The whole price, with the auditor’s fee on it
Two questions decide most calls we used to take: how long, and is the auditor included. Eight weeks, and yes. Here is the statement, line by line, with the firm named.
Opinion, total, in dollars. Ardwell Pike’s $7,200 is inside it. One invoice, day one.
Opinion
SOC 2 Type I · eight weeks · one invoice
| L1 | Fieldproof platform for the readiness window: Ledger, Taps, Binder | $6,900 |
| L2 | Reviewer time: Second Look on every upload, the Dry Run, DRL answers | $2,700 |
| L3 | Ardwell Pike LLP: SOC 2 Type I examination and report | $7,200 |
| L4 | Fieldwork week held at signup | included |
| L5 | Re-test if the auditor finds an exception we should have caught | included |
| Total | $16,800 |
Invoiced once, on day one. Ardwell Pike is paid by us out of L3. You won’t receive a separate engagement fee, a travel fee or a “report issuance” fee.
Start OpinionStanding
SOC 2 Type II · monthly · through the observation window
| L6 | Fieldproof platform, continuous: Taps keep pulling, the Ledger keeps dating | $550 |
| L7 | Reviewer time: quarterly access review check-ins, Second Look | $140 |
| L8 | Ardwell Pike LLP: annual SOC 2 Type II examination, spread monthly | $700 |
| Per month | $1,390 |
12-month term. The first observation window is usually six months, because your customers want a Type II sooner, and later ones run twelve. The audit fee is inside the monthly price, so the year you renew isn’t the year you get a surprise. Bringing your own audit firm? Standing is $690 a month without L8.
Start StandingAdd-on frameworks
Per framework · on Standing
| L9 | ISO 27001. Counted back from the date you need the certificate. Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits by Ardwell Pike’s certification practice, both included. | $690 / mo |
| L10 | HIPAA. Annual HIPAA assessment letter from Ardwell Pike, on a date counted back like the report. | $260 / mo |
Each adds its own controls to the Ledger and its own audit dates to the schedule.
How long, week by week
- Day oneSign, connect the six Taps. 61 evidence items land within the hour.Ardwell Pike: Fieldwork week booked
- W140 questions become 14 policies and a system description.
- W2First access review, about 40 minutes.
- W3Uploads checked by a reviewer before they count.
- W433 passed, 8 in progress, 2 not started, 4 failing. Each failure names a fix and an owner.
- W5Dry Run: the auditor's questions, asked first by us.
- W647 of 47. The DRL arrives; 35 of 38 requests already answered.Ardwell Pike: DRL sent
- W7Fieldwork. Monday is the as-of date.Ardwell Pike: Fieldwork
- W8SOC 2 Type I report issued.Ardwell Pike: Report issued
Why we can say eight weeks: Ardwell Pike holds fieldwork capacity for Fieldproof customers every week of the year except the last two of December. Your week is held the day you sign, not the day you’re ready.
About Ardwell Pike LLP
Ardwell Pike is an independent CPA firm licensed in 31 states, with a SOC practice of 22 auditors who work in cloud environments every day. They are not owned by us and we don’t pay them per pass. They issue a qualified opinion when a qualified opinion is due.
If you already have an audit firm you’d rather use, drop the Ardwell Pike line and pay your firm directly: Opinion is $9,600 without L3, and Standing is $690 a month without L8. Your firm gets read access to the Fieldwork Room, and we hold no week on their calendar, so the eight-week date becomes theirs to keep.
| Request | Asked for | State |
|---|---|---|
| DRL-04 | Population of production changes, 1 Jul – 14 Sep | Closed |
| DRL-05 | 25 sampled changes with approval evidence | Closed |
| DRL-11 | Q3 access review, with removals | Closed |
| DRL-17 | Restore test evidence for prod-db | Closed |
| DRL-23 | Board minutes showing security oversight | Closed |
| DRL-31 | New hire list with background check dates | With Duebook |
| DRL-36 | Walkthrough: change management, 20 min | Booked |
- Is there anything not on the statement?
- Penetration testing isn't, because SOC 2 doesn't require one. If a customer requires one, we'll tell you who we'd use. We don't resell it.
- What if we're not ready by Week 7?
- We move your fieldwork week once, free. A second move costs $1,200, which is what Ardwell Pike charges us to re-plan.
- What happens if the auditor finds an exception?
- It's described in the report, as it would be anywhere. A few minor exceptions can still come with an unqualified opinion. If it's one we should have caught in the Dry Run, L5 pays for the re-test.
- Can we pay monthly for Opinion?
- No. It's eight weeks of work with a fixed end, so it's priced as one.
- Unusual scope?
- More than 60 people, several separate products, a regulator in the room, or a deadline under five weeks. Tell us about it, and a person will reply within one working day.
“Another vendor told us six weeks. Then their audit partner’s first opening was in March. Fieldproof had Ardwell Pike’s week on the order form.”
“We added HIPAA four months into Standing. Fieldproof put the assessment date on the calendar the week we asked, and the hospital’s questionnaire stopped being a week of my time.”