CMMC Evidence Collection Tracker
Owned by the compliance lead and filled in with the artifact owners and interview owners named on each row, this tracker produces the evidence register for your assessment: for every practice, what evidence you expect to show, where it comes from, who owns the artifact, who will answer questions about it, how it will be technically validated, and where collection and validation stand. It is the difference between believing a control is in place and being able to show it to a Certified Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO).
- 01
Create one row per practice in scope. Use the requirement identifier (for example AC.L2-3.1.1) in the Practice column so the register can be joined to the System Security Plan (SSP) and the Gap & POA&M Tracker.
- 02
Write Expected Evidence before you go looking. Decide what would convince a sceptical stranger, then collect that. Collecting what is convenient and calling it evidence is the most common failure we see.
- 03
Name an Artifact Owner (who produces or holds the document, export or screenshot) and an Interview Owner (who can explain it under questioning) for every row. They are often different people, and both need to know they are named.
- 04
Technical Validation is how you will confirm the artifact reflects the live system: a configuration export, a test login, a log query, a scan result. Policy text alone does not validate a technical practice.
- 05
Track Collection Status and Validation Status separately, from a fixed list (not started, in progress, collected / validated, failed). Put anything that fails validation into Gap/Issue and into the Gap & POA&M Tracker (CMMCg-R007).
- 06
Store every artifact under a name that includes the practice identifier and the date, in one place, and record that place in the Evidence Source column.
1 working table, 1 checklist, 1 set of fields, a findings section and recommended next steps. Every page carries the resource number, the version and the licence.
- Evidence register
- Evidence store
- Where the artifacts live
- Review questions
- Before you call the register ready
- Run a mock examine-interview-test on a sample of 10 rows with someone who did not collect the evidence, and record what they could not find or could not explain.
- Send every failed validation to the CMMC Gap & POA&M Tracker (CMMCg-R007) and re-collect once the fix lands.
- When the register is complete and validated, walk the CMMC Assessment Preparation Checklist (CMMCg-R009).
This resource is general guidance for organizations preparing for Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). It is not legal advice, it does not constitute an assessment or a certification, and completing it does not by itself establish compliance with NIST SP 800-171 Rev 2, 32 CFR Part 170 or any contract clause. Determinations about what information constitutes Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) rest with the designating agency and the terms of your contract. Confirm requirements against the current regulation and your contracting officer.
Filled it in and found gaps?
That is what it is for. The readiness call turns a completed worksheet into a scoped plan, and an engineer runs it.
- Your CUI boundary sketched on the call
- The requirements costing you the most points, named
- A written summary afterward, yours to keep
NDA signed before anything technical. No cost, no obligation.