SOC 2
How to choose a SOC 2 auditor
The auditor is the one part of SOC 2 no platform can do for you. Here is who qualifies, what it costs, and the questions that tell you whether a firm will make your audit easier or harder.
7 min read · Certifyi compliance team · Updated September 2026
Short answer. A SOC 2 report can only be issued by a licensed CPA firm that performs attestation engagements under AICPA standards. Choose one that audits companies of your size and stack, that will work inside your compliance platform rather than by email, and that quotes a fixed fee for a defined scope. Expect $8,000 to $20,000 for a first Type II.
Who is allowed to issue a SOC 2 report
SOC 2 is an AICPA attestation standard. Only a CPA firm, licensed in a US state and subject to peer review, can sign the opinion. Consultants, compliance platforms and “SOC 2 certification” vendors cannot. If a proposal comes from anyone other than a CPA firm, ask which firm will sign the report.
Within that rule the market is wide: from Big Four practices to boutique firms of ten people that do nothing but SOC 2 for SaaS companies. For a first report, the boutique end is usually the better fit: faster scheduling, auditors who know cloud infrastructure, and fees that match a startup budget.
How the fee is structured
Most firms quote a fixed fee per report type and scope. Type I is cheaper than Type II because there is no observation-period sampling. The variables that move the price are the number of Trust Service Criteria in scope, the number of systems and locations, whether you have a compliance platform with evidence already organised, and how much of the fieldwork the firm has to do by interview rather than by reading evidence.
What moves the auditor fee
- Criteria in scope: Security only is cheapest; adding Availability or Confidentiality adds testing.
- Systems and environments: multiple clouds or regions add sampling.
- Evidence organisation: a mapped, continuously collected evidence set can cut fieldwork days in half.
- Report type and period: Type II over twelve months costs more than over three.
Nine questions to ask before you sign
These are the questions our compliance leads ask on every auditor introduction. The answers tell you more than the brochure.
- How many SOC 2 reports did your firm issue last year for companies with fewer than 200 employees?
- Who will actually perform the fieldwork, and what is their background in cloud infrastructure?
- Will you work inside our compliance platform’s auditor workspace, or do you require evidence by email and shared drive?
- What is your fixed fee for Type I, and for Type II over a three-month period? What would change it?
- What is your current lead time to start fieldwork, and to issue the report after fieldwork ends?
- How do you handle exceptions? Will you tell us before the report is drafted so we can remediate?
- Do you require a readiness assessment first, and is it a separate fee?
- Can we see a redacted sample report in the format you would issue to us?
- What is your peer-review status and when was your last review?
Red flags
A firm that guarantees a clean opinion is not independent. A firm that bundles “certification” or badges into the fee is selling something SOC 2 does not produce. A firm that cannot name the individual auditor before signing will staff the job with whoever is free. And a firm that insists on screenshots by email when you have a platform will cost you the engineering time the platform was meant to save.
How the audit runs inside Certifyi
When the auditor joins a Certifyi engagement they get their own workspace on your record. They scope the engagement against your frameworks, review evidence that was hashed when it was collected, raise findings next to the controls they weaken, and track corrective actions to closure. Nothing is re-requested by email, and the report is generated from the same record. Independence stays with the firm; Certifyi never issues opinions.
Frequently asked questions
Can our compliance platform vendor be our auditor?
No. Independence requires that the firm issuing the opinion did not design or operate the controls. Certifyi introduces independent auditors and hosts their work, but never signs the report.
Do we need a readiness assessment before the audit?
Not if you have run a structured implementation with a gap assessment and internal readiness review. Certifyi’s week-nine-to-twelve readiness review replaces a separate paid readiness engagement.
How far in advance should we book the auditor?
Book in week six of implementation. Good boutique firms have four-to-eight-week lead times, and booking early lets Type II observation start the day Type I fieldwork ends.
Get audit-ready in 8 to 12 weeks
Certifyi pairs the platform with a named compliance lead who implements with your team, priced on scope and due at audit sign-off.