SOC Examinations · AICPA Trust Services Criteria
SOC 3 reports that prove your security in public.
We turn your SOC 2 work into a short, general-use report you can publish on your website and share with any prospect, no security review or non-disclosure agreement needed.
A SOC 3 report is a public, general-use trust report issued by a licensed CPA firm against the same Trust Services Criteria as SOC 2, but without the detailed control descriptions and test results. FinAudit CPA runs your SOC 2 Type II and issues a matching SOC 3 you can post anywhere as a shareable proof of security.
Reviewed by Debraj Hazra, CPA (USA), ACA (ICAEW, ICAI)
Last updated July 2026
What is a SOC 3 report, really?
SOC 3 stands for System and Organization Controls 3, a reporting format the American Institute of CPAs designed for one specific job: letting a service organization prove its security to a general audience. Like SOC 2, it measures your environment against the Trust Services Criteria and ends with an opinion signed by a licensed CPA firm. Unlike SOC 2, it is short, and you can hand it to anyone.
The difference comes down to who is allowed to read it. A SOC 2 report contains a detailed description of your system, the specific controls you run, and the results of every test the auditor performed. That detail is exactly what a buyer's security team wants, and it is also sensitive, so SOC 2 is a restricted-use report that changes hands under a non-disclosure agreement. A SOC 3 strips out the control descriptions and the test results, keeps the auditor's opinion and your management assertion, and becomes a general-use document you can publish openly.
Think of SOC 3 as the public face of the same examination. The auditor does not run a separate, lighter audit to produce it. We reach the SOC 3 opinion through the full SOC 2 work, then write a version that says "we examined these controls and here is our conclusion" without exposing the mechanics a competitor could study. That is why a SOC 3 carries real weight even though it fits on a few pages.
A SOC 3 is the one security report you never have to hide behind an NDA. It says just enough for a stranger to trust you, and nothing a rival could use against you.
Who benefits from a SOC 3?
SOC 3 earns its keep when you need to prove security to people you have not met yet. A SOC 2 is the right tool for a named prospect who signs an NDA and hands the report to their auditors. A SOC 3 is the right tool for everyone else. Three situations make it worth the small extra step:
- Your marketing and sales teams want a proof they can share freely. A public report you link from your trust page or drop into a first sales email removes friction. Buyers see independent CPA validation before they have committed anything.
- You sell to a wide, self-service audience. When hundreds of prospects evaluate you without ever getting on a call, you cannot chase an NDA for each one. A published SOC 3 answers the security question at scale.
- You want a trust signal that outranks a logo. Anyone can put a badge on a website. A SOC 3 report signed by a licensed CPA firm is a document a skeptical reader can actually open and verify.
One honest caveat: a SOC 3 rarely replaces a SOC 2. Enterprise security teams still ask for the full report with the control detail. Treat the SOC 3 as the version you show the market and the SOC 2 as the version you show the reviewer who wants to look under the hood.
SOC 3 vs SOC 2: which one do you hand over?
Both reports draw on the same examination against the same criteria. The split is about audience and detail. SOC 2 is the thorough report for reviewers under an NDA. SOC 3 is the short report for the public.
| SOC 3 Report | SOC 2 Report | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can read it | Anyone — general use, no NDA | Named parties under a non-disclosure agreement |
| What it includes | Auditor opinion and management assertion | Opinion plus system description, controls, and test results |
| Length | A few pages you can publish | A detailed report a security team studies |
| Best for | Websites, sales decks, first-touch trust | Procurement, vendor reviews, and diligence |
| Underlying work | Drawn from the same SOC 2 examination | The full examination itself |
How we issue your SOC 3
Because a SOC 3 rides on your SOC 2 work, most of this timeline is the SOC 2 examination. The public report is the last, efficient step.
-
01
Scoping
We confirm which Trust Services Criteria apply and agree that you want a SOC 3 alongside your SOC 2. You get one fixed fee that covers both deliverables.
-
02
Readiness and gap review
We map your current controls against the criteria and give you a plain-language list of what to fix before the observation period starts.
-
03
Remediation support
You close the gaps. We answer questions along the way so you are never guessing what the criteria actually require.
-
04
Evidence and testing
We examine your controls across the SOC 2 Type II period, testing that each one operated the whole time, not just on a single day.
-
05
SOC 2 opinion
We draft your full SOC 2 report, run it through independent quality review, and issue the CPA opinion your reviewers will want to read.
-
06
SOC 3 issuance
From that same opinion we produce the public SOC 3, a short general-use report you can post on your site the day it is signed.
