Schellman ISO 27001 Cost: When SOC 2 Co-Engagement Wins
Schellman first-year ISO 27001 audit fees range from $15,000 for an SME-stage SaaS up to $60,000 for a large enterprise. Day rates of $1,800 to $2,400 in the US. The differentiating editorial pivot is the SaaS-deep auditor pool built through Schellman's SOC 2 audit-firm heritage, and the integrated SOC 2 + ISO 27001 engagement pricing that materially undercuts running two separate audits through different firms. For US-headquartered SaaS organisations expanding into European or international procurement, Schellman is one of the strongest integrated-engagement options in the market.
Updated May 2026
Who Schellman is
Schellman & Company is a Tampa, Florida-headquartered audit firm founded in 2002. The firm is structured as an independent assurance firm specialising in cybersecurity audit and assessment work: SOC 2, SOC 1, SOC 3, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HITRUST, FedRAMP, StateRAMP, CMMC, ISO 22301, ISO 27701, and a growing catalog of emerging cybersecurity frameworks. Schellman is one of the largest SOC 2 audit firms in the US by volume, with several hundred audit professionals concentrated in the cybersecurity and trust-assurance practice.
The ISO 27001 practice at Schellman grew out of customer demand: SOC 2 audit customers expanding into European or international procurement increasingly needed ISO 27001 alongside SOC 2, and Schellman invested in ANAB accreditation to deliver the integrated engagement structure rather than refer customers to other certification bodies. The result is an ISO 27001 practice operated by auditors who are primarily SOC 2 auditors, with the SaaS-deep technical familiarity that comes from auditing hundreds of SaaS companies per year.
Schellman is ANAB-accredited for ISO 27001 in the US, which is the gold-standard accreditation chain. The certificate weight in US supplier-risk-management workflows is identical to BSI or Bureau Veritas certificates. The international footprint is smaller than BSI or Bureau Veritas (Schellman is US-headquartered and most engagements are US-based) but the firm has expanded into international engagements for US SaaS customers with global operations. Service detail is published at schellman.com/iso-27001.
How Schellman prices
Schellman uses the IAF MD 5 audit-day calculation as the base, like every accredited body. Day rates are $1,800 to $2,400 in the US, placing Schellman at the mid-tier-to-premium-tier boundary; comparable to Bureau Veritas and LRQA on rack-rate quotes, materially above NQA. The day-rate band reflects the audit-firm cost structure (audit professionals carry higher loaded cost than traditional certification-body inspectors) and the SaaS-specific specialisation premium.
The integrated SOC 2 + ISO 27001 pricing is the distinctive dimension and is the reason most Schellman ISO 27001 engagements exist. For an organisation running SOC 2 Type 2 plus ISO 27001 together, Schellman typically prices the bundle at 60 to 75 percent of the sum of two standalone audits. The saving reflects: shared fieldwork visits (one audit team on-site or virtual covering both frameworks across the visit), overlapping evidence collection (the 80-90 percent control overlap between SOC 2 and ISO 27001 means each evidence artefact gets used twice), unified opening and closing meetings, single project-management overhead, and single set of audit-firm onboarding and contracting work.
A practical example: a 100-employee SaaS running standalone SOC 2 Type 2 might cost $40,000 to $55,000 at Schellman, and standalone ISO 27001 might cost $20,000 to $28,000. The integrated bundle prices at $45,000 to $60,000 - approximately $20,000 to $25,000 saving vs running both as separate engagements. The saving scales with company size: at 300 employees the saving is typically $30,000 to $50,000, at 800+ employees the saving can exceed $80,000 annually.
For standalone ISO 27001 engagements without SOC 2 (uncommon at Schellman because most customers come for SOC 2 first), the pricing is competitive with Bureau Veritas and LRQA. For pure international ISO 27001 engagements where the customer has no SOC 2 requirement, BSI or Bureau Veritas usually deliver better procurement signal at comparable price.
