Search Results

October 2009 |  Article

The SEC on Friday announced that the smallest public companies have six more months to provide audited assessments on the effectiveness of their internal control over financial reporting. Under section 404 of the SarbanesOxley Act, public companies and their independent auditors are each required to report to the public on the effectiveness of a company’s internal controls.

April 2008 |  Article

According to The SarbanesOxley Investment A Section 404 Cost Study for Smaller Public Companies , a study by SOX research and consulting firm Lord & Benoit, the total average combined costs of complying with section 404(a) and section 404(b) was $78,457. The costs ranged from as little as $23,000 for a small software company to as much as $197,000 for a manufacturerdistributor with many locations.

February 2008 |  Article

Since the implementation of SarbanesOxley, board governance policies at notforprofit organizations have dramatically changed, especially when it comes to whistleblower and conflictofinterest policies. Of the 89 of organizations that have a conflictofinterest policy in place, more than nine out of 10 require board members to sign the policy and more than twothirds (68) have executive management sign—an increase from 50 in 2003.

December 2007 |  BY Samuel L. Fogleman, Bryce H. Peterson, William G. Heninger, Marshall B. Romney |  Article

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The crux of the SEC’s interpretive guidance for management is a topdown, riskbased approach that puts risk first and foremost. Four key areas of opportunity can be used to reduce an organization’s overall SOX 404 compliance effort— risk assessment, entitylevel controls, control selection and testing approach .

October 2007 |  Article

SarbanesOxley programs that address both compliance and business objectives can help companies trim the costs of section 404 compliance. The 404 Institute’s third annual Benchmark Study found that companies with low compliance costs and more effective outcomes reported a Higher degree of centralized transaction processing and control.

July 2007 |  Article

The Financial Accounting Foundation alerted the SEC and law enforcement about an apparent scam involving SarbanesOxley compliance materials. The notice followed reports of parties falsely claiming to be members of the FASB staff promoting the sale of SOX compliance materials.

June 2007 |  BY Kathryn E. Scarborough, Mark H. Taylor |  Article

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This article examines the first two years of section 404 reporting data to determine whether section 404 has accomplished its intended purpose and what small companies can learn from the experience of large companies that have implemented section 404 requirements. The number of companies reporting material weaknesses in their internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) went from 15.7 the first year to 10.3 the second year.

May 2007 |  Article

The recently formed Center for Audit Quality (www.thecaq.org) issued comments on SEC and PCAOB propo

February 2007 |  BY Mark Peterson |  Article

November’s midterm elections swept the Democrats to power in both chambers of Congress, ending 12 years of Republican control. The 110th Congress leaves Democrats with a larger margin in the House of Representatives than the Republicans had during the 109th Congress. In the Senate, the Democrats’ onevote margin and the 60vote filibuster rule (to proceed to a vote on a bill) means that compromise is necessary.

February 2007 |  BY Richard B. Lanza |  Article

Overwhelmed by the documentation and testing requirements of the SarbanesOxley Act? Consider these tips to automate your efforts. Use a database. Many companies document internal controls with spreadsheets. This process isn’t very secure and can quickly become cumbersome. Put the information underlying the documentation into a database instead to enhance consistency, security and search efficiency.