What you get, and how long it takes
You receive two matching deliverables from one engagement. The SOC 2 is the detailed report — the CPA opinion, your management assertion, a description of your system, and the controls we tested with their results — meant for prospects who sign an NDA. The SOC 3 is the public companion: the same opinion and assertion in a short, general-use format you can publish on your website, attach to a proposal, or send to a prospect you have never spoken with.
Timing follows the SOC 2, because the SOC 3 opinion comes from that examination. A SOC 3 built on a Type II depends on the observation window, commonly 3 to 12 months, since the report has to reflect controls that actually operated over a period. Once the SOC 2 opinion is signed, the SOC 3 follows within days rather than weeks, since the hard work is already done. If you need a public proof quickly, we plan the two reports together from the start so neither one waits on the other.
What actually drives the cost
A SOC 3 adds little on its own because it reuses the SOC 2 examination. The real cost sits in the SOC 2 underneath, and it depends on honest factors, not guesswork:
The SOC 2 underneath
Almost the entire fee is the SOC 2 examination that produces the opinion. The SOC 3 is a modest add-on to work you already need.
Number of criteria
Security alone costs less than security plus availability, confidentiality, or privacy. We include only what your promises require.
Systems and complexity
More products, environments, and integrations mean more for us to examine before either report can be issued.
Control maturity
If your controls already run cleanly, the examination moves faster. If not, readiness work is where the effort and the time go.
Why run your SOC 3 with FinAudit CPA
A SOC 3 is only as credible as the firm whose name signs it. We are a licensed US CPA firm, so the opinion in your public report carries the same authority a skeptical reader expects, whether they open it from your website or receive it in a cold email. A general-use report signed by a licensed CPA says more than any badge, and we make sure it can stand up to a close read.
Running both reports with one firm also removes waste. We issue your SOC 2 and your SOC 3 from a single examination, so you pay for the audit once and walk away with both the detailed report for reviewers and the public report for the market. You get senior attention that holds steady as the work grows, fixed scope you can budget around, and controls mapped so the same evidence carries over to ISO 27001 or SOC 1 later instead of being rebuilt from scratch.
Pair your SOC 3 with
- SOC 2, the detailed report your SOC 3 is built on and the one enterprise reviewers still ask for
- SOC 1, when your platform affects your customers’ financial reporting
- ISO 27001, when international customers want a certification alongside your public report
- A trust page, so prospects find your published SOC 3 the moment they look for proof
SOC 3 Report · questions buyers ask
Both reports examine the same Trust Services Criteria and end with a CPA opinion. SOC 2 includes a detailed system description, your controls, and the auditor’s test results, so it is restricted-use and changes hands under an NDA. SOC 3 strips out that confidential detail and keeps the opinion, making it a short, general-use report you can publish and share with anyone.
Yes, that is the whole point. A SOC 3 is a general-use report, so you can post it on your website, attach it to proposals, and send it to prospects without a non-disclosure agreement. It leaves out the control descriptions and test results that make a SOC 2 sensitive, which is exactly what lets you share it freely with a general audience.
In practice, yes. The SOC 3 opinion comes from the same examination that produces a SOC 2, so you generally need a SOC 2 Type II underneath it. We run one engagement that yields both the detailed SOC 2 for reviewers and the public SOC 3 for the market, so you are not paying for two separate audits.
No. A SOC 3 is a public summary, not a substitute. Enterprise security teams and procurement reviewers still ask for the full SOC 2 with its control detail and test results. Treat the SOC 3 as the version you show the open market and the SOC 2 as the version you provide to a reviewer who wants to look closely.
The SOC 3 itself follows within days of your signed SOC 2 opinion, because it draws on the same work. The real timeline is the SOC 2 underneath. A Type II depends on its observation window, commonly 3 to 12 months, since the report must reflect controls that operated over a period rather than on a single date.
On its own a SOC 3 adds only a modest amount, because it reuses the SOC 2 examination. The main cost is that SOC 2, which depends on the number of criteria in scope, how many systems you run, and how mature your controls already are. We scope both reports together and quote one fixed fee up front.
A licensed CPA firm signs a SOC 3, the same as a SOC 2. That signature is what turns it from a self-claim into an independent attestation. FinAudit CPA is a licensed US CPA firm, so the opinion in your public report carries the authority a skeptical reader expects when they open it straight from your website.
A SOC 3 covers the same criteria you chose for your SOC 2: security is always included, and you add availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, or privacy when they match the promises you make. The public report states which criteria the examination covered, so a reader knows exactly what your opinion addresses.
Pair it with
Audit once, comply many.
ISO/IEC 27001 Certification
The international security certificate your global customers recognize on sight.
SOC 1 Audit
The report your customers’ auditors need when your service touches their books.
SOC 2 Audit
The report SaaS buyers ask for first — done by a licensed CPA firm.