Compliance Readiness Checklist
Compliance readiness assessment for HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, and NIST CSF. Evaluate compliance gaps and get prioritized remediation roadmap.
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What Is a Compliance Checklist
A compliance checklist is a structured tool that maps an organization's security controls and practices against the requirements of specific regulatory frameworks, industry standards, and contractual obligations. Checklists transform complex compliance documents into actionable items that can be assigned, tracked, and verified.
Compliance is not optional for most organizations. Healthcare providers must comply with HIPAA, payment processors with PCI DSS, government contractors with CMMC/FedRAMP, and any organization handling EU personal data with GDPR. A compliance checklist ensures no requirement is overlooked and provides documented evidence of your compliance status.
Major Compliance Frameworks
| Framework | Jurisdiction | Applies To | Key Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 | Global (US-originated) | SaaS/cloud service providers | Trust Services Criteria (Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, Privacy) |
| ISO 27001 | Global | Any organization | Information Security Management System (ISMS) with 93 controls in Annex A |
| PCI DSS | Global | Any entity processing payment cards | 12 requirements covering network security, data protection, access control, monitoring |
| HIPAA | United States | Healthcare entities and business associates | Privacy Rule, Security Rule, Breach Notification Rule |
| CMMC | United States | DoD contractors | 3 maturity levels with 110+ practices based on NIST 800-171 |
| GDPR | EU/EEA + global reach | Any entity processing EU resident data | Data protection principles, data subject rights, breach notification |
| FedRAMP | United States | Cloud services for federal agencies | NIST 800-53 controls at Low, Moderate, or High baseline |
Common Use Cases
- Gap analysis: Identify which compliance requirements your organization currently meets and which have gaps requiring remediation
- Audit preparation: Organize evidence and documentation for upcoming compliance audits by framework requirement
- Vendor assessment: Evaluate third-party vendors against compliance requirements relevant to your data sharing and integration
- Security program maturity: Use compliance frameworks as a roadmap for systematically improving your security posture
- Board reporting: Present compliance status in a structured format that board members and executives can quickly understand
Best Practices
- Map controls to multiple frameworks — Many frameworks overlap. A single access control implementation may satisfy SOC 2, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS requirements simultaneously. Map once, comply many.
- Maintain continuous compliance — Compliance is not a point-in-time achievement. Implement continuous monitoring, regular evidence collection, and automated compliance checks rather than annual scrambles.
- Assign control owners — Every checklist item should have a named owner responsible for implementation, evidence collection, and maintenance. Unowned controls drift into non-compliance.
- Automate evidence collection — Screenshots and manual exports are unsustainable. Use GRC platforms and API integrations to automatically collect compliance evidence from your security tools.
- Prioritize by risk — Not all compliance requirements carry equal risk. Focus remediation efforts on controls that address your highest-risk areas first, then work through lower-priority items.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the Compliance Readiness Checklist
This compliance checklist covers multiple major regulatory frameworks and security standards including HIPAA for healthcare, SOC 2 for service organizations, PCI DSS for payment card handling, GDPR for data privacy, ISO 27001 for information security management, and NIST Cybersecurity Framework. The tool tailors questions based on your industry and applicable frameworks to ensure relevance to your specific compliance needs.
The assessment begins by gathering your company profile including industry sector, company size, data handling practices, and relevant compliance frameworks. Based on this profile, the tool dynamically generates questions that are specifically applicable to your regulatory requirements. A healthcare organization will see HIPAA-focused questions, while an e-commerce business will see PCI DSS and GDPR requirements.
Yes, your progress is automatically saved to your browser local storage as you complete the assessment. If you close the browser and return within 7 days, you will be prompted to resume from where you left off or start fresh. This allows you to gather necessary information from different team members without losing your work.
The assessment provides scores across multiple dimensions including overall compliance readiness, control implementation status, and risk levels by category. Ratings range from fully compliant to non-compliant, with partial compliance indicating controls that are in place but may need improvement. The results highlight gaps requiring immediate attention and provide prioritized recommendations.
No, this self-assessment tool is designed for preliminary gap analysis and compliance readiness evaluation, not as a replacement for formal audits or certifications. Use it to identify potential gaps before engaging auditors, prioritize remediation efforts, and track progress over time. For official compliance certification, you will still need qualified assessors or auditors as required by each framework.
Yes, the tool generates shareable URLs that encode your assessment responses and results. You can copy this link to share with team members, management, or external consultants. The shared link allows others to view your compliance posture without exposing raw assessment data, making it useful for compliance discussions and remediation planning meetings.
You should reassess your compliance status at least quarterly or whenever significant changes occur to your organization, systems, or regulatory landscape. Major triggers include new system deployments, organizational changes, regulatory updates, security incidents, or after implementing remediation measures. Regular assessment helps ensure continuous compliance and identifies new gaps before they become audit findings.
ℹ️ Disclaimer
This tool is provided for informational and educational purposes only. All processing happens entirely in your browser - no data is sent to or stored on our servers. While we strive for accuracy, we make no warranties about the completeness or reliability of results. Use at your own discretion.