SEC regulatory compliance & reporting

TOPICS / ACCOUNTING & REPORTING

December 1, 2007

Opportunity Detected

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The crux of the SEC’s interpretive guidance for management is a top-down, risk-based 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, entity-level controls, control selection and testing

August 1, 2007

Compliance

A study by Lord & Benoit, a firm specializing in SOX compliance, identified what it described as the 10 leading material weaknesses among 148 companies with revenue of less than $100 million. Companies with effective internal controls were excluded from the study. Nearly two-thirds of the companies with material weaknesses

July 1, 2007

Financial Reporting

“The next steps that the Commission is announcing today will keep us on course with the Roadmap announced in 2005,” SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said in a press release. Pending public comments on the proposal, “we remain on track to eliminate reconciliation by 2009.” In a staff position document, FASB

June 1, 2007

ROI on XBRL

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The reality of XBRL has grown exponentially over the past two years, in large part due to the SEC’s focus and encouragement. With the time, money and effort that Chairman Cox and the SEC have dedicated to this initiative, it appears highly likely that

June 1, 2007

Two Years and Counting

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

June 1, 2007

Financial Reporting

At an open meeting in April, the SEC endorsed the recommendations of the agency’s professional staff to eliminate waste and duplication in Sarbanes-Oxley section 404 compliance, a move intended to benefit smaller public companies. The SEC’s direction to its staff will focus on aligning the PCAOB’s new auditing standard (AS-5)

FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

4 ways solo practitioners can stand out

Five years ago, a grieving Angel Zhen started his own CPA firm with no clients and no revenue. Today, he has 300 clients, $600,000 in revenue and 12 weeks of annual vacation. In this JofA article, he shares how he set up his firm and how you could do the same.