Compliance Readiness

Audit-ready.
For real.

Practical compliance support that gets you ready for an independent audit, not a platform that pretends to be one.

Athencia Comply is a compliance readiness service for small businesses. We help you build actual security controls, collect actual evidence, and prepare for audits conducted by independent third-party auditors. We don't issue certifications. We don't sign audit reports. We don't stamp anything. That work belongs to a licensed, independent auditor, and we'll help you find one when you're ready.

Let's be direct

Compliance is a documentation and evidence problem. It was never a software problem.

A lot of compliance platforms sell you a certificate. What they're actually selling is a template pack with a thin SaaS wrapper, and, if you're unlucky, a rubber-stamp auditor on the back end who signs whatever gets put in front of them.

A real compliance certification means a real, independent auditor reviewed your actual controls, tested your actual evidence, and reached their own conclusion. That auditor cannot be the same party that helped you build your controls. That's not fine print. It's the entire mechanism that makes the certification mean anything.

Athencia Comply handles the preparation side: building controls, writing policies that match how your business actually runs, and organizing the evidence an auditor will need. What happens after that is the auditor's job, and that separation is something we take seriously.

What's included

What Comply covers

Gap assessmentWe compare your current environment against the requirements of your target framework (HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO 27001, GLBA, SEC, or specific contractual requirements from a client or insurer). You get an honest picture of where you stand. Not a green check with asterisks.

Control implementationThe actual controls: Conditional Access policies, MFA enforcement, device management, encryption, access reviews, logging. These are deployed and managed through Athencia One Complete, not described in a policy pointing to controls you never built. If you're not already on Complete, that's usually where this conversation starts.

Policy documentationPolicies written for how your business actually operates. If your policy says you do quarterly access reviews, you'll actually be doing quarterly access reviews. This sounds obvious. It apparently isn't.

Evidence collection and organizationAuditors need proof. We help you build and maintain the evidence library they'll pull from: configuration exports, training records, access logs, vendor agreements, incident response documentation. Organized and current, not assembled the week before the audit.

Audit readiness reviewBefore your auditor engagement begins, we walk the readiness checklist together. The goal is no surprises when the auditor arrives. They're going to look for specific things; we make sure those things are there.

Auditor referralsWhen you're ready for the audit itself, we can point you toward qualified, independent CPA firms and auditors. We have no financial relationship with any of them. They're there to do their own independent work. That's the whole point.

Real controls

Policies, evidence, and technical controls need to line up. If one of those is fake, the rest of the exercise falls apart.

Real separation

We prepare you. An independent auditor evaluates you. That line does not move.

Small business fit

This is built for firms that need to answer clients, insurers, investors, or regulators honestly without building an enterprise compliance department.

Where we stop

We're not auditors. That's on purpose.

Athencia is a managed IT and cybersecurity firm. We help you implement security and prepare for audits. We are not a CPA firm. We don't issue audit opinions. We don't sign SOC 2 reports, HIPAA attestations, or ISO 27001 certificates.

Auditor independence isn't a formality. It's the mechanism that makes the certification mean anything. The party that built your controls cannot be the party that attests to their effectiveness. When those roles get blurred, you end up with a document, not a certification.

Here's what that means practically. Athencia handles building controls, writing policies, collecting evidence, and preparing you for the audit. An independent auditor handles testing whether your controls actually work, drawing their own conclusions, and issuing any report you'll show to customers, investors, or regulators.

If a vendor is bundling all of this and promising compliance in days, ask who's signing the report and whether that auditor did any independent work to reach their conclusion.

What we prepare you for

Frameworks we support

HIPAAFor healthcare practices, healthcare-adjacent businesses, and anyone handling protected health information. We map your M365 environment and security controls to the technical, administrative, and physical safeguards HIPAA requires. A lot of SMBs assume M365 covers them. It's a starting point, not a finish line.

SOC 2For technology companies and service providers that need to demonstrate security to enterprise customers. Type I audits can move quickly once you're ready. Type II requires a 3 to 12 month observation period (that's how the framework works, not an Athencia quirk). We'll be honest with you about the timeline.

ISO 27001For businesses that need an internationally recognized information security certification, or that work with European clients and partners who expect it. ISO 27001 is the framework most comparable to SOC 2 outside the US. Like SOC 2 Type II, it requires a surveillance and certification audit by an accredited external body. We build the Information Security Management System (ISMS), document the controls, and get you ready for that audit.

GLBA / FTC SafeguardsFor financial advisors, accountants, and financial services firms under the FTC Safeguards Rule. The rule requires a written Information Security Program, a designated qualified individual, and annual reporting to the board. We build the program and help you run it.

SEC Cybersecurity RulesFor registered investment advisors and broker-dealers navigating the SEC's 2023 cybersecurity disclosure requirements. Policies, incident response procedures, annual reviews. The framework is new enough that a lot of firms are still working out what "reasonable" looks like in practice. We've done this work.

CIS Controls BaselineA security framework, not a certification. It's included in Athencia One as a foundation for all clients and the starting point for most compliance work. If your controls aren't at baseline, the compliance conversation usually starts here.

Right fit

Who this is for

Law firms with clients asking for security questionnaires, or insurers asking for proof of controls. Accounting firms trying to figure out what the FTC Safeguards Rule actually requires of them. Financial advisors who've read about the SEC rules and aren't sure if they're covered. Healthcare-adjacent businesses that have been told they're a covered entity and aren't entirely sure what to do about it.

And any small business that needs to respond to a vendor questionnaire honestly, not with answers generated by a platform that doesn't know what controls you actually have.

If you're looking for the fastest path to putting a compliance badge on your website, that's not what Comply is. Plenty of platforms will sell you that. We're not one of them.

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

How is Athencia Comply different from a GRC platform like Drata or Vanta?

GRC platforms give you software to track your compliance program. Comply is a managed service; we do the work alongside you rather than hand you tooling and wish you luck. We also build on top of your existing M365 and security stack, and we don't bundle compliance preparation with auditing. Those are separate engagements with separate parties, by design.

Do I need Athencia One or Athencia One Complete first?

Comply works best on top of a well-managed IT environment, which is why most Comply clients are already on One or Complete. That said, we can scope standalone compliance engagements for businesses that already have IT management in place elsewhere.

Who actually does the audit?

An independent CPA firm or qualified auditor that you engage separately, not Athencia. We can refer you to auditors we trust, but we have no financial stake in that relationship. The independence of the auditor is not something we'll compromise.

How long does this take?

Depends on where you're starting. Most businesses are audit-ready within 60 to 120 days. HIPAA readiness tends to move faster than SOC 2 Type II, which requires that observation period. We'll give you a real timeline after the gap assessment, not a marketing number.

What does it cost?

Comply is scoped per engagement based on your framework, current environment, and what needs to be built. We don't publish flat rates because the gap between a law firm with a solid M365 foundation and one starting from scratch is substantial. Contact us to get an accurate number.

Audit-ready.For real.