Description

A focused course, tailored for you

The Independent SOC 2 Positioning Playbook

Name: The Independent SOC 2 Positioning Playbook
Price: 199 USD
Availability: InStock

The SOC 2 work the audit-tech platforms cannot cover. Positioning, four engagement-type playbooks, and discovery questions for an independent auditor outearning a platform readiness motion.

Audit-tech platforms push SOC 2 readiness to a platform fee, and the bigger CPA firms vetted by those platforms ride the flow. Independent auditors who compete on price compress what they earn. The course teaches the alternative positioning.

$199 one-time

Tailored to your situation. Access within 24 hours. 30-day money-back.

Includes a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access, generated for your specific situation.

Why this course

Independent SOC 2 auditors face a positioning shift. Audit-tech platforms push the readiness motion to a platform fee. The bigger CPA firms vetted by those platforms ride the flow. Independent practices that compete on price compress their earn rate to the platform's. Practices that focus on the work the platforms cannot cover earn at multiple times the platform rate.

The course works through the alternative positioning. Specifically, the SOC 2 work the platforms cannot codify: complex multi-entity scope where the entity model requires judgement, regulated-sector overlays where SOC 2 intersects with HIPAA or FedRAMP or PCI DSS or DORA, post-incident remediation engagements where a customer has already failed an audit and needs more than a checklist, customer-specific compliance carve-outs where a Tier-1 customer demands a SOC 2 with an attached customisation, AI audit overlays where the SOC 2 Common Criteria need to be read against NIST AI RMF or EU AI Act language and the platforms have not codified the read.

These are the engagements where a thinking auditor outearns a platform. The course teaches the positioning statement, the four engagement-type playbooks, the discovery questions, and the pricing approach. Twelve modules with deliverables. Plus a hand-built playbook for your specific practice.

What you walk away with

A documented positioning statement.
A multi-entity scope engagement playbook.
A regulated-sector overlay engagement playbook.
A post-incident remediation engagement playbook.
A customer-specific carve-out engagement playbook.
An AI audit overlay engagement playbook.
A discovery framework.
A pricing framework.
A 10-week build plan.

The 12 modules

Module 1. The 2026 SOC 2 landscape

Walkthrough of the 2026 SOC 2 landscape. Audit-tech platform market position. Big4 and mid-tier CPA firm strategies. Where the platforms compress price. Where the platforms do not reach. The economics of an independent practice today and the economics of an independent practice that has shifted positioning.

Module 2. Positioning statement

Build the positioning statement. The work you do. The work you decline. The customer profile that fits. The objections you preempt. The proof points you carry. The version for the website. The version for the conference. The version for the introductory call. Plus the swap-test: would a different auditor with a different positioning use this same statement? If yes, rewrite.

Module 3. Multi-entity scope playbook

Build the multi-entity scope playbook. Common scenarios (holding company structure, shared-services entity, partly-owned subsidiary, joint venture, cross-border affiliate). The judgement framework for entity inclusion. The control mapping across entities. The carve-out and inclusive approaches. The reporting structure. The fee structure that captures the judgement work.

Module 4. Regulated-sector overlay playbook

Build the regulated-sector overlay playbook. SOC 2 plus HIPAA, SOC 2 plus FedRAMP, SOC 2 plus PCI DSS, SOC 2 plus DORA, SOC 2 plus NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation, SOC 2 plus state privacy laws. The Common Criteria mapping that handles each overlay. The control re-use approach. The reporting approach. The fee structure.

Module 5. Post-incident remediation playbook

Build the post-incident remediation engagement playbook. The customer has already failed an audit or experienced an incident. The opening conversation. The root cause analysis. The remediation plan that survives the next audit. The interim controls. The communication with the customer's customer base. The fee structure that captures the value of avoiding the next failure.

Module 6. Customer-specific carve-out playbook

Build the customer-specific carve-out engagement playbook. A Tier-1 customer demands a SOC 2 with a specific customisation. The Common Criteria adjustment. The supplementary criteria addition. The customer-side legal review. The customer-side procurement review. The reporting language. The fee structure that captures the customisation work.

Module 7. AI audit overlay playbook

Build the AI audit overlay engagement playbook. SOC 2 Common Criteria read against NIST AI RMF. SOC 2 Common Criteria read against EU AI Act high-risk system requirements. SOC 2 Common Criteria read against ISO/IEC 42001 AIMS. The audit evidence for AI-specific controls. The reporting language. The fee structure.

