Compliance costs often escalate because organizations start from scratch with documentation or hire consultants who bill tens of thousands of dollars to create policies and templates. Small contractors can avoid unnecessary expenses by using prebuilt documentation frameworks, leveraging automation, and focusing their budget on technical implementation rather than recreating paperwork.

Another major cost saver is handling the first phase of compliance internally. Many of the 110 controls can be addressed with existing tools, updated processes, and structured evidence collection. Saving money on documentation enables teams to invest more into security hardening, monitoring, and future audit readiness.