In today's complex regulatory environment, organizations are required to adhere to an increasing number of industry standards and regulatory requirements. Common requirements include SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, HITRUST, ISO certifications, Media Rating Council (MRC) examinations, WebTrust for Certification Authorities (WebTrust), FedRAMP authorizations, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), and more. While achieving compliance is essential, how organizations do so is equally crucial. Engaging a single firm to manage diverse attestation needs offers substantial strategic advantages through enhancing efficiency, reducing audit fatigue, increasing consistency
Unified Approach to Attestation Reporting: Building Trust, Reducing Risk, and Increasing Value
The "test once, report many" approach is a cornerstone of valued-focused compliance. By engaging a single firm for multiple attestation reports, organizations can leverage a unified set of controls and testing procedures, significantly reducing redundant efforts. This not only streamlines the audit process but also presents a consistent and reliable compliance narrative to stakeholders and regulators. A common control library further enhances value by enabling organizations to manage risk assessment and governance processes more efficiently. The reduction in duplicative testing and documentation may optimize resource allocation, allowing organizations to focus their time on core business objectives.
Having established the advantages of a unified approach, we now turn to a closer examination of how the “test once, report many” methodology delivers tangible value when applied across the most widely used audit reporting frameworks. The following sections highlight the specific benefits and efficiencies realized when organizations leverage this strategy for SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, and other key attestation reports.
Streamlining SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3 Reports: Delivering Value Through Efficiency
SOC reports are essential for organizations handling sensitive financial data and customer information. SOC 1 focuses on internal controls relevant to financial reporting, SOC 2 emphasizes controls related to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy, and SOC 3 provides a general-use report on the same criteria as SOC 2 but is intended for a broader audience. By assessing overlapping operational controls simultaneously, organizations can reduce the time and cost associated with multiple, separate audits. This integrated approach helps to ensure that compliance investments yield increased value with less disruption to business operations and improved reporting consistency.
Enhancing Efficiency and Value with ISO Certifications
ISO certifications, such as ISO 27001 for information security management, are globally recognized and demonstrate an organization's commitment to leading practices. The overlap with other reporting frameworks allows for streamlined assessments, reducing the cost of compliance while enhancing the value delivered through international recognition and improved risk management.
Integrating HITRUST Certification: Comprehensive Value for Healthcare Organizations
HITRUST certification is relevant to organizations across a number of industries with a primary focus on those in the healthcare sector and provides a robust reporting framework for data protection and compliance. HITRUST incorporates elements from various standards including HIPAA, NIST, and ISO making it a comprehensive certification. The overlap with SOC 2 and ISO 27001 lies in the shared focus on information security and privacy controls, supporting a unified assessment approach. By integrating HITRUST with other attestation efforts, organizations can achieve comprehensive compliance with less incremental cost leveraging shared controls and evidence to increase the return on their compliance spend.
Incorporating Media Rating Council (MRC) Examinations and WebTrust: Coordinated Value
MRC examinations are critical for organizations involved in media and advertising, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of audience measurement services. WebTrust is a framework for building trust in an environment where an identity needs to be cryptographically verifiable for digital transactions. The overlap involves the shared focus on data integrity and security, allowing for coordinated evaluation efforts. Coordinating these with other attestation efforts not only reduces audit fatigue and cost but may also help enhance the value of compliance by ensuring data integrity and security across multiple business functions.
Integrating FedRAMP Authorization: Value for Cloud Service Providers
FedRAMP is crucial for cloud service providers working with U.S. federal government agencies, helping to ensure compliance with stringent security standards. The overlap with SOC 2, ISO 27001, and HITRUST lies in the common emphasis on security controls and risk management. This helps facilitate a unified assessment process, allowing organizations to address stringent security standards efficiently, increasing the value of their compliance investments by opening doors to new business opportunities with minimal incremental cost.
