Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Compliance Services

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) provisions require public company CEOs and CFOs to:

• Certify the accuracy of their company’s financial statements
• Maintain and continuously assess internal controls to prevent wrong, misleading, or fraudulent financial data
• Pay any criminal penalties for misleading shareholders and altering documents to impede an investigation

Sarbanes-Oxley requirements include:

• Maintaining effective internal controls over transaction recording and financial statement preparation
• Engaging independent accountants to audit and report on the effectiveness of internal controls
• Public disclosure of these reports in the company’s annual 10k report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Although the costs associated with SOX compliance vary significantly due to company size, compliance approach and providers, on average, public companies spend between $1 million and $2 million dollars per year. Many internal audit teams spend 5,000 to 10,000 hours annually servicing SOX compliance programs.

If your SOX compliance efforts aren’t leveraging compliance related software to achieve greater efficiency whether through continuous monitoring or automated documentation gathering, you are missing a significant opportunity to make your SOX program more efficient and cost effective. Contact Aprio today to learn more.

This section of SOX requires that both a public company’s CEO and CFO personally certify the effectiveness of their internal controls and the accuracy of their financial statements.

Aprio can provide guidance on understanding and documenting internal controls, identifying and addressing any deficiencies or instances of fraud, and preparing comprehensive reports for the board of directors and the audit committee. Contact us today to learn more.

This section of SOX requires a business’s management to establish and maintain an internal controls framework for financial reporting. Additionally, management must continuously assess the framework for effectiveness.

Aprio can help your management team maintain compliance with control and documentation requirements, IPE, key reports, and spreadsheet control. We can also provide support for control implementation for complex, non-recurring, and significant transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions or the sale of a business unit. Contact us today to learn more.