Crafting SOC 2 Policies and Procedures

Behind every successful SOC 2 audit is a well-documented set of policies and procedures that demonstrates your organization’s commitment to security and trust.

These documents don’t just satisfy auditors—they help shape your internal culture and ensure that your systems and processes consistently operate in alignment with your values and customer expectations.

In this guide, we’ll explore why policies and procedures are so central to SOC 2 and how you can craft them effectively.

Why Policies and Procedures Matter

SOC 2 is a principles-based framework.
Rather than mandating specific tools or architectures, it asks whether your organization has designed and operates controls that meet the objectives of the Trust Services Criteria.

Well-crafted policies and procedures are critical for showing intent—that your leadership has made conscious decisions about how security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy are managed.

Auditors will expect to see that:

• You have documented policies covering key risk areas

• Those policies are accessible to relevant staff

• Operational procedures support and enforce the policies

• Policies are reviewed and updated regularly

This transparency builds trust, not just with auditors, but with customers and employees alike.

Aligning Policies with the Trust Services Criteria

Each of the Trust Services Criteria requires supporting policies and procedures.

For example, under Security, auditors will look for documented approaches to access management, network security, incident response, and vulnerability management.

For Confidentiality and Privacy, policies around data classification, data handling, and regulatory compliance become critical—especially when aligning with standards like GDPR or HIPAA.

Availability and processing integrity similarly call for clear procedures related to system monitoring, backup and recovery, and change management.

The goal is not simply to produce documents for the sake of an audit.
Your policies should reflect how your organization actually operates—and they should guide day-to-day decisions and behaviors.

Building a Policy Management Process

It’s not enough to write policies once and forget about them.
SOC 2 expects that you establish a living process for managing and improving your policy framework.

This includes:

• Assigning clear ownership for each policy

• Defining a regular review cadence (typically annually or as risks evolve)

• Communicating policies to relevant staff

• Capturing acknowledgements where appropriate

• Updating procedures when systems, processes, or regulatory requirements change

Platforms like DSALTA can help automate much of this process—tracking review cycles, surfacing required updates, and maintaining an auditable history of policy management.

From Policy to Practice

Perhaps the most important part of this process is ensuring that policies translate into consistent operational practices.

Auditors will test not just whether you have a policy, but whether the controls and behaviors in your organization align with what that policy says.

For example, if your access management policy mandates quarterly reviews, you must be able to show that those reviews occurred and were documented.

Aligning policy and practice takes ongoing effort, but it’s essential for maintaining compliance, accountability, and trust.

Final Thoughts

Strong policies and procedures are the foundation of a successful SOC 2 program.
They codify your commitment to security and trust—and provide a roadmap for how your organization operates every day.

By treating policy management as an ongoing discipline—and using tools like DSALTA to support automation and visibility—you can ensure that your SOC 2 documentation remains aligned, actionable, and audit-ready.

And when combined with broader frameworks such as ISO 27001 or PCI DSS, a strong policy foundation positions your organization for success across multiple compliance domains.