PCI DSS and Unified Compliance: Leveraging Overlapping Controls
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is essential for organizations that handle payment card data, provide services that could impact the security of card data (such as hosting service providers or logging and alerting services), or are performing in-scope tasks on behalf of a company (call center, application development, back office), for the protection of cardholder information and the security of payment transactions. There may be overlap between PCI DSS and frameworks such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001, based on the scope of the report, including areas related to information security controls, data protection, and risk management. By aligning PCI DSS requirements with other frameworks that have like kind scopes and corresponding systems/applications/platforms/infrastructure, organizations can streamline compliance efforts, reduce duplication in testing, and achieve a more unified and efficient approach to safeguarding sensitive payment data, either directly or indirectly.
Quantifying the Value
By consolidating multiple attestation reports under a single firm, organizations can achieve significant benefits as it reduces the need for multiple audits, reduces the duplication of efforts, and streamlines processes. The efficiencies gained from this approach may translate into lower audit fees, reduced internal resource allocation, and decreased operational disruptions.
The following table highlights how SOC 2 reports serve as a foundational element, with other reporting frameworks mapping closely to SOC 2 and to each other through shared requirements for security, privacy, and data integrity. This alignment enables a “test once, report many” strategy, driving both efficiency and value across the compliance landscape.
| Reporting Framework | Maps to SOC2 | Key Overlap Areas | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 | Foundational | Security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, privacy | Broad applicability to service organizations |
| SOC 3 | Yes | Same as SOC 2 (general use) | Public-facing version of SOC 2 |
| SOC 1 | Yes (ITGC) | Financial reporting controls | Focused on internal controls over financial reporting |
| HITRUST | Yes | Information security, privacy controls | Incorporates HIPAA, NIST, ISO; overlap with SOC 2 (dependent on SOC criteria and/or HITRUST assessment options selected) |
| ISO 27001 | Yes | Information security | Overlaps with SOC 2, HITRUST, FedRAMP on information security controls |
| MRC | Yes | Data integrity, security | Overlaps with SOC 2, ISO 27001 on data and process controls |
| WebTrust | Yes | Data integrity, e-commerce security | Overlaps with SOC 2, ISO 27001 on online transaction controls |
| FedRAMP | Yes | Security controls, risk management | Overlaps with SOC 2, ISO 27001, HITRUST on cloud security |
| PCI DSS | Yes | Payment card data security, access controls, risk management | Overlaps with SOC 2, ISO 27001 on information security, access controls, and risk management |
HITRUST, ISO 27001, MRC, WebTrust, FedRAMP, and PCI DSS, all map to SOC reporting frameworks, especially SOC 2, due to shared requirements for security, privacy, and data integrity.
The strongest overlaps are between SOC 2, HITRUST, ISO 27001, FedRAMP, and PCI DSS, as they all emphasize information security management and risk controls and the protection of sensitive data.
MRC and WebTrust also align closely with SOC 2 and ISO 27001 in their focus on data integrity and information security, particularly for media and e-commerce organizations.
Leveraging GRC Technology for Enhanced Compliance Efficiency
In addition to engaging a single firm for multiple attestation needs, organizations can further amplify efficiencies by adopting advanced Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) technology. Platforms like Hyperproof enable organizations to centralize risk and compliance management, automate evidence collection, and maintain a common control library across multiple frameworks. When paired with an experienced attestation provider, this approach reduces audit fatigue and enhances consistency.
Achieving Value-Driven Compliance
The strategic advantage of using one firm for multiple third-party attestation reports is clear. Organizations can achieve a streamlined, cost-effective, and consistent approach to compliance, increasing the value of their investments while reducing costs. This combination of a single firm provides a significant competitive edge, enabling organizations to navigate the complex compliance landscape with confidence and efficiency.
To explore how these benefits can be realized within your organization, consider reaching to BDO’s Third Party Attestation Team. BDO’s experience in managing comprehensive engagements can help you initiate this transformative process, helping to ensure your compliance strategy is both effective and economical.