SEC moves to reduce Sarbanes-Oxley costs
For those of us that have to deal with the mess that is SOX compliance, there may be some help on the way. SOX compliance is an expensive process that (IMHO) can cripple smaller companies with little in the way of payback. After over a year of wrangling, the SEC recently approved guidelines “that would allow executives to focus their attention on factors most likely to trigger financial misstatements.”
The agency’s guidelines, combined with a revised auditing standard from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board are aimed at ending more than a year of debate over whether the law’s costs outweigh its benefits.
The SEC guidance will be coordinated with changes to audit rules that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will vote on Thursday. The board, an independent panel formed under Sarbanes-Oxley, wants to reduce auditor testing by encouraging accountants to rely on work companies have already done.
With SOX Compliance becoming big business in recent years I’m sure there are some people not excited about the news, but hopefully the rest of us can benefit from a reduced cost in audit compliance and more budget available for other things.