A step-by-step guide to achieving SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR compliance. Whether you are a startup closing your first enterprise deal or a growing company scaling your security program, this checklist covers everything you need to get audit-ready.
Each phase has the tasks that must be done before the next one starts. The critical ones are marked.
PHASE 01Week 1-2
Understand your compliance requirements
Before diving into implementation, you need to understand what compliance frameworks apply to your business and what your current security posture looks like.
TipUse Evidr AI onboarding to automatically profile your business across 60+ risk signals and get framework recommendations in minutes.
Identify which frameworks your customers require (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, etc.)!Critical
Review existing security policies and procedures
Document your current tech stack and data flows!Critical
Identify sensitive data types you process (PII, PHI, payment data)!Critical
Assess current access controls and authentication methods
Review vendor relationships and data sharing agreements
Identify compliance gaps between current state and target frameworks!Critical
PHASE 02Week 2-3
Create your compliance roadmap
With a clear understanding of your requirements and gaps, create a realistic plan that assigns ownership and sets deadlines.
TipEvidr auto-generates control checklists mapped to your selected frameworks. Skip the spreadsheet and let AI identify exactly what evidence you need.
Select primary framework(s) to pursue first!Critical
Map controls to your specific business context!Critical
Assign control owners across your organization!Critical
Create timeline with milestones and deadlines
Budget for tools, auditors, and potential consultants
Identify evidence requirements for each control!Critical
Plan employee security awareness training
Select auditor and schedule audit window!Critical
PHASE 03Week 3-6
Build your compliance program
The bulk of compliance work happens here. Implement controls, create policies, and collect evidence to demonstrate compliance.
TipEvidr policy generation creates board-ready documents in seconds. AI understands your business context and generates policies tailored to your specific needs.
Monitor vendors for security incidents and breaches
Track and remediate security incidents!Critical
Prepare for annual audit recertification!Critical
02Common mistakes
Where programmes go wrong.
Starting too late
Enterprise deals often require SOC 2 as a procurement checkbox. Starting compliance after the deal is already in progress means you lose momentum and potentially the deal.
InsteadStart compliance early, even before you need it. A free Evidr account lets you track readiness without committing to a full audit.
Treating compliance as a checkbox
Compliance should improve your actual security posture, not just generate paperwork. Checkbox compliance leads to findings during audits and false confidence.
InsteadUse compliance as a framework for building a real security program. The controls exist because they actually reduce risk.
No single owner
When compliance is everyone responsibility, it becomes no one responsibility. Tasks fall through cracks and deadlines slip.
InsteadAssign a compliance lead with authority to hold others accountable. Use Evidr to assign control owners and track progress.
Manual evidence collection
Collecting screenshots and exporting configs manually is slow, error-prone, and does not scale. It also makes continuous compliance nearly impossible.
InsteadAutomate evidence collection with integrations. Evidr connects to AWS, GitHub, Okta, and 18 more tools to pull evidence automatically.
Ignoring vendor risk
Your compliance posture is only as strong as your weakest vendor. A breach at a critical vendor can invalidate your own compliance.
InsteadMonitor vendors continuously. Evidr tracks 230+ vendors for breaches, CVEs, and regulatory actions with real-time alerts.
Forgetting about continuous compliance
Getting certified is just the beginning. Evidence expires, employees change, and controls drift. Many companies fail recertification.
InsteadBuild continuous compliance from day one. Evidr monitors evidence expiry and compliance drift so you are always audit-ready.
Every task above has a place in the platform: the onboarding builds the assessment, the frameworks bring the controls, the integrations bring the evidence.
