Decrypt Compliance Founder Raymond Cheng Named To Forbes 2026 Best-In-State Cpas List
SILICON VALLEY, Calif.– Decrypt Compliance, a Silicon Valley CPA audit firm for cloud-native startups, today announced that its founder and managing partner, Raymond Cheng, has been named to the Forbes 2026 Best-in-State CPAs list. The recognition belongs to Cheng individually. Cheng holds the CPA, CISSP, CISA, CIPP/E, and CITP credentials and leads a firm that helps startups prove their cybersecurity and grow revenue through frameworks including SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Decrypt Compliance is a licensed CPA firm in the state of California.
For startups and growing technology teams, proof of security has become a commercial requirement. According to PwC's 2024 Global Digital Trust Insights, the share of data breaches costing companies over $1 million rose from 27% to 36%, and cloud-related threats remain at the top of the risk list. As a result, larger customers often decline to work with vendors that cannot show how they manage and protect information. Compliance reports such as SOC 2 have emerged as trust signals that reassure buyers and speed up vendor approvals.
SOC 2 audits are built on the Trust Services Criteria, which are defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The criteria cover five principles: Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy. Security is mandatory in every SOC 2 audit and serves as the foundation of the report. The other four criteria are optional, and companies choose them based on their service model, contractual commitments, and the types of data they process. Selecting the right criteria early keeps an audit focused and aligned with real business risk.
A SOC 2 report is an independent auditor's attestation, not a review of intentions. In a Type 1 report, the auditor evaluates the design of controls at a specific point in time. In a Type 2 report, the auditor evaluates both design and operating effectiveness over a defined review period, typically six to twelve months. For early-stage teams, a practical starting point is Security plus one optional criterion that most closely matches the company's core service promise, such as Availability or Confidentiality.
Cheng has seen the audit process from both sides of the table. At EY, he ran more than 50 technology audits for Fortune 50 companies. He then went in-house at Salesforce and Tencent, where he experienced what it is like when an auditor does not understand a company's systems, constraints, or how its team really works. According to Cheng, the same problem showed up from both seats: too many audits are run by people who never learn the business they are auditing.
“Most firms treat the audit as a transaction, a box to clear, or just a report to issue. I think that's backwards,” said Cheng.“A good audit isn't about paperwork. It's about credibility, defensibility, and judgment. And it should be right-sized to your company's stage, your company's risk profile, and the trust you actually owe your customers. Not every company needs the same controls, and not every framework deserves its own workstream.”
Decrypt Compliance was built around that view. The firm starts work before the audit formally begins, so clients do not spend their first weeks guiding a project they are already paying for. Each client works with one firm and one point of contact, with no messy handoffs. As an AI-native audit firm, Decrypt Compliance automates routine busywork so that human attention goes where judgment matters. The aim, according to Cheng, is that when a client's customers' security teams ask the hard questions, what the client tells them actually holds up.
Beyond client work, Cheng contributes to the profession. He serves on the AICPA Technology Strategic Advisory Group and the CITP Credential Committee. He is also starting a newsletter on AI governance, audit quality, and what right-sized compliance looks like in practice. The newsletter is written for practitioners and contains no sales pitches. Cheng says clients stay with him because he has run the business, sat in their seat, and does not hide behind a response like“it depends” when they bring him complex problems.
Decrypt Compliance is a Silicon Valley, AI-native CPA audit firm that delivers right-sized SOC 2, ISO 27001, and other compliance audits for cloud-native startups. The firm is a licensed CPA firm in the state of California, License #9491. More information about Decrypt Compliance is available at
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