When a vendor provides a SOC 1 or SOC 2 report, the temptation is to file it and assume everything is fine. A proper SOC report review is a structured process: verifying the report covers the right scope, assessing the auditor’s opinion, reviewing control testing results for exceptions, identifying your complementary user entity controls, and documenting findings for your own compliance records. This free SOC report review checklist template gives internal auditors, compliance managers, and IT security teams a consistent framework for reviewing SOC reports from every vendor — run it as a reference or as a live, trackable checklist in CheckFlow, with tasks assigned across IT, compliance, and finance, and every finding documented for your audit trail.
A SOC report review checklist is a structured framework used by internal auditors, compliance managers, and IT security teams to systematically evaluate a SOC (System and Organisation Controls) report received from a vendor or service provider.
SOC reports — issued by independent auditors following AICPA standards — come in several types. SOC 1 reports cover a service organisation’s internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR), and are typically reviewed by finance teams and external auditors as part of SOX compliance. SOC 2 reports cover controls relevant to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy (the Trust Services Criteria), and are reviewed by IT, compliance, and procurement teams as part of vendor due diligence. Both come in Type 1 (design of controls at a point in time) and Type 2 (operating effectiveness over a period) variants — with Type 2 providing stronger assurance and typically required for ongoing vendor relationships.
Reviewing a SOC report is not simply a matter of confirming one exists. A proper review verifies that the report covers the right scope, that the auditor’s opinion is unqualified, that any exceptions in control testing are understood and addressed, that complementary user entity controls (CUECs) are implemented on your side, and that findings are documented for your own compliance records. For organisations managing multiple vendor relationships, a structured checklist ensures every SOC report is reviewed consistently and that nothing critical is missed.
This checklist is organised into five phases that cover the complete process of reviewing a SOC 1 or SOC 2 report — from initial preparation through to findings documentation and follow-up actions.
Phase 4 applies to Type 2 reports only. For Type 1 reports, proceed to Phase 5.
This checklist is available as a free, runnable template in CheckFlow — with tasks assigned across IT, compliance, and finance teams, exceptions tracked to remediation, and a complete review record for every vendor in your programme.
Use This Template FreeBuild the checklist once and run it for every vendor SOC report review in your programme. Enter the vendor name, report type, and review period at launch — CheckFlow assigns tasks across IT, compliance, and finance automatically and notifies each reviewer. Whether you’re reviewing three vendor reports or thirty, every review follows the same structured process.
Template DesignerEvery exception identified in a SOC report, and every unimplemented complementary user entity control, becomes a trackable action in CheckFlow — assigned to an owner with a due date and automatic reminders. Nothing sits in a review document that nobody follows up on. Your next audit cycle starts with a clear record of what was found last time and what was done about it.
Auto-AssignmentsEvery completed SOC review is archived in CheckFlow with a timestamped log of who reviewed each section, what was found, and what actions were taken. When your external auditor, SOX compliance team, or ISO 27001 certification review asks for evidence of vendor SOC oversight, the record is already there — structured, complete, and ready to present.
Audit TrailA SOC (System and Organisation Controls) report is an independent audit report issued by a CPA firm that describes a service organisation’s controls and how effectively they operate. Organisations review vendor SOC reports as part of their vendor risk management and third-party due diligence programmes — to understand whether the vendors they rely on have adequate controls in place to protect their data, ensure service availability, and maintain financial reporting integrity. SOC report review is also required for SOX compliance (for SOC 1 reports) and increasingly required by enterprise customers as a condition of doing business (for SOC 2 reports).
SOC 1 reports cover a service organisation’s internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) — they are relevant when a vendor handles processes that could affect your financial statements, such as payroll processing, billing, or benefit plan administration. SOC 2 reports cover the five Trust Services Criteria — Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy — and are relevant when a vendor handles your data or provides cloud services. Both come in Type 1 (controls as of a point in time) and Type 2 (controls operating effectively over a period) variants, with Type 2 providing stronger assurance.
An unqualified (clean) opinion is the most desirable outcome of a SOC audit — it means the auditor found no material exceptions and the controls are suitably designed and operating effectively. A qualified opinion means the auditor found specific exceptions significant enough to warrant a departure from a clean opinion. A qualified opinion does not necessarily mean the vendor is unsuitable, but it requires careful review — you need to understand exactly which controls failed, whether those controls are relevant to your use of the service, and what the vendor has done to remediate the issues. Any qualified opinion should be escalated to your compliance team and potentially your external auditor.
CUECs are controls listed in a SOC report that the vendor assumes your organisation has in place for the overall control environment to be effective. For example, a cloud provider’s SOC 2 report might assume that you have adequate user access management controls on your side — that you promptly revoke access when employees leave. If your organisation does not have those controls in place, the vendor’s SOC report does not fully cover the risk. Reviewing and implementing CUECs is one of the most commonly missed steps in SOC report review, and one of the most important — they represent the controls you are responsible for.
SOC reports should be reviewed at least annually — most vendors issue new reports covering a 12-month period. For critical vendors handling sensitive data or financial processes, some organisations review mid-year updates or request bridge letters to cover gaps between report periods. A SOC report older than 12 months is generally considered stale and should be accompanied by a bridge letter. CheckFlow’s recurring checklist feature can schedule your annual vendor SOC reviews automatically so no vendor falls outside your review cycle.
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