How Long Does It Take To Get SOC 2 Compliance?

A SOC 2 audit often takes about 5 weeks to 3 months for the audit work itself. The full journey can run from a few months to 12+ months once you include prep time and, for Type II reports, the required observation period. 

Timing varies based on the report type you choose, how mature your controls and evidence are, and how long the auditor needs to verify controls operating consistently. 

In the sections that follow, I break down SOC 2 Type I vs. Type II timelines, what commonly extends the schedule, and practical takeaways I’ve seen from auditors and security teams in the field.

Key Takeaways

• Audit fieldwork often runs 5 weeks to 3 months
• Type I often finishes in 2 to 5 months total
• Type II often takes 4 to 15 months due to a 3 to 12 month observation window
• Delays come from readiness, evidence quality, scope, system complexity, auditor pace, and slow responses
• SOC 2 reports are typically treated as current for 12 months, so most teams renew yearly

How Long Does It Take To Become SOC 2 Type I Compliant?

Becoming SOC 2 Type I compliant typically takes 2 to 5 months, depending on preparation and audit readiness. Most organizations spend 1 to 3 months preparing, followed by a 2 to 5 week audit and 2 to 6 weeks for report creation and delivery.

The table below provides a clear, chronological view of the timeline:

Stage	Typical duration for Type I
Preparation	1–3 months
Official audit	2–5 weeks to 1–2 months
Report creation	2–6 weeks

What affects SOC 2 Type I duration?

• Organizational readiness – firms that already follow information‑security best practices can complete preparation quickly, while those starting from scratch may spend months developing policies and controls.
  
• Evidence access – auditors work faster when they can access evidence in automated platforms; manual collection can add weeks.
  
• Scope of controls – including additional TSC (such as confidentiality or privacy) increases the number of controls to document and test, potentially lengthening the audit.
  

How Long Does It Take To Become SOC 2 Type II Compliant?

Becoming SOC 2 Type II compliant typically takes 4 to 15 months, driven mainly by the 3 to 12 month observation period, plus 1 to 3 months of preparation. After the observation window, report creation and delivery usually takes 2 to 6 weeks (with the audit itself often running in parallel or taking a few weeks).

Here is a table that clearly summarizes the timeline:

Stage	Typical duration for Type II
Preparation and readiness	1–3 months
Observation period	3–12 months
Official audit	1–3 weeks (up to 5 weeks in more complex environments)
Report creation	2–6 weeks

Why SOC 2 Type II takes longer

• Observation requirement – auditors need to verify controls operating over time, so the window adds months to the schedule. While a three‑month window is accepted for first‑time reports, experts recommend six months or more for greater assurance.

• Remediation within the window – if control failures are found, you may need to fix them before the end of the observation period, adding time.

• Greater evidence volume – auditors request samples across the entire window, so collecting and organizing evidence can require more effort.
  

Factors That Influence the Duration of a SOC 2 Audit

Several factors play a major role in determining how long a SOC 2 audit takes. Here’s what they are and how they affect the timeline:

1. Type of the Report and Existing Security Posture

SOC 2 timelines depend mainly on how mature your existing controls are and whether you pursue a Type 1 or Type 2 report. A Sentant blog from June 2025 states that achieving SOC 2 compliance can take about 2 to 12+ months, with Type 1 reports often finishing in 2 to 4 months and Type 2 reports taking 6 to 12 months or more because of the longer observation window.

During pre audit preparation, teams with established access management, encryption, and security policies may only need a few weeks to organize evidence, while teams starting from scratch often need a few months to build policies, implement controls, and collect documentation.

2. Audit Scope and Which Trust Services Criteria You Include

Adding more Trust Services Criteria increases the number of controls and extends the SOC 2 timeline. A PivotPoint Security analysis of SOC 2 reports found that availability appeared in 71% of reports, confidentiality in 34%, processing integrity in 16%, and privacy in 5%.

Only about 15% of SOC 2 reports limited scope to the security criterion alone. The same analysis notes that the privacy criterion includes 18 points of focus and can require as much effort as implementing the other four criteria combined, so expanding scope beyond security typically adds significant time.

3. Company Size and How Complex Your Systems Are

Larger and more complex environments increase SOC 2 timelines because they require more controls and more evidence to test. The 2024 SOC Benchmark Report analyzed 193 SOC 2 reports and found control counts ranging from 34 to 382, with an average of 124.4 controls. About 45.2% of reports had 34 to 74 controls, 23.3% had 75 to 149, and 31.5% had 150 or more. T

hird party dependencies also add complexity since 89.6% of reports included at least one subservice provider, with an average of 2.8 providers per report, which increases the number of systems and integrations that auditors must review.

4. The Audit Firm You Choose and How It Runs the Engagement

The audit firm’s methodology and staffing directly affect how long SOC 2 fieldwork and final report issuance take.

