SOC 2 Audit Budget Planner

Forecast your SOC 2 audit costs in minutes. Combine the external auditor quote with internal labour, tooling subscriptions, and a contingency buffer to understand the cash you need to reserve before kicking off readiness work.

Fixed fee quoted by your CPA firm or assessment body for the SOC 2 Type I or Type II engagement.
Estimated cross-functional hours spent on evidence collection, remediation, and control owners.
Fully-loaded hourly cost (salary + benefits) for the team members involved.
Optional. Annualised subscription for compliance automation or monitoring tools. Defaults to $0 if blank.
Optional. Percentage uplift to cover scope creep or remediation surprises. Defaults to 10% if blank.

Budgeting aid only. Validate actual scope, evidence expectations, and contract terms with your chosen audit firm and compliance advisors.

Examples

  • $28,500 auditor quote, 340 internal hours at $80, $5,500 tooling, 12% contingency ⇒ External audit spend: $28,500.00 USD • Internal labour cost: $27,200.00 USD • Tooling budget: $5,500.00 USD • Contingency (12.00%): $7,344.00 USD • Total SOC 2 budget: $68,544.00 USD • Internal share of subtotal: 44.44%.
  • $18,000 auditor quote, 220 hours at $65, no software, default 10% contingency ⇒ External audit spend: $18,000.00 USD • Internal labour cost: $14,300.00 USD • Tooling budget: $0.00 USD • Contingency (10.00%): $3,230.00 USD • Total SOC 2 budget: $35,530.00 USD • Internal share of subtotal: 44.27%.

FAQ

Should I separate Type I and Type II audits?

Yes. Run the calculator for each audit phase with its own hours and quotes to highlight how much the ongoing Type II effort adds versus the initial Type I report.

How do I include remediation projects?

Add the expected spend for tooling or consulting into the software input, or increase the contingency percentage to cover one-time remediation fixes.

Can this help compare CPA firms?

Absolutely. Plug in each firm's quote while keeping internal effort constant to see which proposal delivers the best total cost.

What if we capitalise some costs?

The tool shows cash outlay. Work with finance to determine which items can be capitalised for accounting purposes after you know the total spend.

Additional Information

  • Internal labour converts hours and blended rate into a cash equivalent so engineering and security time is fully costed.
  • Software subscriptions can include logging platforms, vulnerability scanners, or compliance automation tools.
  • Contingency applies to the subtotal of audit, labour, and tooling to cover scope creep without underfunding the project.

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