SOC 2 for SaaS companies
For most SaaS companies, SOC 2 is the report enterprise buyers ask for before they sign. It is an attestation, performed by a licensed CPA firm, against the AICPA Trust Services Criteria.
Why it matters for SaaS
SaaS deals stall in security review. A SOC 2 report (usually Type II, which covers a period of time rather than a single date) shortens that review and unblocks revenue. It is the single most common request in SaaS vendor security questionnaires.
What to focus on
SOC 2 has five Trust Services Criteria: Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy. Security (the Common Criteria) is required; you add the others only if they fit your commitments to customers.
The controls auditors probe hardest for SaaS are logical access (provisioning, deprovisioning, MFA), change management over your codebase and infrastructure, and monitoring and incident response. Get these tight first.
A Type II covers a window (commonly 3 to 12 months), so you need evidence that controls operated consistently across that window, not just that they existed on one day. Continuous evidence collection is the real work.
Do it once, not twice
Keel is built on one crosswalked control library, so a control you implement for SOC 2 counts toward every other framework it satisfies. Add a second framework later and it mostly reuses this work. See the crosswalk explorer for the exact overlap.
Start free Check your readinessCommon questions
Do SaaS startups need SOC 2 Type I or Type II?
Many start with a Type I to show design of controls quickly, then move to a Type II, which covers operating effectiveness over a period and is what most enterprise buyers ultimately want. Some go straight to Type II.
How does Keel help a SaaS team get SOC 2 ready?
Keel gives you a curated SOC 2 control set on one crosswalked control library, tracks evidence over your audit window, and (uniquely) lets that same work carry into ISO 27001 or other frameworks later. NIST CSF is free on every plan if you want to start mapping today.
Framework names are referenced factually for guidance. Keel is not affiliated with or endorsed by the bodies that publish them. See our legal and trademarks page.