Achieving SOC 2 compliance and completing your first SOC 2 Exam is a big step for any growing business. However, how you manage the process internally is just as important as the external audit. Should you keep compliance management in-house, hire a full-time compliance manager, or bring in an experienced consultant?
As compliance consultants that support small businesses in SOC 2 preparation, we see many organizations wrestle with this question. The “right” answer depends on your experience, your internal bandwidth, and your tolerance for risk and operational stress.
Below, we break down the considerations to help you determine whether to build internally or buy external expertise.
If It’s Your First SOC 2: When Building Makes Sense—and When It Doesn’t
For some small teams, handling the first SOC 2 internally can work—if you have the time, discipline, and willingness to learn. SOC 2 isn’t impossible to figure out, and there are plenty of guides and tools available. If you’re extremely cost-conscious and ready to invest significant personal effort, building your own program can be feasible.
However, if you’ve never done this before and can’t reasonably dedicate 50% of your time for at least a month—on top of learning an entirely new compliance framework—then managing the process yourself becomes extremely challenging.
In those cases, bringing in a contractor (like us or another experienced compliance consultant) is often the smarter, less stressful route. We can provide structure, templates, advice, and hands-on help without requiring you to hire a full-time compliance leader. For information on SOC 2 Frequently Asked Questions, see our FAQs article.
Your Second SOC 2 (and Beyond): Be Honest About Last Year’s Pain Level
Anyone who has served as the point-of-contact for a SOC 2 audit—while still trying to do their day job—knows how quickly the workload can become overwhelming. By the time the audit is underway, you’re juggling:
- Evidence requests
- Control owner coordination
- Walkthrough scheduling
- Constant auditor communication
- Unexpected follow-up tasks
If this experience was “manageable” last year and you now have additional internal capacity and you’ve had no significant changes year to year, continuing to build internally may still be a good choice.
But if last year was chaotic, exhausting, or involved nights and weekends to stay afloat, don’t assume that repeating the process will make it any smoother. SOC 2 doesn’t magically become easier the second or third time. Often the business has changed and grown and the program needs to adapt and requires constant supervision to run smoothly.
The “Buy” Option: Why Many Small Businesses Choose a SOC 2 Consultant
Hiring a dedicated SOC 2 readiness consultant for even 10 hours per week leading up to and following your audit can radically reduce internal friction. A good compliance partner:
- Cuts down back-and-forth with auditors
- Organizes and manages evidence collection
- Coordinates walkthroughs
- Designs or refines controls
- Ensures quarterly validations happen on schedule
- Keeps your team aligned and accountable
Let’s put this in concrete terms.
If your audit includes around 115 evidence requests, and each request consumes 1 hour of collective internal effort, that’s 115 hours. A knowledgeable consultant who streamlines the process can realistically reduce that workload by 50% or more—saving 50+ hours of internal time.
That doesn’t count the extra meetings you avoid, the confusion you eliminate, or the quality improvements in the audit deliverables. The cost of a contractor is almost always lower than the operational cost—and emotional drain—of a disorganized SOC 2 cycle.
What a SOC 2 Implementation Consultant Actually Does
A capable contractor doesn’t simply “help with paperwork.” Instead, they act as your program manager, technical advisor, and efficiency engine. Services often include:
- Designing or refining your control framework
- Conducting quarterly control testing with internal owners
- Preparing documentation and process evidence
- Coordinating walkthroughs and meetings with the auditor
- Managing the entire evidence lifecycle
- Guiding remediation efforts and ensuring readiness milestones stay on track
In short: they take on the time-consuming operational burden so your team can stay focused on their real jobs.
How to Find the Right SOC 2 Consultant
Unfortunately, the consulting landscape isn’t as simple as searching Yelp for a café. There isn’t a single platform that reliably vets SOC 2 experts for small businesses.
The best way to find a trustworthy partner is to:
- Talk to peer companies that recently completed a SOC 2. Ask who they used, what the engagement included, and how the experience went.
- Request recommendations from your auditor. Auditors often know which consultants help (and which complicate) the process.
- Look for consultants who specialize in small-business SOC 2 readiness. The needs of a 20-person startup differ drastically from those of an enterprise.
Need Support With SOC 2 Readiness or Ongoing Compliance?
Core Business Solutions is dedicated to helping small organizations navigate SOC 2 efficiently and confidently. We serve as an extension of your team—bringing the expertise, structure, and bandwidth needed to get through your audit without the chaos. We also provide recommendations for auditing firms to conduct your SOC 2 audit. Render Compliance is one of our recommended partner auditing firms.
If you’d like guidance on whether building or buying is right for you, or you want help managing your upcoming SOC 2 cycle, we’re here to support you.
