PCI DSS, HIPAA, CCPA, SOC 2 — the frameworks vary, but the job is the same: scope honestly, implement controls that match the scope, document them clearly, and prepare for an independent assessment. We help small businesses do this work without turning it into a multi-year consulting engagement.
Most compliance failures trace back to scoping mistakes. We figure out what's actually in scope before touching a single control.
Documentation is important — and load-bearing for assessors — but it has to describe work that actually happened. Real controls first, then the paperwork.
We prepare you. An independent assessor (QSA, CPA, C3PAO, etc.) certifies you. That separation is a feature, not a bug.
Compliance is data-driven. The question isn't 'do we want to be SOC 2 compliant' — it's 'what data do we handle, who cares about it, and what framework does that trigger?'
If you store, process, or transmit credit card information — directly or through a processor — PCI DSS v4.0 applies. Scope varies enormously by merchant level and integration pattern (SAQ A through SAQ D). The real work is usually reducing scope, not expanding compliance.
Covered entities and Business Associates handling PHI are bound by the Security Rule (technical, administrative, physical safeguards) and the Privacy Rule. SMBs often underestimate the Business Associate Agreement (BAA) obligations when they use cloud vendors that touch PHI.
California's privacy regime applies to businesses that meet revenue, data-volume, or data-sale thresholds. Requirements include consumer rights (access, deletion, correction), required disclosures, and reasonable security practices. The civil-penalty exposure for breaches has been expanded under CPRA.
Not a regulation — a voluntary attestation from a CPA firm that your controls meet AICPA Trust Services Criteria. Most commonly pursued to unblock enterprise sales. We help with readiness; the actual audit is performed by an independent CPA.
Not listed but sometimes in scope: ISO 27001, GDPR (for EU-exposed businesses), GLBA (financial institutions), and state breach-notification statutes. If your compliance landscape includes something on this list, we can work through it with you on the discovery call.
Working with federal contracts? See the separate NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC page.
Compliance readiness is naturally phased. We scope each phase with its own gate, so you can stop, adjust, or continue at each checkpoint — no multi-year lock-in.
What data do you handle, where does it live, who touches it? Produces a scope statement and a gap analysis against the target framework.
Close the gaps in risk-weighted order — highest-risk, lowest-friction controls first. Evidence starts accumulating immediately.
Policies, procedures, SSPs, incident response plans, risk registers, and BAAs (where applicable). Written to match the work that actually happens.
Mock assessment against the specific framework criteria. Remediate anything that surfaces before engaging the external assessor.
You engage an independent QSA, CPA, or C3PAO. We support them with artifacts and walk-throughs, and stand behind the preparation work.
It depends on what data you handle and who your customers are. A retail business taking cards is likely PCI. A medical billing firm is likely HIPAA. A SaaS vendor selling to enterprise is likely pursuing SOC 2. Many SMBs have more than one. Step one is always scoping: figuring out what's in-scope vs. out-of-scope for each framework before any control work begins.
Almost never. Compliance-sprawl is a common failure mode — SMBs end up with overlapping policies and control duplication because nobody stepped back to map the overlap. A thoughtful program maps controls once and satisfies multiple frameworks where they align (the NIST Cybersecurity Framework is useful glue).
No honest partner can guarantee an audit outcome. What we can do is prepare the controls, evidence, and documentation to match the assessor's criteria, and run a mock assessment so there are no surprises on audit day. Certified attestations are always performed by an independent CPA (SOC 2) or QSA (PCI) — not by us.
Ranges widely. A small PCI SAQ A merchant with a fully-outsourced payment integration might be ready in weeks. A first-time SOC 2 Type 2 engagement is typically 6–12 months because the audit period itself requires operating evidence over time. HIPAA readiness depends heavily on where you're starting from.
Compliance engagements are scoped as projects with firm quotes after discovery — separate from ongoing managed services. The wide variation in starting point, scope, and framework makes a single published number misleading. Our pricing page shows managed-services market ranges; compliance work sits on top.
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