The SOC Benchmark Report notes that 15% of SOC reports took more than 100 days after the audit period ended to finalize, and it found that only 5.2% of reports used internal audit testing, which indicates most firms complete their own testing rather than relying on client internal audit work.

Audit firms also differ in when they perform fieldwork during the observation window or after it ends, and auditor workload can create meaningful variation in testing pace and report delivery.

5. How Fast Your Team Responds During Fieldwork

Slow responses and missing evidence extend testing timelines, often adding several weeks to fieldwork and delaying report issuance by an additional 3 to 4 weeks.

Cherry Bekaert’s SOC 2 timeline guidance states that SOC 2 Type 1 fieldwork typically ranges from a few weeks to 1 to 2 months, based on preparedness and response speed to audit requests, while SOC 2 Type 2 fieldwork generally lasts 1 to 2 months due to the broader testing scope.

6. Whether You Use Compliance Automation Tools

Compliance automation tools can dramatically shorten SOC 2 preparation. Secureframe’s analysis notes that nearly half of its customers reduce audit preparation time by 25 to 50%, and another 36% are able to prepare for audits in less than half the time.

In addition, a UserEvidence survey cited by Secureframe reports that 97% of users reduced time spent on monthly compliance tasks, with more than three quarters cutting that time by at least half. Automation platforms continuously collect evidence, monitor controls, and surface gaps, turning what used to take months into a matter of weeks.

7. Whether You Bring in a Consultant or Virtual CISO

Consulting support can reduce the workload for teams that lack dedicated compliance resources. According to Bright Defense, 73% of companies have no dedicated security staff, and a survey by Drata found that 75% of organizations spend over 1,000 hours on compliance activities.

With limited internal resources, SOC 2 consultants or virtual CISOs provide expertise, help structure policies and evidence, and can shorten the readiness phase. Consultants also give access to governance, risk and compliance tools, making the process less labor intensive.

If you want experienced guidance without hiring a full time security leader, Bright Defense vCISO services can help you set priorities, build audit ready controls, and keep SOC 2 work moving on schedule.

Insights from Practitioners and Community Discussions

To give you more realistic, real-world context on SOC 2 timelines, I reviewed discussions across several communities and forums. I found a Reddit thread where people shared how long it took them to complete SOC 2, and Bright Defense also participated in the conversation.

Below is a quick summary of the discussion to help you understand what SOC 2 timelines often look like in practice:

Most teams hit a 4-month floor for a Type II report even when things go well. A typical path looks like about 1 month to assess gaps and confirm scope, about 2 months to implement and remediate controls, then about 1 month for audit fieldwork, review cycles, and report issuance. If evidence collection relies on manual steps, timelines often stretch another ~1 month since teams spend extra time creating repeatable logs, tickets, and approvals.

The bigger driver is the Type II observation period, which functions like a clock you cannot compress. Even if preparation is fast for a small, cloud-native environment, most organizations take 2–4 months to get “audit-ready” because security work competes with normal operations. In many real cases, a 6-month observation window becomes the realistic minimum for a credible Type II, and it is common to wait 1–2 additional months after the window ends for auditor review, follow-ups, and the final report. That is how “start to finished report” can drift toward 9–12 months.

A conservative planning model that matches how control programs mature is:

• 1 month to write policies and build the compliance operating rhythm (owners, reviews, exceptions, evidence paths)
• 1–2 months to generate real activity evidence (access reviews, change approvals, incident drills, vendor reviews)
• Up to 6 months for remediation if controls touch multiple teams or tooling is immature
• 6 months of observation for Type II
• +1–2 months for report issuance after the period ends

If the environment is simple and the team already knows what “good evidence” looks like, some teams can pull off 1–2 months of implementation and then run the minimum observation window. If the team is new to SOC 2, plan for roughly 2× longer because the slow part tends to be evidence quality: consistency, timestamps, approvals, and exception handling across the whole period.

What Is the Validity Period for a SOC 2 Report?

A SOC 2 report is valid for 12 months. After the report’s issue date, you must obtain a new audit to demonstrate continued compliance. The AICPA notes that shorter reporting periods (less than six months) may not provide sufficient assurance to user organizations.

As a result, most companies schedule annual Type II audits and treat compliance as an ongoing program, not a one‑time project. Continuous monitoring of controls, regular risk assessments and timely remediation help maintain compliance and shorten future audits.

Final Thoughts 

While there is no single SOC 2 timeline that fits every organization, credible sources agree that the audit phase itself typically lasts five weeks to three months and that preparation and observation windows can extend the overall timeline from a few months to more than a year. Type I audits are quicker because they evaluate controls at a single point in time, whereas Type II audits require operating the controls for at least three months and often six or twelve months. 

Factors such as existing security posture, scope, organizational size, auditor methodology and use of automation significantly influence duration. Based on professional guidance and practitioner experiences, service providers should allocate realistic timeframes, invest in thorough preparation and treat SOC 2 compliance as an ongoing element of their security program.

Frequently Asked Questions