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How much does the Sarbanes-Oxley act impact your daily work?
Just curious.
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Keri’s Answer
The impact of your work environment largely depends on the type of company you work for. If you're employed by a privately-owned business (one that's not listed on the public stock market), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) isn't applicable. However, numerous private firms maintain a robust internal control system, particularly if they're planning to go public in the future through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Should you find yourself in an accounting department, you might need to adhere to internal controls that guarantee the completeness and accuracy of financial statements.
On the other hand, if you're part of a publicly traded company, your entire job could revolve around SOX compliance, much like mine does. My role involves close collaboration with both internal and external auditors to ensure our company adheres to all external regulations. We strive to maintain effective internal controls, allowing external investors to make informed decisions based on our financial statements.
On the other hand, if you're part of a publicly traded company, your entire job could revolve around SOX compliance, much like mine does. My role involves close collaboration with both internal and external auditors to ensure our company adheres to all external regulations. We strive to maintain effective internal controls, allowing external investors to make informed decisions based on our financial statements.
Kevin Greenlees, MAcc
Accountant, Financial Analyst, Automations Developer
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Kevin’s Answer
While SOX powerfully influences the accounting industry at large, I work for a privately held corporation, so my experience is slightly different.
As a non-issuer (meaning we don't sell stock in our company), we aren't as rigidly restricted by the provisions of SOX (ex., we don't have to submit 10-K /10-Qs) but because it so profoundly affects the accounting industry in the US many of our business partners and stakeholders expect us to have fluency in SOX. We maintain many of the standards required by SOX voluntarily, as they're just good standards (ex. independence of audit committee), while others are imposed on us by standards upheld by our external auditors (ex. rotation of audit partners, no non-attest services provided by attestation firm, etc)--not that we object.
At this point, SOX has been around for two decades and it's just part of the framework that informs all of accounting.
As a non-issuer (meaning we don't sell stock in our company), we aren't as rigidly restricted by the provisions of SOX (ex., we don't have to submit 10-K /10-Qs) but because it so profoundly affects the accounting industry in the US many of our business partners and stakeholders expect us to have fluency in SOX. We maintain many of the standards required by SOX voluntarily, as they're just good standards (ex. independence of audit committee), while others are imposed on us by standards upheld by our external auditors (ex. rotation of audit partners, no non-attest services provided by attestation firm, etc)--not that we object.
At this point, SOX has been around for two decades and it's just part of the framework that informs all of accounting.
Bob Moore
Supply Chain, Energy. Oil & Gas, Leadership, Management, Careers Overseas
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Bob’s Answer
Fines for non compliance can be massive and can recur daily until resolved. As such we put in place policy, procedures, control and compliance to assure - so additional resource or resources are required as you scale volumes. I worked at Deloitte when solutions were rolled out early 2000s - they made a lot of money. Switching from pre SOX to SOX was a challenge and impacted daily work - but today it’s just the way we work - keeps everyone honest, keeps the books clean - ensures confidence in financial results - see ENRON for abuses/abusers 😳