SOX Is Working, But Can We Reign In The Costs?

As promised, the SEC held its Sarbanes-Oxley section 404 roundtable yesterday and from the early reports, it accomplished little more than intended; that being a sounding board for public companies to raise their concerns about the high cost of SOX compliance.

As reported in Wall Street & Technology, Sox section 404 has generated such debate because it is forcing companies to spend money on new processes, systems, consultants and new employees (not to mention the increased auditing fees) in order to meet the requirement of assessing the effectiveness their internal controls. On average, public companies spend $4.3 million on section 404 compliance, according to a March 2005 survey by Financial Executives International.

See full Article.