Tag: SSAE16

Why have an SSAE 16 Review Performed?

Some organizations have heard of SAS 70, SSAE 16, and soon to be SSAE 18, but, don’t really know WHY they need to pay to have a bunch of auditors trounce through their company for a month or two during the year, especially right after their financial audit just finished. The answer is simple: Many companies will not even think about using your company to perform services for them without a clean Type II Report in place. Some benefits of having an SSAE 16 performed: Ability to perform outsourcing services for Public Companies. If performing financially significant duties for a Public Company, they are required to use a SSAE 16 qualified provider as it is the only way to give investors assurance over controls that are not performed by the Company in question. Public and Private companies are more likely to trust your organization with their data. If you were to trust a company with your data, you would want complete assurance it will be handled with the utmost care A year round accessible knowledge source (your auditors). As a service organization, large or small, you will always have questions regarding your business and having a set of auditors in place with access to a wide array of business knowledge, it will allow you to bounce your questions and concerns off of a group of trusted individuals. A third party to review your controls and activities to ensure they are functioning appropriately, and give advice on how to improve upon

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SOC 2 Report – Trust Services Criteria and Categories

The System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Report will be performed in accordance with AT-C 205 (formerly under AT-101) and based upon the Trust Services Principles, with the ability to test and report on the design (Type I) and operating (Type II) effectiveness of a service organization’s controls (just like SOC 1 / SSAE 18). The SOC 2 report focuses on a business’s non-financial reporting controls as they relate to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of a system, as opposed to SOC 1/SSAE 18 which is focused on the financial reporting controls. The Trust Service Principles which SOC 2 is based upon are modeled around four broad areas: Policies, Communications, Procedures, and Monitoring. Each of the principles have defined criteria (controls) which must be met to demonstrate adherence to the principles and produce an unqualified opinion (no significant exceptions found during your audit). The great thing about the trust principles is that the criteria businesses must meet are predefined, making it easier for business owners to know what compliance needs are required and for users of the report to read and assess the adequacy. Many entities outsource tasks or entire functions to service organizations that operate, collect, process, transmit, store, organize, maintain and dispose of information for user entities. SOC 2 was put in place to address demands in the marketplace for assurance over non-financial controls to prevent SOC 1 from being misused just like SAS 70 was. Did you know? A business isn’t required to address all

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SSAE 16, The New Standard

So you have been performing a SAS 70 for the last couple years, or, are getting ready prepared to embark on your first SAS 70, and all of a sudden you hear that a brand new standard has been issued! Don’t worry about it! SSAE 16 is an improvement to the current standard for Reporting on Controls at a Service Organization, the SAS70, with some changes that will help bring your company and the rest of the companies in the US up to date with new international service organization reporting standards, ISAE 3402. This will help allow you and your counterparts in the US be able to compete on an international level, allowing for companies around the world to be able to use YOU as their service organization with complete comfort. One very important issue that you should be very aware of is that SSAE 16 will formally be issued in June 2010 with an effective date of June 15, 2011, meaning that if you are not on top of this new standard soon, you need to be. Many organizations have a 12 month testing period that begins in July, and if this sounds like your company, you will be required to be compliant with the New Standards as of July 1, 2010. Major differences between SAS 70 and the New Standard, SSAE 16 and ISAE 3042: 1) Management of the Service Organization will be required to provide the service auditor with a written assertion about the following, when performing

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The SSAE16 Auditing Standard

SSAE 16 is an enhancement to the current standard for Reporting on Controls at a Service Organization, the SAS70. The changes made to the standard will bring your company, and the rest of the companies in the US, up to date with new international service organization reporting standards, the ISAE 3402. The adjustments made from SAS 70 to SSAE 16 will help you and your counterparts in the US compete on an international level; allowing companies around the world to give you their business with complete confidence. SSAE16 is now effective as of June 15, 2011, and if you have not made the necessary adjustments required, now is the time to find a quality provider to discuss the proper steps. All organizations are now required to issue their Service Auditor Reports under the SSAE 16 standards in an SOC 1 Report. The soon to be effective, SSAE-18, is expected to follow a similar reporting structure to the SSAE-16 within a SOC 1 report. Who Needs an SSAE 16 (SOC 1) Audit? If your Company (the ‘Service Organization’) performs outsourced services that affect the financial statements of another Company (the ‘User Organization’), you will more than likely be asked to provide an SSAE16 Type II Report, especially if the User Organization is publicly traded.Some example industries include: Payroll Processing Loan Servicing Data Center/Co-Location/Network Monitoring Services Software as a Service (SaaS) Medical Claims Processors What you Need to Know: Before starting the SSAE 16 process, there are a number of considerations one must

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SOC 2 Cheat Sheet

SANS put together a great overview of SOC 2 terminology, report structure breakdown, and process in their signature cheat sheet format. This is a great document to keep handy if

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