If your service organization supports clients with different assurance requirements, ranging from financial-reporting assurance to robust data security and privacy controls, you might ask: “Can we undergo multiple SOC audits at the same time?” The answer is yes. Organizations can hold more than one SOC report (such as a SOC 1 and a SOC 2) simultaneously. However, successful SOC audits require careful planning, clear scope alignment, and smart use of audit efficiencies. With expert guidance and a well-structured control environment, you can simplify the process and strengthen your overall assurance profile.
Understanding the Different SOC Reports
When planning SOC audits, it’s important to understand the differences between SOC report types. Each report serves a distinct purpose, targets specific audiences, and focuses on different control areas. The table below summarizes the major SOC reports, their objectives, intended users, control scope, and other key details:
| Category | SOC 1 | SOC 2 | SOC 3 |
| Primary Purpose | Evaluates internal controls relevant to financial reporting (ICFR) at a service organization. | Assesses controls for security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy, based on AICPA’s Trust Services Criteria. | Provides a general-use summary based on SOC 2 criteria, designed for public distribution. |
| Primary Audience | External auditors and financial management teams relying on your system for accurate financial data. | Business partners, clients, and stakeholders needing assurance about data security, privacy, and operational resilience. | Prospective clients, investors, and marketing audiences seeking a public trust confirmation without detailed control reviews. |
| Control Scope | Controls impacting financial transactions, data accuracy, and reporting reliability. | IT and operational controls emphasizing cybersecurity, privacy, and data governance. | High-level summary of SOC 2 results; omits detailed control testing and auditor procedures. |
| Report Type | Type I (design) and Type II (design + operating effectiveness). | Type I (design) and Type II (design + operating effectiveness). | General-use summary report; single format. |
| Use Case | Needed when clients’ auditors require assurance over outsourced financial systems (e.g., payroll processors, fintech platforms). | Expected when clients assess vendor security posture, common in SaaS, healthcare, and cloud services. | Used publicly to demonstrate commitment to trust principles. |
| Testing Focus | Control design and operation supporting accurate financial reporting. | Control design and operation supporting security, confidentiality, availability, and privacy protections. | No detailed testing; confirms organization met Trust Services Criteria. |
| Distribution Restrictions | Restricted to user entities and their auditors. | Restricted to existing or potential clients aware of the report content. | Unrestricted; can be shared publicly. |
| Common Industries | Finance, payroll, benefits administration, and any service influencing client financial statements. | SaaS, healthcare, government contracting, data hosting, and managed service providers. | Organizations seeking a public-facing trust credential in addition to SOC 2. |
| Nuances for Dual Audits | Can share some controls (e.g., logical access, change management) with SOC 2, but objectives differ. | Often complements SOC 1; overlapping controls allow coordinated testing in dual engagements. | Usually derived from SOC 2 Type II and released for public use. |
Why Understanding This Matters for Multiple SOC Audits
If your organization spans both financial-reporting and data/security risk areas, you may need to conduct multiple SOC audits (e.g., SOC 1 and SOC 2). While distinct, these reports can share controls if properly aligned. Understanding their differences is essential to plan an efficient, coordinated audit strategy.
Can Multiple SOC Audits Be Performed Simultaneously?
Conducting multiple SOC audits at the same time is possible, but it requires careful planning and coordination. Here’s a step-by-step approach to ensure efficiency and effectiveness:
Step 1: Align Your Scope
Define each engagement’s scope clearly, including the systems in scope, control objectives, audit period, and user-entity requirements. Clear scope alignment ensures each SOC audit is focused and prevents unnecessary overlap.
Step 2: Leverage Shared Controls
Many organizations already have controls that satisfy both financial-reporting (SOC 1) and IT/data-security (SOC 2) requirements, such as change management, access controls, incident response, and monitoring. Designing a unified control environment with these dual-purpose controls enhances efficiency and consistency across audits.
Step 3: Coordinate Timing and Logistics
Running audits concurrently doesn’t always mean identical timelines. You may schedule a joint fieldwork window, but each report could cover slightly different periods or scopes based on audit readiness and user-entity needs. Early coordination with your CPA-led audit firm ensures planning, evidence collection, and test design are synchronized.
Step 4: Optimize Audit Strategy
Consider “SOC 2+” or similar expanded audits, where a SOC 2 engagement is extended to include adjacent criteria (e.g., HIPAA, HITRUST, or supply-chain controls). This approach can reduce duplication, lower costs, and minimize audit fatigue if planned carefully.
