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What do I need to do to make sure my company is in compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley?

Home » Accounting » Sarbanes-Oxley » What do I need to do to make sure my company is in compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley?

Sarbanes-Oxley requires a great deal of self-policing by businesses. Your business may have been inadvertently complying with much of Sarbanes-Oxley already, but you will need to increase your self-monitoring in several areas to stay in compliance. Here are a few tips for complying with the law:


  • Examine your financial infrastructure: Under Sarbanes-Oxley, corporations have to produce verifiable financial reports. Do you have reliable people (and enough people) producing your financial reports? Who is verifying those reports? Get feedback from the employees who produce your financial reports to determine if they are getting the information they need.
  • Document everything: Your company has to be able to document your financial records, any revisions to these records, any revisions to financial or accounting software, any insider trading, and a whole host of other information. In other words, keep copies of all financial paperwork; you don’t want to get into trouble simply because you don’t have the paperwork.
  • An audit committee: Companies must have a committee of independent auditors that oversee and review reports from company auditors. Make sure your committee is in place and has everything that it needs from your company.
  • Ask an expert for advice: There is a good amount of fine print in Sarbanes-Oxley, so it might be helpful to talk to an attorney, accountant, or other expert. This expert could analyze your company for any weak spots or areas of non-compliance.

One of the best ways to ensure compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley is simply to assign responsibility. Make sure that every employee affected by Sarbanes-Oxley knows what he/she needs to do. Don’t let a few financial reports or internal controls fall through the cracks unmonitored.



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