What is SOC1?

SOC 1 (Service Organization Control 1) is an auditing standard developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). It focuses on the controls at a service organization that are likely to be relevant to user entities' internal control over financial reporting (ICFR). A SOC 1 report provides assurance to user entities and their auditors about the service organization's controls that could impact the user entities' financial statements. It's commonly used by service organizations like payroll processors, data centers, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers to demonstrate that they have adequate controls in place to protect user entities' financial data.