Common Criteria (CC1.1–CC9.2). These CC controls are the technical core of every SOC 2 compliance checklist. 

Optional TSCs expand the audit scope depending on your organization’s commitments or system characteristics. In this article, we’ve structured the checklists to reflect this relationship: first covering governance, then mapping the Common Criteria, followed by any applicable optional TSCs, audit evidence, and maintenance.

What is a SOC 2 compliance checklist?

A SOC 2 compliance checklist is a structured list of internal controls, technical safeguards, and documentation practices aligned with the Trust Services Criteria defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). These criteria are the basis of SOC 2 standards and they’re used by auditors to evaluate how service organizations manage security, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity, and privacy.

It’s advised that you use a structured checklist to prepare for both SOC Type I and SOC Type II audits. A SOC Type I audit looks at whether controls are properly designed at a specific point in time. A SOC Type II audit evaluates how effectively those controls operate over a defined period, say a period of 12 months. In either case, the checklist supports your ability to meet SOC 2 compliance requirements and helps ensure that your systems are ready for formal review.

For organizations that intend to become SOC 2 certified, the checklist is a reference point. It connects abstract criteria to the real systems, processes, and policies that auditors expect to see in your data ecosystem. Instead of trying to reverse-engineer expectations during the audit itself, the checklist makes those expectations visible and actionable in advance.

If you’re new to this and need a detailed summary of what SOC 2 requirements are and how they work, check out this page.

Why use a SOC 2 compliance checklist?

A SOC 2 compliance checklist brings clarity. It helps ensure that your internal controls, documentation, and procedures align with every one of the SOC 2 compliance requirements (principles, technically), and that those requirements are being applied consistently across systems and teams. More correctly, it turns SOC principles into action-items.

Many organizations already have some security and governance practices in place before pursuing an audit. The checklist helps translate those practices into a formal structure to ensure that it matches the SOC 2 requirements. This prevents key areas from being overlooked and makes it easier to identify gaps well before the SOC audit begins.

It also improves internal coordination. Most SOC 2 compliance efforts involve teams across engineering, security, legal, and operations. Without a single shared reference, these teams can end up working in parallel but not in sync. A checklist ensures that all contributors are aligned on scope, deadlines, and control ownership.

Beyond audit preparation, the checklist supports long-term conformity with SOC compliance requirements. It also enables consistent tracking and review of controls, which is essential for organizations managing multi-cloud systems, sensitive data pipelines, or third-party access.

SOC requirements before the audit: Governance and policy checklist

Before mapping controls or gathering technical evidence, organizations need to establish a governance foundation that supports SOC 2 compliance. Auditors don’t start with your infrastructure; they start with how your organization defines responsibilities, manages policy, and identifies risk. These SOC requirements form the core of your readiness posture.

A strong governance framework includes:

• Documented information security policies that are approved and reviewed regularly
• Defined roles and responsibilities for system ownership, data protection, and incident response
• A formal risk assessment process, including risk identification, analysis, mitigation, and periodic reassessment
• Procedures for policy communication, employee onboarding, and training
• A record of third-party risk evaluation and vendor management practices

Adhering to these principles, or meeting these SOC requirements shows that your organization’s intent is clearly documented and assigned, which is essential before evaluating the effectiveness of any technical control. This structure also helps satisfy multiple SOC compliance requirements automatically, including those related to accountability, oversight, and organizational maturity.

In most audits, gaps in policy or unclear ownership are flagged before any system-level control is reviewed. Addressing these areas early not only supports your SOC 2 compliance efforts but also makes technical implementation more consistent and enforceable.

SOC 2 compliance requirements: Common Criteria (Security) checklist

The Common Criteria (also referred to as CC1.1 through CC9.2) are required for all SOC 2 audits. These criteria address your company’s baseline security practices including access control, change management, monitoring, and incident response. They form the technical core of your SOC 2 compliance checklist.