Benefits of Running Multiple SOC Audits Together
Running multiple SOC audits in a coordinated way offers significant advantages for service organizations:
- Reduce Duplicate Work
By leveraging shared controls and common documentation across SOC audits, you can avoid creating separate processes for each engagement. This reduces effort, saves time, and minimizes administrative overhead. - Build a Unified Control Environment
Instead of maintaining fragmented control sets for SOC 1 and SOC 2, a coordinated approach creates a stronger, holistic control program. A unified control environment improves compliance and reinforces credibility with clients and auditors. - Enhance Market Positioning
Dual-report capability demonstrates that your organization addresses both financial-reporting and IT/data-security assurance. This is a compelling differentiator in vendor-risk management and strengthens trust with clients, partners, and stakeholders. - Improve Audit-Readiness
Ongoing integration of evidence and controls across SOC audits ensures smoother audit cycles. Teams face fewer surprises, gain clearer visibility into compliance status, and maintain continuous readiness for upcoming audits.
Risks & Things to Watch with Multiple SOC Audits
While conducting multiple SOC audits can deliver major benefits, unmanaged complexity or misalignment can lead to wasted effort, higher costs, and weakened assurance credibility. Proper planning is essential before implementing a multi-audit strategy.
Key Risks to Consider:
- Incorrect Scope Definition
Defining the wrong scope or failing to distinguish which controls apply to each SOC audit can result in redundant testing and unnecessary expenses. - Assuming Identical Audit Periods
Expecting that all audits can follow the same timeline may overlook differences in user-entity needs or auditor requirements, potentially causing delays or complications. - Immature Control Environment
If controls are underdeveloped or evidence collection is inconsistent, running parallel SOC audits can expose multiple findings across reports. - Mis-Mapping Controls to Report Types
Treating a data-security control as purely financial-reporting, or vice versa, can confuse auditors and diminish the value of the audits. - Late Engagement with Audit Firm
Failing to coordinate early with your CPA-led audit firm for logistics, documentation, and test design can reduce efficiency and undermine audit synergy.
Takeaway:
A coordinated multi-SOC audit strategy is viable and highly advantageous, but only if foundational elements are in place. Control maturity, clear scope definition, auditor coordination, and continuous evidence collection are essential to avoid pitfalls and maximize the value of your SOC audits.
Practical Steps for Implementing a Multi-SOC Audit Strategy
To move from theory to practice, service organizations should follow a structured approach that aligns client requirements, control design, audit readiness, and documentation. A multi-SOC audits strategy is most effective when embedded within your broader compliance and risk framework.
Five Practical Steps:
- Inventory User-Entity Requirements
Identify which clients or service users require SOC 1, SOC 2, or both, and understand their specific assurance needs. This ensures that your SOC audits address all relevant user-entity expectations. - Map Services to Control Objectives
Determine which controls support financial-reporting assurance and which align with the Trust Services Criteria or other relevant standards. Proper mapping ensures efficiency and avoids redundant efforts across SOC audits. - Design a Unified Control Environment
Implement shared controls wherever feasible, such as access management, change control, monitoring, and incident response—that can serve multiple SOC audits simultaneously. This reduces duplication and strengthens overall control maturity. - Select Your Audit Firm and Coordinate Scope Early
Work with a CPA-led audit firm to define audit periods, field-work windows, test designs, and documentation overlap. Early coordination maximizes efficiency and ensures audit readiness. - Maintain Continuous Evidence and Readiness
Build ongoing documentation workflows, leverage automation, and conduct regular control testing. This proactive approach ensures your team is prepared and confident when SOC audit fieldwork begins.
Conclusion: Implementing Multiple SOC Audits Successfully
In summary, conducting multiple SOC audits simultaneously, or in a coordinated fashion, is entirely possible. Success depends on strong planning, disciplined scope alignment, shared controls, and support from expert auditors. A well-executed dual or multi-SOC audit strategy not only reduces costs and duplication but also strengthens the credibility and effectiveness of your overall assurance ecosystem.
For service organizations supporting a diverse user-entity base with financial-reporting, data-security, and privacy requirements, a coordinated multiple-SOC audit approach is a best practice that delivers long-term value.
Ready to strengthen your assurance profile through smarter SOC coordination?
Connect with the RS Assurance & Advisory team to explore how your organization can architect a dual-report SOC strategy aligned to compliance, efficiency, and trust.
Contact: info@rsassure.com | 📞 (903) 229-0341
