Home
cd ../playbooks
Operations & ComplianceIntermediate

Audit Preparation Documentation

Prepare for internal and external audits with evidence collection, control documentation, and readiness assessments.

15 minutes
By communitySource
#audit#compliance#evidence#controls#preparation

Your SOC2 audit is in 6 weeks and your evidence collection is a shared drive with 200 files that may or may not prove your controls work. Last audit, the team scrambled for 3 weeks gathering screenshots and updating outdated policies. There's a better way to prepare.

Who it's for: compliance officers preparing for SOC2, ISO 27001, or HIPAA audits, IT managers gathering technical evidence for security audits, quality managers coordinating ISO 9001 certification, operations leads conducting internal audit readiness reviews, startups going through their first compliance audit

Example

"Prepare for our SOC2 Type II audit" → Audit preparation package: control inventory mapped to trust service criteria, evidence collection checklist with status tracking, gap analysis identifying 4 missing controls, remediation timeline, and organized evidence folder structure

CLAUDE.md Template

New here? 3-minute setup guide → | Already set up? Copy the template below.

# Audit Preparation Documentation

## Your Role
You are an expert audit preparation specialist. Your job is to organize evidence, write control narratives, and assess readiness for internal and external audits.

## Core Principles
- Map every control to specific evidence
- Write narratives proactively — don't make auditors guess
- Start 8-12 weeks before audit date
- Test your own controls before auditors do
- Focused evidence is stronger than over-documentation

Get new playbooks like this one

One email a week with new Claude Code workflows. Free, like everything here.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

README.md

What This Does

Organizes audit preparation — maps controls to evidence, identifies documentation gaps, creates readiness assessments, and generates narrative explanations for audit findings and control descriptions.


Quick Start

Step 1: Download the Template

Click Download above to get the CLAUDE.md file.

Step 2: Gather Control Framework

Have: control framework (SOC 2, ISO 27001, etc.), existing documentation, and evidence inventory.

Step 3: Start Using It

claude

Say: "Prepare for our SOC 2 Type II audit. Here's our control matrix — identify documentation gaps and generate missing narratives."


Preparation Output

Component Purpose
Control-to-Evidence Map Which evidence supports each control
Gap Analysis Missing documentation or evidence
Control Narratives Written descriptions for each control
Evidence Checklist Complete collection tracker
Readiness Score Overall audit readiness assessment
Remediation Plan Steps to close gaps before audit

Tips

  • Start prep 8-12 weeks before audit: Gaps take time to remediate
  • One evidence item per control: Don't over-document — focused evidence is stronger
  • Write narratives proactively: Don't make auditors figure out what your controls do
  • Test your own controls: Internal testing reveals gaps auditors would find

Commands

"Map evidence to SOC 2 controls"
"Identify documentation gaps in our audit package"
"Write control narratives for [control area]"
"Create an audit readiness assessment with scores"

Troubleshooting

Too many gaps Prioritize: "Focus on high-risk controls first — which gaps would cause audit failures?"

Narratives too technical Say: "Write for an auditor who understands frameworks but not our specific technology"

Evidence is scattered Create: "Build a centralized evidence index with locations and refresh dates"

$Related Playbooks

Operations & Compliance

Change Management Documentation

Create change management plans with stakeholder analysis, communication strategies, training plans, and resistance management.

15 minutes
Intermediate
Operations & Compliance

Incident Analysis & Root Cause Report

Create thorough incident reports with root cause analysis, timeline reconstruction, and corrective action plans.

10 minutes
Intermediate
Operations & Compliance

IT Service Catalog Development

Build IT service catalogs with service definitions, SLAs, request workflows, and self-service documentation for IT organizations.

10 minutes
Intermediate
Operations & Compliance

Policy & Procedure Documentation

Create comprehensive policy documents and procedure manuals with version control, approval workflows, and compliance mapping.

10 minutes
Beginner
Operations & Compliance

WCAG Accessibility Advisor

Audit and fix digital accessibility against WCAG 2.0/2.1/2.2 — success criteria, A/AA/AAA conformance, POUR principles, ARIA patterns, contrast and keyboard issues, accessibility statements, and legal mapping.

10 minutes
Intermediate
Operations & Compliance

SWIFT CSP Advisor

Meet the SWIFT Customer Security Programme — CSCF v2025 controls, architecture-type scoping (A1-A4/B), mandatory vs. advisory controls, KYC-SA attestation, and independent-assessment readiness.

10 minutes
Advanced
Operations & Compliance

Detecting NTLM Relay with Event Correlation

A blue-team methodology for detecting NTLM relay attacks (MITRE ATT&CK T1557.001) via Windows event correlation — IP-to-hostname mismatch on logon events, LLMNR/NBT-NS poisoning-tool signatures, SMB/LDAP signing audits, and NTLM downgrade detection across Active Directory.

15 minutes
Advanced
Operations & Compliance

NZISM Advisor

Apply the New Zealand Information Security Manual — control guidance, gap analysis, agency security obligations, classification scoping, risk management, and system Certification & Accreditation.

10 minutes
Advanced
Operations & Compliance

PCI DSS Advisor

Scope your cardholder data environment, pick the right SAQ, work through the 12 PCI DSS v4.0.1 requirements, plan segmentation and testing, and prepare for a QSA assessment.

10 minutes
Intermediate
Operations & Compliance

Section 508 Accessibility Advisor

Meet US federal ICT accessibility under Section 508 — WCAG 2.0 AA mapping, accessibility audits, VPAT/ACR authoring, remediation planning, PDF and software accessibility, and procurement requirements.

10 minutes
Intermediate
Operations & Compliance

SOC 2 Compliance Advisor

Prepare for SOC 2 across all five Trust Services Criteria — gap analysis, policy writing, control documentation, audit-evidence prep, and vendor-risk questionnaires for Type 1 and Type 2.

10 minutes
Intermediate
Operations & Compliance

TSA Cybersecurity Compliance Advisor

Meet TSA Security Directives for pipelines, rail, and transit — Cyber Risk Management Program, CIP/COIP/CAP plans, Critical Cyber Systems, OT/IT segmentation, Cybersecurity Coordinator, and CISA reporting.

10 minutes
Advanced

Browse all Operations & Compliance playbooks →