If you're preparing for your first cybersecurity audit, whether it's for SOC 2, ISO 27001, or another security framework, you’re probably feeling some level of anxiety. Startups and small businesses often worry they’ll overlook something important or fail the audit altogether. 

But here's the truth: most audit failures don’t happen because of major security breaches or widespread negligence. They happen because of preventable missteps related to documentation, processes, or simple lack of preparation. And that’s a problem you can solve. 

Let’s walk through eight of the most common reasons companies fail their security audits and how you can steer clear of them. With the right preparation, tools, and mindset, you can go into your audit with confidence, and strengthen your security posture at the same time. 

1. Incomplete or missing documentation

One of the most frequent issues companies run into during an audit is simply not having the right documentation in place. It’s easy to underestimate just how critical written policies, procedures, documented risks, and records are until your auditor starts asking for them. You might be doing everything right operationally, but if you don’t have the evidence to back it up, that won’t be enough.

To avoid this pitfall, make sure you have well-documented policies that cover the essentials, including, but not limited to; access control, incident response, data classification, and vendor management. Just as important, each policy should be supported by procedures that explain how the policy is carried out in practice. If you’re short on time or resources, consider using pre-built policy templates or tools that can automate parts of this process.

Secureframe integrates with your tech stack to automatically collect evidence, eliminating the need to chase down documentation or piece together screenshots. And because Secureframe continuously pulls real-time data, you can be confident that your evidence is always up-to-date, without the risk of a screenshot becoming outdated or misaligned with actual configurations. Auditors can trust that what they’re seeing reflects your current control performance, not a snapshot taken weeks ago. 

To make documentation even easier, Secureframe also includes a library of auditor-approved templates that help you quickly create the security and compliance policies you need. Policy templates are mapped to specific frameworks, helping you draft policies that are not only audit-ready, but designed to be enforced and monitored through the platform.

2. Not practicing what you document

Having polished, comprehensive policies is a great start, but auditors want to know that you're actually following them. One of the most common audit findings occurs when companies write policies that sound good on paper, but don't match day-to-day reality. For example, if your policy states that you conduct quarterly access reviews but you haven’t done one in the past year, that inconsistency is going to raise concerns for your auditor.

To avoid this disconnect, take the time to review your policies internally and make sure your team is following them. An internal cybersecurity audit or readiness assessment can help catch these gaps before the real audit begins. Tools that track control performance, like completion logs for security training or automated evidence of access reviews, can make this process a lot smoother.

An automation platform like Secureframe helps align your policies with your actual practices by acting as a real-time bridge between what your organization says it does and what it's actually doing. Instead of relying on static documents and occasional spot checks, our platform integrates directly with your cloud infrastructure, identity providers, ticketing tools, and HR systems to monitor control performance continuously. By keeping policies, controls, risk assessments, and compliance tasks in one tool, both you and your auditor gain the necessary visibility into whether your policies are supported by your actual controls and processes. 

4. Weak access controls

Access control issues are one of the most common findings in security audits. If you’re allowing overly broad permissions, using shared accounts, or failing to implement multi-factor authentication (MFA), you’re leaving your systems vulnerable — and your audit report will reflect that.

Good access management starts with the principle of least privilege, which means giving people access only to the data and systems they need for their roles. MFA should be enforced for sensitive systems, particularly those accessible remotely or in the cloud. You’ll also want to conduct regular access reviews to ensure permissions stay current and appropriate.

Secureframe’s Vendor Access page gives you complete visibility into who has access to what across all your connected systems. You can continuously monitor user accounts to ensure your team’s access aligns with compliance requirements, without the need for manual tracking. See exactly which apps each employee can access, along with key details like their role, privilege level, two-factor authentication status, and whether SSO is enabled.

6. Incomplete or inactive incident response plan

Many companies know they need an incident response plan, but if that plan isn’t maintained, tested, or communicated to the team, it won’t hold up during an audit. Auditors want to see that your plan isn’t just a static document but a living process that your team understands and can execute if needed.

Your plan should clearly outline roles and responsibilities, escalation procedures, and communication workflows. It should also be reviewed and tested regularly, ideally through tabletop exercises that simulate real incidents and help identify areas for improvement.

In addition to customizable incident response policy templates, the Secureframe platform offers continuous monitoring and automated remediation to keep your environment secure as it evolves.

