How much does a SOC 2 audit cost? A lot less when you use an all-in-one solution like Strike Graph.

In this post, we’ll explore why traditional auditing firms are purposefully opaque about the audit process, and how modern compliance platforms like Strike Graph can help you cut costs and reach certification faster.

The problem with traditional auditing firms

If you’ve noticed some murky processes, less-than-clear communication, or lots of back-and-forth with traditional, “independent” auditing firms, you’re not alone. These firms have spent years — often as long as they’ve been in business — being opaque as possible about how the audit process works. Why? So that they can charge you as much as they want.

They think they can do this because of the “trust” they believe comes with things like name recognition, company size, and professed “independence” from the companies they audit. But these aren’t necessarily markers of trustworthiness.

Let’s dive a bit deeper into what’s so problematic about these traditional auditing firms, then we’ll take a look at alternative solutions in the following section.

1. They have big teams.

Big teams mean more overhead, and more overhead means more costs kicked over to the customer. That’s because — according to Harvard Business Review — people costs are much higher than capital costs in most industries. But remember, while big name firms with big teams create the perception of trustworthiness, that’s not always the case.

2. They provide opaque, undefined timelines.

Due to the decidedly descriptive — not prescriptive — nature of SOC 2, it can be easy for traditional auditing firms to provide their customers with opaque, undefined timelines. That’s because, instead of telling you what you need to do, SOC 2 tells you where you need to look and what you should expect to see. In other words, it forces you to take a holistic view of your business. This can allow firms to provide vaguer timelines than they may give for more prescriptive security frameworks like PCI DSS.

3. They charge high hourly rates.

Big name firms usually have higher hourly rates. They do this because they believe they can charge more due to the “credibility” that they provide. However, that “credibility” claim isn’t necessarily accurate, which brings us to our next point.

4. They claim to be “the gold standard.”

Up to this point, independence — a flawed measure even in good times — was considered the gold standard of audits. But traditional audits are fundamentally flawed. Why? Because, due to the financial relationship between auditor and auditee, an auditing firm can’t truly be independent from its clients. After all, if someone were paying you the big bucks, wouldn’t you want to make them happy with a passing audit?

How Strike Graph works

Instead of staying neatly in any of the traditional compliance provider roles — consultant, tester, auditor, etc. — Strike Graph’s compliance operation and certification platform provides everything you need to get from your first step toward compliance all the way to certification and beyond. By doing this, Strike Graph drastically reduces the time and financial resources necessary to reach compliance.

Here are some of our core differentiators:

1. Our compliance operation and certification platform does the work of multiple vendors.

Our all-in-one solution keeps the compliance process lean, meaning you won’t need any additional vendors, run into any surprise costs, or have any unexpected delays. Our tools do everything from quickly identifying and assigning relevant controls based on your framework needs and unique risk profile to efficiently creating your system description. This means you’ll have an appropriately sized set of controls and know exactly what you need to document in order to demonstrate that your business has met each SOC 2 Common Criteria.

2. We offer transparency and efficiency.

Why is transparency so important? Because we believe it’s the new, better standard for audit excellence. Not only can every single transaction be analyzed for compliance, a transparent solution offers real-time tracking and analysis of every piece of inventory, every transaction, and every security event. And, it’s objective. No more hinging your company’s future on a single auditor’s opinion. Maybe best of all, our technology-driven assessments are as fast as two weeks, meaning your business can get to certification faster.

3. Our findings are accessible.

No, you don’t need to know how to code — or even speak compliance jargon — to understand our findings. That’s because we take all of your data and translate it into a format everyone on your team can comprehend. This allows all your employees to feel empowered and ready to take charge when it comes to carrying out the activities needed to achieve and maintain compliance.

4. We’re more affordable.

Traditional auditing firms can charge up to $40,000 just for the audit (on top of gap assessments, compliance prep, and the like). Strike Graph’s all-in-one compliance and certification platform cuts all the extra people out of the process, cutting the cost drastically in the process.

Are you ready to start your SOC 2 journey?

Ready to achieve SOC 2 compliance the modern way? From applying ready-to-go SOC 2 controls, to identifying your unique SOC 2 risk profile, adding evidence, and quickly achieving verifiable, constant SOC 2 compliance — we’re here to help.