Big firms saw biggest decrease in effect of Sarbanes-Oxley act.
Public companies paid at least 30 percent less last year to comply with internal-controls rules mandated after accounting scandals at Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc., according to a survey commissioned by the Big Four accounting firms.
Costs for larger companies — those with a market capitalization of greater than $700 million — dropped by an average of 44 percent, to $8.5 million, while costs for smaller companies with a market capitalization of as little as $75 million dropped by an average of 31 percent, to $860,000, according to the survey.
''It does show what people predicted, and that is that as the issuers and their auditors move along the learning curve, there were significant efficiencies to be achieved,'' said Thomas Knudsen, a partner at Ernst & Young, one of the firms that ordered the study.
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