Below is a practical checklist breakdown of how to meet the SOC 2 compliance requirements under the Common Criteria:

CC1.1 – CC1.5: Control environment

• Establish and document the organization’s structure and operating model
• Assign control ownership and accountability for information security
• Set clear expectations around ethics and integrity
• Define a governance framework for monitoring performance
• Involve leadership in oversight of security objectives

CC2.1 – CC2.4: Communication and information

• Maintain internal communication channels for policy updates and security reporting
• Ensure all controls and expectations are formally documented and accessible
• Communicate control responsibilities to relevant personnel
• Protect sensitive communication using secure transmission methods

CC3.1 – CC3.4: Risk assessment

• Perform risk assessments at least annually
• Identify, classify, and prioritize risks based on likelihood and impact
• Address threats to confidentiality, availability, and integrity
• Document risk responses and assign risk owners

CC4.1 – CC4.2: Monitoring activities

• Monitor the effectiveness of controls using logs and alerts
• Conduct regular reviews of logs, access records, and system changes
• Establish thresholds for identifying anomalies or unauthorized activity
• Assign monitoring responsibilities and document review cycles

CC5.1 – CC5.4: Control activities

• Design preventive and detective controls for access and change
• Enforce approval processes for all production deployments
• Validate that system activity aligns with policy
• Restrict sensitive operations based on least privilege

CC6.1 – CC6.9: Logical and physical access controls

• Require unique credentials and multifactor authentication for all users
• Set up role-based access controls and document permission scopes
• Revoke access immediately when users leave or change roles
• Secure physical access to sensitive infrastructure
• Maintain and review access logs regularly
• Monitor for privilege escalation or configuration drift
• Encrypt sensitive data in transit and at rest
• Enforce strong password policies and credential storage standards
• Test access revocation workflows for accuracy and speed

CC7.1 – CC7.4: System operations and change management

• Define formal procedures for change requests and approvals
• Use version control to track all production changes
• Monitor system performance, availability, and error thresholds
• Establish rollback protocols and test them regularly

CC8.1 – CC8.3: Vendor and third-party risk management

• Document all vendor relationships and associated risks
• Require vendors to provide security attestations or certifications
• Review vendor access logs and limit privileges to necessary functions
• Conduct periodic audits of third-party performance and compliance

CC9.1 – CC9.2: Incident response

• Define incident categories, escalation paths, and response workflows
• Maintain records of all incidents, actions taken, and lessons learned
• Review incident response plans annually and test them under simulated conditions

SOC 2 requirements: Optional Trust Services Criteria checklist

The Trust Services Criteria (TSC) are divided into five categories: Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy. Security, also referred to as the Common Criteria, is mandatory. The remaining four categories are optional and selected based on your organization's systems, commitments, and the needs of your customers.

Where relevant, these optional categories should still be treated with the same discipline as the core criteria. Each comes with its own specific control objectives and audit implications. Below is a breakdown of what to include in your SOC 2 requirements checklist if one or more of these criteria are in scope.

Availability

• Define and document system uptime objectives
• Maintain redundancy across infrastructure components
• Establish monitoring thresholds and incident response triggers
• Test failover procedures and backup restoration regularly

Confidentiality

• Restrict access to confidential data by role and function
• Encrypt all confidential data at rest and in transit
• Maintain audit logs showing who accessed or modified confidential information
• Define a data classification policy and enforce it at storage and access levels

Processing Integrity

• Ensure input data is validated before processing
• Track and reconcile output data for accuracy
• Maintain logs of failed processes or incomplete transactions
• Automate integrity checks and set up alerts for deviation

Privacy

• Document a formal privacy policy that meets applicable legal and regulatory requirements
• Limit the collection and retention of personal data
• Allow data subjects to request access, correction, or deletion
• Maintain records of privacy-related requests and actions taken

Remember, these domains should only be included in your SOC 2 requirements if they reflect your contractual obligations or system characteristics. Including unnecessary TSCs increases audit scope and complexity without any benefit for your organization. When applicable, these criteria must be supported by real technical and operational controls, just like the mandatory Security category.

By treating these optional TSCs as structured components of your SOC 2 requirements checklist, your organization improves both the precision and credibility of your SOC-2 compliance program.

What evidence do auditors expect? SOC 2 audit checklist

Even well-designed controls are not enough to meet the expectations of a SOC 2 audit. Auditors require documented evidence that controls have been implemented, assigned, and maintained over time. This evidence must be complete, accurate, and directly linked to the Trust Services Criteria included in the audit scope.

