Question ID / Section
Keeps buyer formatting intact and makes it easy to track where each answer belongs in the final submission.
Free Template
Last updated April 25, 2026
Security questionnaire template for vendor response teams
Use this free template to structure incoming buyer questionnaires, assign answer owners, link evidence, and manage reviewer approval. It works as a reusable baseline for SIG, CAIQ, VSAQ, and custom enterprise security questionnaires. VeriRFP automates responses to security questionnaires, RFPs, DDQs, and vendor risk assessments with evidence-backed accuracy.
Reusable ColumnsEvidence PromptsReviewer Workflow
What you get
- Template columns for question tracking, owners, evidence, approvals, and status.
- Domain coverage across IAM, privacy, incident response, resilience, and vendor risk.
- Workflow structure you can copy into a spreadsheet, doc, or internal review system.
What is a security questionnaire template?
A security questionnaire template is a reusable response structure that captures the question, control domain, owner, evidence source, draft answer, reviewer, and status for every row in an incoming vendor security questionnaire. It gives B2B SaaS teams a governed workflow they can apply to SIG, CAIQ, VSAQ, and custom buyer formats so answers stay evidence-backed and consistent across deals.
Recommended template columns
Question Text
Stores the exact wording from the buyer so reviewers can validate the answer against the original request.
Control Domain
Groups questions into access control, encryption, incident response, privacy, business continuity, and other reusable answer areas.
Primary Owner
Identifies who is responsible for drafting the answer so work does not stall in shared inboxes or email threads.
Evidence Source
Links the answer to the specific document, policy, report, or system artifact that supports the claim.
Draft Answer
Captures the reusable baseline response before legal, engineering, or security review.
Reviewer / Approver
Creates a formal sign-off path for sensitive claims, legal commitments, and technical statements.
Status
Shows whether the question is not started, in draft, waiting on SME input, approved, or delivered.
Suggested question sections
Company, compliance, and governance
- What security certifications or audit reports do you maintain?
- Who owns the security program and how often is it reviewed?
- Do you conduct annual risk assessments and management review?
Attach: SOC 2 report, ISO certificate, security program overview, risk register summary
Identity and access management
- How do you provision and deprovision employee access?
- Is MFA enforced for production and administrative systems?
- How are privileged accounts reviewed and monitored?
Attach: Access control policy, IAM screenshots, SSO/MFA configuration summary, access review record
Data protection and privacy
- How is customer data encrypted in transit and at rest?
- What customer data do you store and where is it hosted?
- How do you support DPA, retention, and deletion requests?
Attach: Architecture summary, DPA template, encryption standard references, retention policy
Monitoring, incident response, and resilience
- How do you detect and escalate security incidents?
- What is your customer notification timeline for material incidents?
- How do you handle backups, disaster recovery, and continuity testing?
Attach: Incident response summary, alerting workflow, BCP/DR summary, tabletop or backup test result
Third-party and secure development controls
- How do you assess critical vendors and subprocessors?
- What is your secure development and code review process?
- How often do you run vulnerability scans or penetration tests?
Attach: Vendor management policy, SDLC policy, pen test executive summary, vulnerability management process
How to use the template
1
Step 1
Copy the template columns into your preferred spreadsheet or shared workspace.
2
Step 2
Paste the incoming buyer questions into the Question Text column and tag each row by control domain.
3
Step 3
Assign owners and link every answer to approved evidence before drafting.
4
Step 4
Route sensitive rows to legal, engineering, or security reviewers for sign-off.
5
Step 5
Export the finished response in the buyer's requested format and save the final version for reuse.
Template plus workflow beats a blank spreadsheet
Faster routing
Control-domain tags and ownership fields reduce the time spent figuring out who should answer which row.
Better evidence hygiene
Linking each answer to a source document makes reviews easier and reduces inconsistent claims across deals.
Reusable baseline
Once your team has a structured template, future questionnaires become update-and-review exercises instead of full rewrites.
Frequently asked questions
Who should use this security questionnaire template?
This template is designed for B2B SaaS vendors that need a reusable starting point for enterprise buyer diligence. Security, compliance, RevOps, and solutions engineering teams can use it to standardize how they capture answers, assign owners, and attach evidence.
What should a good security questionnaire template include?
A strong template should include question text, answer owner, answer status, linked evidence, reviewer sign-off, and a final delivery status. It should also group questions by control domain so teams can route them quickly to the right subject matter experts.
Can I use this template for SIG, CAIQ, or custom buyer questionnaires?
Yes. The template structure works for SIG Lite, SIG Core, CAIQ, VSAQ, and custom spreadsheets because it focuses on reusable response workflow fields rather than a single buyer format. You can map any incoming questionnaire into these columns.
What evidence should I attach alongside the template?
Common evidence includes your SOC 2 Type II report, ISO 27001 certificate if applicable, penetration test executive summary, incident response summary, business continuity summary, DPA template, and security policy references. Each answer in the template should point to the document that supports it.
How does automation improve this template workflow?
Automation helps with evidence matching, owner assignment, initial draft generation, review routing, and final packaging. Teams can keep the template structure while reducing the manual coordination that usually turns questionnaire responses into a multi-week process.
Next steps
Pair this template with a governed review workflow so answers stay evidence-backed, consistent, and fast to deliver.