Sarbanes-Oxley Exposes Missteps as Audit Costs Spur Gripes

Yellow Roadway Corp. says it spent almost $10 million last year in a dash to meet new federal audit rules. The biggest U.S. trucker hired 10 employees, added another 20 consultants and had to write new software. Fees to its auditor more than doubled to $4 million.

For its effort to meet the mandates of the 2002 Sarbanes- Oxley Act, Yellow Roadway got a clean bill of health from its auditor, KPMG LLP. Others were less fortunate. Auditors required more than 360 large companies to declare ``weaknesses'' in their financial controls, and as a result 400 companies filed annual reports late. Average audit fees for the 100 largest U.S. companies last year jumped 45 percent to $13 million.

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