Your SOC 2 audit checklist should focus on preparing the following items for each control covered in our CC checklist:

Access logs

• Retain authentication and access logs for all systems in scope
• Demonstrate that access reviews have occurred at defined intervals
• Show that provisioning and deprovisioning are enforced through policy or automation

Encryption configurations

• Provide screenshots or exports showing encryption settings
• Document the encryption methods used (e.g., AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.2+ in transit)
• Include evidence that keys are rotated and stored securely

Change control records

• Maintain tickets or workflow logs for all production system changes
• Show that approval, testing, and rollback procedures are followed
• Provide documentation linking change events to user identity and system logs

System exports, screenshots, and policies

• Supply recent copies of your security policies and evidence of distribution
• Export user role definitions from IAM or SFTP systems
• Include screenshots showing permission settings, monitoring dashboards, and alert thresholds

Each of these artifacts helps demonstrate to the auditor that your controls are more than theoretical. They reflect real, verifiable activity that can be tracked and reviewed. This is what separates documentation that meets SOC 2 standards from unsupported claims.

Your SOC 2 compliance checklist should reference these evidence requirements directly. That allows control owners to track implementation and documentation as part of a single workflow, rather than rushing to assemble artifacts during the audit window.

If your goal is to become SOC 2 certified, this level of preparation isn’t optional. The audit process is structured around verification, not assumption, and clear evidence is the standard.

Maintaining SOC 2 compliance over time: SOC 2 maintenance checklist

Achieving SOC 2 compliance is only part of the responsibility. Maintaining that compliance means ongoing monitoring, regular evidence collection, and clear internal accountability. Auditors evaluating for a SOC Type II report are focused not just on whether controls exist, but whether they continue to operate as intended over time. This “over time” aspect is what sets SOC 2 apart from SOC 1.

Operational maturity includes the following recurring tasks:

Periodic access reviews

• Review user roles and permissions every 90 days
• Revoke access for inactive or terminated users
• Document review outcomes and corrective actions taken

Automated monitoring and alerts

• Enable logging for all authentication and sensitive system activity
• Set up alerts for failed logins, privilege escalations, and unexpected configuration changes
• Route alerts to assigned personnel and maintain a record of incident resolution

Internal audits or control self-assessments

• Conduct quarterly or semi-annual reviews of key controls
• Validate that documentation is still current and relevant
• Identify gaps in implementation and assign corrective action

Quarterly policy and documentation refresh

• Update policies and procedures to reflect changes in systems, staff, or risk posture
• Re-distribute updated documents to relevant teams
• Record acknowledgment of key policy changes

Maintaining SOC 2 compliance clearly depends on a culture of awareness. Staff responsible for enforcing policies and reviewing alerts must understand the criteria behind their roles, and control owners need visibility into audit timelines and documentation responsibilities.

By treating these recurring tasks as core components of your SOC-2 compliance framework, you see to it that readiness is sustained between audits and that SOC compliance requirements are met continuously and not just once a year.

SOC 2 compliance checklist summary

This SOC 2 compliance checklist brings together all the essential requirements for preparing, implementing, and validating your internal controls. It includes five integrated checklists:

• Governance and policy checklistCovers the internal structure, policies, and risk assessments required to meet soc requirements before evaluating technical systems.
• Common Criteria checklistIncludes all mandatory SOC 2 requirements related to security, access control, change management, monitoring, and incident response.
• Optional Trust Services Criteria checklistAdds controls for Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy—based on your contractual scope or system function. These extend your soc 2 requirements checklist where needed.
• Audit evidence checklistLists the proof auditors expect to see: logs, exports, screenshots, and documentation that map directly to each control. This makes your soc 2 audit checklist practical and verifiable.
• SOC 2 maintenance checklistEnsures soc 2 compliance is sustained over time with regular access reviews, internal audits, alert monitoring, and documentation updates.

Together, these form a complete SOC 2 requirements checklist aligned with SOC 2 standards. Whether you're preparing for a SOC Type I or Type II audit, this structured guide ensures you meet every relevant control and maintain SOC 2 compliance over time.

