How do I write a SOC 2 policy when I'm not a compliance expert?
You Already Know More Than You Think
If you can answer these questions, you can write SOC 2 policies:
- How does someone get access to your production systems?
- What happens when a developer wants to deploy code?
- How would you respond if you discovered a data breach?
- Who decides what vendors you use, and how do you vet them?
SOC 2 policies are just formalized answers to these questions.
Step-by-Step Approach
Step 1: Document Reality
Open a doc and describe what your team does today. Don't worry about SOC 2 language. Write:
- "New engineers get AWS access from the CTO via IAM. They need a Slack request in #access-requests."
- "All code goes through a PR on GitHub. We require one reviewer before merge."
- "If something breaks in production, the on-call person gets a PagerDuty alert."
Step 2: Add Structure
Organize your descriptions into policy sections:
| Your Description | SOC 2 Policy Section |
|---|---|
| How people get access | Access Control Policy |
| How code gets deployed | Change Management Policy |
| How you handle incidents | Incident Response Plan |
| How you pick vendors | Vendor Management Policy |
Step 3: Add the Missing Pieces
Look for gaps: Do you have a formal access review process? Is MFA required everywhere? Do you have background checks for new hires? These are common gaps that you can address before the audit.
Step 4: Use SOC 2 Language (Lightly)
Swap casual language for slightly more formal phrasing. "We do code reviews" becomes "All code changes require peer review through GitHub pull requests." You don't need legal jargon — just clear, specific statements.
The AI Alternative
If the manual approach feels overwhelming, Screenata reads your codebase and cloud setup, then generates policies in proper SOC 2 format that reference your actual systems. You review and approve instead of writing from scratch.