Schellman ISO 27001 cost by size, standalone vs integrated
| Employees | Standalone ISO 27001 | Standalone SOC 2 Type 2 | Sum if separate | Integrated bundle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10-25 | $13,000-$20,000 | $22,000-$32,000 | $35,000-$52,000 | $28,000-$40,000 |
| 26-65 | $18,000-$28,000 | $30,000-$48,000 | $48,000-$76,000 | $36,000-$56,000 |
| 66-125 | $24,000-$36,000 | $42,000-$62,000 | $66,000-$98,000 | $48,000-$70,000 |
| 126-275 | $32,000-$48,000 | $55,000-$78,000 | $87,000-$126,000 | $62,000-$90,000 |
| 276-625 | $45,000-$60,000 | $70,000-$95,000 | $115,000-$155,000 | $80,000-$112,000 |
| 626-1,175 | $55,000-$72,000 | $85,000-$115,000 | $140,000-$187,000 | $98,000-$135,000 |
Integrated bundle saves 25 to 35 percent vs running SOC 2 and ISO 27001 as separate engagements through different firms.
Where Schellman wins
Schellman wins decisively for US-headquartered SaaS organisations that need both SOC 2 (US procurement default) and ISO 27001 (European or international expansion). The integrated engagement structure delivers materially better economics than running two separate engagements through different firms, the audit-firm familiarity translates directly to ISO 27001 workflow (the firm and the audit team are continuous across both frameworks), and the SaaS-specific auditor expertise compounds across the audit cycle. For the SaaS organisation running both frameworks, Schellman is one of the strongest integrated-engagement options in the market alongside A-LIGN.
Schellman also wins on multi-framework efficiency more broadly. The firm audits SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 22301, ISO 27701, HIPAA, PCI DSS, HITRUST, FedRAMP, and StateRAMP from a single firm relationship. For US-headquartered organisations running three or more cybersecurity frameworks simultaneously (common in healthcare SaaS, fintech, and federal-adjacent SaaS), the single-firm multi-framework approach delivers materially better economics and reduced procurement friction than running each framework through a different audit firm or certification body.
Where Schellman might not be the right fit
For pure international ISO 27001 engagements with no SOC 2 requirement, Schellman's premium pricing is overspend. The integrated-engagement value proposition only materialises when SOC 2 is in scope; for European organisations whose procurement workflow does not include SOC 2, BSI or Bureau Veritas typically deliver better procurement signal at comparable or lower cost.
For non-SaaS sectors (manufacturing, energy, healthcare with on-premises systems, industrial), Schellman's SaaS-aligned auditor pool is a weaker fit. DNV, TUV SUD, or BSI all have deeper non-SaaS sector expertise. The SaaS auditor depth is a genuine premium when it matches the engagement; for non-SaaS engagements it adds no value.
For SME-stage organisations under $15,000 budget for ISO 27001, Schellman's minimum engagement size and audit-firm cost structure make NQA or other SME-tier certification bodies a better fit. Schellman's sweet spot is the $20,000+ engagement; under that floor, the firm is rarely the cost-rational choice.
Negotiation tips specific to Schellman
First, always quote the integrated SOC 2 + ISO 27001 bundle, even if you only need ISO 27001 in year one. Schellman's pricing model is built around the bundle; getting a quote for both frameworks together (with SOC 2 deferred to year two if needed) often yields better year-one pricing than a standalone ISO 27001 engagement.
Second, leverage existing Schellman SOC 2 relationships. If your organisation is an existing Schellman SOC 2 customer, the ISO 27001 add-on engagement is typically priced 30 to 40 percent below a fresh-customer ISO 27001 engagement of equivalent scope. The relationship continuity is a meaningful negotiation lever.
Third, ask about multi-year engagement structures. Schellman audit-firm engagements often run on multi-year master services agreements with annual statements of work; locking in a three-year MSA with rate predictability protects against the annual rate-increase pattern observed across audit firms in 2024-2026.
Fourth, push for the same audit lead across SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Schellman's engagement model can put different leads on different frameworks even within the same customer relationship; explicitly requesting a single audit lead across both frameworks improves the integrated-engagement economics (less duplicated walkthrough work, more efficient evidence handling) and reduces the customer-side coordination overhead.