SOC 2 compliant cloud storage and file sharing, plus other tools

SOC 2 compliance depends heavily on how controls like access restriction, logging, and encryption are implemented. The right infrastructure can simplify meeting SOC 2 compliance requirements by embedding key capabilities at the platform level.

Here are typical technical features aligned with SOC 2 standards:

• Role-based access controls and granular permissions
• Encryption of data in transit and at rest
• Centralized, timestamped audit logs with user activity tracking
• Configurable retention policies and access expiration

These features are most effective when paired with systems that manage the rest of the compliance process, like policy coverage, risk mapping, and audit readiness. While cloud infrastructure handles technical enforcement, SOC 2 also requires documentation, monitoring, and coordinated workflows across teams.

• TrustCloud maps internal processes to the Trust Services Criteria, helping teams define controls, assign ownership, and gather evidence for SOC 2 audits. It’s flexible and good for scaling programs across departments.
• Secureframe offers prebuilt policies, automated data collection from cloud providers, and real-time monitoring to keep controls in sync. It’s built to reduce audit friction and help teams move fast without cutting corners.
• Drata connects to services like GitHub, Okta, and AWS to track enforcement automatically. It flags risks, simplifies access reviews, and prepares audit packages behind the scenes, which is especially helpful for technical teams juggling day-to-day ops.

These tools complement file sharing and storage platforms , but they don’t replace them. 

SFTP To Go is SOC 2 certified and provides several of the SOC 2 compliant cloud storage and transfer features out of the box with its ultra secure platform. SFTP To Go supports admin-configurable permission settings and comprehensive audit logs that capture file transfers, user actions, and connection information. The service also enforces encryption both in transit and at rest with secure transfer and storage protocols like FTPS, SFTP, HTTPS, and S3 .

SFTP To Go is an example of a managed service that aligns directly with SOC 2 standards as well as other regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, and DORA. Companies using such platforms can reduce manual control overhead and focus more on policy enforcement rather than building infrastructure.

In conclusion

SOC 2 compliance is an ongoing commitment that requires you to engage in consistent design, implementation, and monitoring of technical and organizational controls. A structured SOC 2 compliance checklist gives you both clarity and traceability, so that control areas like access, encryption, and documentation all align perfectly with SOC’s Common Criteria and Trust Services Criteria.

By documenting controls, maintaining evidence, and regularly reviewing implementation, organizations can build and sustain a compliance posture that supports SOC Type I and SOC Type II audits. For teams looking to streamline controls related to secure file transfer, platforms like SFTP To Go will accelerate readiness with out-of-box managed encryption, access control, and logging features, to mention but a few!

Frequently asked questions

A SOC 2 compliance checklist is a structured list of internal controls, documentation practices, and technical safeguards aligned with the AICPA Trust Services Criteria. It helps organizations prepare for SOC 2 audits by mapping their security, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity, and privacy practices to SOC 2 standards.

The main SOC 2 compliance requirements include formal risk assessments, documented security policies, access controls, system monitoring, incident response procedures, and vendor management. These are detailed in the Common Criteria (CC1.1 to CC9.2) and must be addressed for SOC 2 certification.

A SOC 2 Type I audit evaluates whether controls are properly designed at a specific point in time. A SOC 2 Type II audit reviews how effectively those controls operate over a defined period, typically 3 to 12 months.

Any service organization that stores or processes customer data on behalf of clients (especially SaaS providers and cloud platforms) may need to meet SOC 2 compliance requirements to earn client trust and meet contractual obligations.

The SOC 2 audit checklist includes access logs, encryption configurations, change control records, policy documentation, user permissions, incident reports, and evidence of system monitoring. These items demonstrate that controls are active and enforceable.

Only the Security criteria are required. The other Trust Services Criteria (Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy) are optional and included based on your organization's commitments and risk profile.

Tools that support encryption, access control, logging, alerting, and documentation, like SFTP To Go for secure and managed file transfer and storage, can help meet SOC 2 standards. These tools reduce manual overhead, help you check multiple SOC 2 points, and improve audit readiness.