SOC 2 Compliance for Budgeting Software: What Finance Leaders Need to Know

SOC 2 helps organizations evaluate a budgeting software provider’s controls for protecting sensitive financial information. A SOC 2 Type 2 report includes an independent auditor’s assessment of control design and operating effectiveness over a specified period.

For finance leaders, that evidence matters. Your budget can reveal compensation details, hiring plans, revenue expectations, and decisions that shape your organization’s future. When you choose budgeting software, you’re also choosing a provider to help protect that information.

October’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a useful time to revisit your software provider’s security practices and your team’s access to financial data.

Here’s what SOC 2 means, why it matters for budgeting software, and what to ask when evaluating a provider.

What is SOC 2 compliance?

SOC 2 is an independent examination of a service organization’s controls using the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Trust Services Criteria. The examination results in an auditor’s report.

The framework addresses five trust services categories:

• Security: Protection against unauthorized access.
• Availability: Whether systems are available to meet service commitments.
• Processing integrity: Whether system processing meets requirements for completeness, validity, accuracy, timeliness, and authorization.
• Confidentiality: Protection of information designated as confidential.
• Privacy: How personal information is collected, used, retained, disclosed, and disposed of.

A report identifies the categories and systems included in its scope. It does not automatically cover all five categories or every service a provider offers.

For buyers, the report provides evidence to review alongside their organization’s security requirements. Learn more about SOC 2 from AICPA.

Why does SOC 2 matter for budgeting software?

Budgeting software can bring sensitive information and contributors from across your organization into one place. That makes security part of the budgeting process.

Consider personnel planning. A department manager may need to build a staffing budget, while finance needs access to compensation information across departments. Other budget contributors may need no access to individual salaries.

Or consider a revenue forecast. Finance and leadership may need to review assumptions before those plans are shared more widely.

These workflows raise practical questions: Who can see the information? Who can change it? How is access removed when someone leaves or changes roles?

A SOC 2 report helps your finance and IT teams assess the provider’s controls. The software’s account security and permission capabilities help your organization manage how people use it.

Both belong in your evaluation.

What is the difference between SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2?

A Type 1 report addresses controls at a specific date. A Type 2 report also examines whether controls operated effectively over a specified period.

A Type 2 report provides evidence about how controls functioned during the examination period. It offers reasonable assurance within its scope, rather than a guarantee that a security incident can never happen. See AICPA’s explanation of SOC 2 report types.

What should you look for in a budgeting software provider’s SOC 2 report?

Ask the provider how your organization can review its report. Involve your IT or security team and focus on these questions:

1. Does the report cover the service we will use? Check the systems, services, and locations included in the examination.
2. How recent is the report? Review the examination period and ask about any gap since that period.
3. Which trust services categories are included? Determine whether the scope addresses your organization’s needs.
4. What did the auditor find? Review the opinion, testing exceptions, and their implications for your use of the software.
5. What responsibilities belong to our organization? Identify customer controls described in the report and confirm that your team can maintain them.

AICPA’s SOC 2 report review checklist provides a useful starting point.

Martus’s approach to protecting financial data

Martus’s cloud budgeting, forecasting, and reporting software is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant. Martus has successfully completed an independent SOC 2 Type 2 examination and undergoes regular independent audits.

Martus also supports multifactor authentication (MFA), single sign-on (SSO), and role-based permissions. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest.

These capabilities help organizations manage access to sensitive financial information. Role-based permissions, for example, let teams align access with each user’s responsibilities—a practical consideration when budgeting involves department leaders, finance staff, and administrators.

Visit our Security + Trust page for current information about Martus’s security and data protection practices.

How can finance teams strengthen budgeting security?

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a good opportunity to review the everyday practices that protect your financial information.

Work with your IT team to:

• Enable MFA wherever available. Prioritize administrative accounts and users who handle sensitive information.
• Use strong, unique passwords and a password manager.
• Recognize and report phishing. Pay attention to unexpected requests for financial files, account credentials, or changes to payment information.
• Keep software updated on the devices your team uses.

These actions follow CISA’s cybersecurity essentials. CISA also recommends phishing-resistant MFA where possible.

For your budgeting process, add an access review. Remove accounts that are no longer needed, check permissions after role changes, and confirm who can view personnel information or export financial reports.

Frequently asked questions about SOC 2 and budgeting software

Make security part of your budgeting software decision

Security belongs alongside usability, integrations, and reporting when you evaluate budgeting software.

Understanding a provider’s SOC 2 report—and your team’s responsibilities—helps you make an informed decision about where your financial information lives and how people access it.

Explore Martus’s security practices, then connect with our team to discuss your budgeting, forecasting, and reporting needs.