SOC 2 Under $5k: A 30-Day Startup Readiness Plan
Small SaaS teams often encounter a SOC 2 request before they can justify an enterprise GRC platform. The practical response is not to promise a cheap attestation. It is to narrow the system scope, map controls to evidence, and ask an independent CPA for a proposal with no hidden assumptions.
Use the free evidence-gap checklist to find the five controls most likely to stall an auditor conversation before buying more software.
What “under $5k” should mean
Use the number as a planning constraint for readiness work, not as a guaranteed audit quote. Separate the budget into guide/templates, tooling, remediation, and the CPA engagement. A Type I readiness plan is not a SOC 2 report.
The five things to do first
- Write the one-service system boundary and list production data.
- Select Security first; add Availability, Confidentiality, or Privacy only when the buyer and system actually require them.
- Assign owners for access, changes, incidents, backups, vendors, and risk.
- Put one reproducible evidence link beside every control.
- Ask auditors what they will test before buying more software.
Why expensive platforms are not the first step
Vanta, Drata, Secureframe, and audit-plus-platform providers can be useful for larger programs, but a very small team still needs a scope decision and evidence owners. Buying a dashboard before those decisions adds cost without closing the gaps. Start with the smallest boundary that accurately describes the service.
Download the working pack
The SOC 2 Under $5k Startup Playbook — $49 includes the 30-day schedule, control set, evidence tracker, budget worksheet, and CPA questions.