Module 8. Discovery framework

Build the discovery framework. The opening questions that surface which of the five engagement types the prospect needs. The qualification questions that surface budget and timing. The disqualification questions that route a platform-fit prospect to a platform. The route to a paid engagement.

Module 9. Pricing framework

Build the pricing framework. Fixed-fee versus time-and-materials versus value-based. The five engagement-type-specific pricing approaches. The retainer pattern for ongoing customer relationships. The price-anchoring approach in the first conversation. Includes the price-anchoring approach for first-conversation positioning, the proposal-shaping pattern that surfaces value before quoting, and the renewal-conversation script that holds price across the engagement lifecycle. Plus the retainer pattern that compounds value across multi-year relationships.

Module 10. Marketing and lead generation

Build the marketing approach. The content topics that attract the right prospects. The channels (LinkedIn, podcasts, industry events, niche newsletters). The conference selection. The referral programme. The customer-of-customer marketing. The platform partnership question (can the platforms refer you for the work they cannot cover).

Module 11. Practice operations

Build the practice operations. The engagement workflow. The work paper retention. The peer review framework. The professional indemnity coverage. The professional body alignment (AICPA membership status, state licence, professional standards). Plus the operational metrics that show the positioning is working.

Module 12. Your 10-week build plan

Week by week. Weeks 1-2: landscape and positioning statement. Weeks 3-4: multi-entity scope and regulated-sector overlay. Weeks 5-6: post-incident remediation and customer-specific carve-out. Weeks 7-8: AI audit overlay and discovery framework. Weeks 9-10: pricing, marketing, operations. Deliverable: a positioning playbook for an independent SOC 2 practice that outearns a platform.

How this addresses your situation

Specific modules that map to what you said you are dealing with.

Prospect has multi-entity scope question → Module 3.

Prospect has regulated-sector overlay → Module 4.

Prospect has failed an audit → Module 5.

Prospect has a Tier-1 customer demand → Module 6.

Prospect surfaces AI → Module 7.

You need a discovery script → Module 8.

You need pricing → Module 9.

What you get with this course

The 12-module course delivered as text plus downloadable templates.
Templates and worked examples for every module.
A hand-built playbook generated for your specific practice.
Three reference engagements from peer independent SOC 2 firms.
Scripted talking points for the customer-CISO and customer-CCO engagement.

What you will have in hand by Day 1, Week 1, Month 1

Day 1: Positioning statement scaffold drafted.

Week 4: Multi-entity scope and regulated-sector overlay designed.

Week 8: Post-incident, customer-specific carve-out, AI audit overlay operational.

Week 10: Positioning in market.

What happens if you do not address this

The platforms are still adding capability. The window for an independent practice to claim the work platforms cannot cover is open now. It narrows as platforms codify more.

Who it is for

For independent SOC 2 auditors, principals at boutique audit firms, senior consultants pivoting to independent SOC 2 practice, and senior managers at small-to-mid CPA firms with SOC 2 practices.

Who this is NOT for. Pure financial audit practitioners. Practitioners at firms with no SOC 2 work. Pure non-audit consultants.

How it arrives

Text-based course via LMS, plus downloadable templates and worked examples and the hand-built playbook.

Time investment. Roughly 18 hours of reading and 60 to 120 hours of build effort across the 10-week plan.

Why $199 is the right number

External audit practice positioning consultants charge from 50,000 to 200,000 USD for positioning programmes. 199 USD buys the focused playbook and the implementation document for your practice.

FAQ

Will this work for a solo practitioner?

Yes. The economics are most favourable for a solo or two-to-five partner practice.

Does this teach me how to do a SOC 2?

No. It assumes you already do SOC 2. It teaches the positioning that earns more for the work you do.

What if I am also a financial auditor?

Module 11 covers the AICPA professional standards alignment between SOC and financial audit work.

What about SOC 1?

The framework adapts to SOC 1. Module 4 covers SOC 1 in the regulated-sector overlay context.

What is in the implementation playbook for me specifically?

Positioning statement variants for your customer profile, pricing framework matched to your engagement mix, discovery script tuned to your channel.

30-day money-back guarantee. If after a week of working through the materials this is not what you needed, reply to the receipt email and a full refund is processed. No questions, no forms.

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.