SOX 404

Avoid SOX 404 Infractions

Section 404: The most complicated, most contested and most expensive section of SOX

Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (often shortened to SOX) is legislation passed by the U.S. Congress to protect shareholders and the generalpublic from accounting errors and fraudulent practices in the enterprise, as well as to improve the accuracy of corporate disclosures. 

SOX  Compliance  Audit            

A SOX compliance audit of a company’s internal controls takes place once a year. An independent auditor must conduct SOX audits. It is the company’s responsibility to find and hire an auditor. To avoid a conflict of interest, SOX audits must be separate from other internal audits undertaken by the company. A SOX audit must involve a review of the company’s financials. Auditors must inspect previous financial statements to confirm their accuracy. It is ultimately at the auditor’s discretion whether a company’s financials pass. Any variance in the numbers of more than 5% is likely to set off red flags.

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) 

All public companies now must comply with SOX, in terms of both finances and IT.
SEC. 404. MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT OF INTERNAL CONTROLS.

1.   RULES REQUIRED – The Commission shall prescribe rules requiring each annual report of Security Exchange Act to contain an internal control report, which shall—
   •   State the responsibility of management for establishing and maintaining an adequate internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting;
   •   Contain an assessment, as of the end of the most recent fiscal year of the issuer, of the effectiveness of the internal control structure and procedures of the issuer for financial reporting.
2.   INTERNAL CONTROL EVALUATION AND REPORTING —With respect to the internal control assessment, each registered public accounting firm that prepares or issues the audit report for the issuer shall attest to, and report on, the assessment made by the management of the issuer. An attestation made under this subsection shall be made in accordance with standards for attestation engagements issued or adopted by the Board. Any such attestation shall not be the subject of a separate engagement.