As your systems and teams grow, changes can introduce cloud misconfigurations or other vulnerabilities. Secureframe’s Comply AI for Remediation automatically identifies and suggests fixes for these issues, making it easy to implement corrections directly within your cloud infrastructure. This not only streamlines response and recovery efforts, but also strengthens your overall security posture by addressing risks before they escalate into incidents.

When misconfigurations are detected, Secureframe notifies the appropriate asset owner, either within the platform or through Slack and Microsoft Teams. Tasks can be assigned with due dates, and Secureframe will automatically create corresponding tickets in your preferred project management tool, such as Jira, ClickUp, Linear, or ServiceNow. Once a task is completed in your ticketing system, it’s marked as resolved within Secureframe and linked directly to the related control test, ensuring a clear audit trail and real-time visibility into remediation status for your auditor.

7. Poor asset and vendor management

Another area where companies often fall short is in keeping track of the systems, devices, and vendors they rely on for day to day operations. If you can’t provide a clear picture of what you’re using and who has access to it, you won’t be able to prove to your auditor that you’re protecting those assets properly.

Start by creating and maintaining an asset inventory of your hardware, software, and cloud services. From there, build a list of all third-party vendors and subprocessors, and document any data they have access to. You should also assess vendor risk and ensure that contracts include appropriate security and data protection clauses.

Manually tracking assets in a spreadsheet is not only time-consuming, but also prone to errors and difficult to maintain as your environment and vendor ecosystem changes. With Secureframe, your asset inventory is automatically compiled and continuously updated, giving you real-time visibility into your infrastructure. This ensures that all systems, devices, and applications are accounted for and properly monitored. 

8. Skipping the readiness assessment

Skipping the readiness assessment is arguably the most avoidable (and costly) mistake a company can make before an audit. The readiness assessment is your opportunity to test your controls, validate documentation, and identify weak spots before the auditor arrives. Walking into an audit without one is like trying to run a marathon without any training.

When you treat the readiness assessment as an essential part of your compliance process, you give yourself a clear understanding of what’s working, what’s missing, and what needs to be fixed. This gives you time to course-correct, gather the right evidence, and set your team up for success.

If you're preparing for your first security audit, Secureframe’s Frameworks page provides a real-time, comprehensive view of your compliance status across all selected security standards, so you always know exactly where you stand.

Instead of guessing whether you're prepared, you can clearly see your audit readiness at a glance and pinpoint any gaps before bringing in an auditor. The dashboard flags failing or incomplete controls, making it easy to address issues before they become problems during the audit itself.

You can dig into any framework to review individual requirements, monitor which controls are passing or failing, and assign remediation tasks to the right owners. This visibility and structure helps you stay organized, aligned, and fully prepared, making your first audit experience far less stressful.

What happens if you fail a security audit + how to recover

If you do fail your security compliance audit, it can feel like a major setback — but it’s not the end of the road. Most of the time, a failed audit simply means there were findings that need to be addressed before certification or attestation can be granted. Here’s what typically happens, and how to recover quickly and strategically.

In many cases, you won’t get a dramatic “fail” stamp in bright red ink. Instead, your auditor will issue a report that includes exceptions, deficiencies, or nonconformities, depending on the framework:

• SOC 2: You might receive a qualified opinion (meaning some controls weren’t operating effectively) or an adverse opinion (meaning the report is unusable and the system didn’t meet your selected Trust Services Criteria).
• ISO 27001: You’ll receive a list of nonconformities, categorized as either major or minor. Certification is withheld until major nonconformities are corrected.
• NIST-based assessments: For C3PAO assessments for frameworks like FedRAMP and CMMC 2.0, you may receive a failing score if critical controls are missing or incorrectly implemented. The auditor will also provide details about what went wrong, such as missing documentation, inconsistent evidence, or improperly implemented controls.

Start by reading through the auditor’s findings carefully. Identify what was flagged, why it was considered an issue, and whether the problem was a process failure or a documentation issue. Many findings are fixable, and some may even be based on easily addressed gaps.

Audit findings are also often related to incomplete documentation or policies that don’t reflect actual practices. Revisit the affected areas, write or revise policies, and make sure the right people are trained and accountable for following them going forward.

Other findings may be more serious. Triage them based on whether they’re critical to achieving compliance, and whether they indicate a true risk to your systems or data. Create a remediation log that shows what you did to address each finding, when the changes were made, and who was involved. Fixing high-priority issues quickly shows good faith and responsiveness. 

Most auditors are open to helping you understand what went wrong and how to address it. If your engagement includes a remediation period or follow-up audit, ask for clarification where needed and make sure you’re aligned on expectations before making changes.