SOXBox SolutionsTM
Have You Been "Sarboxed" Yet? It's Only a Matter of Time...
Did You Know...?
Most observers agree that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), passed by the U.S. Congress in July of 2002, is the single most important piece of legislation affecting corporate governance, financial disclosure and the practice of public accounting since the U.S. securities laws of the early 1930s.
It's Not Just for the Large, U.S.-based Public Company; Big or Small, Private or Public, Foreign or Domestic, For-Profit or Not-for-Profit, if You're in Business, You're Impacted by Sarbanes-Oxley!
Sarbanes-Oxley is not just for those U.S. companies whose stock is publicly-traded; it's also for foreign
issuers, and even for the privately-held and not-for-profit sector with active constitutencies or any
sort of obligations to commercial banks, insurance companies or even would-be acquirers. In fact, big or small,
privately or public, for-profit or not, you're impacted by Sarbanes-Oxley!
For example, public and private companies alike have to adhere to the
so-called whistleblower provision of the law, under which employees must be permitted to
anonymously notify regulators of any potential wrongdoing within their company.
Additionally, privately-held companies would have to take many of the steps required to demonstrate compliance
with Sarbanes-Oxley if they decided to go public or agreed to merge with a public company.
"If you're thinking of going public or even if it's in the realm of possibility for you, this is sure as heck
something that you'd better plan for," said Robert Handler, an analyst at Meta Group Inc. in Stamford, Conn.
In a survey of 1,400 chief financial officers at private companies (published in the Journal of Accountancy last year), 44% said they are either reviewing or changing the accounting procedures within their organizations as a result of Sarbanes-Oxley.
"In addition, public companies involved in potential acquisition deals with privately-held businesses have already begun to push prospective merger partners and other potential target companies to document their internal accounting controls and processes", says Jocelyn Arel, a partner at law firm Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault LLP in Boston. "We're starting to see that in the due diligence process that buyers are going through," said Arel, who is co-chairman of the firm's corporate finance and securities group.
Fred Pauls, corporate records manager at J.R. Simplot Co. in Boise, Idaho, told the press some time ago that the privately-held agribusiness has already taken steps to address the mandates of Sarbanes-Oxley because it has government contracts that require compliance with the law.
How Can We Help?
In conjunction with our partners, the Microsoft Corporation, CCD Vynamics and GT Squared, Inc., we have the capability of helping both small and midium-sized publicly-traded companies (whether domestic or foreign in nature), as well as privately-held companies and not-for-profit organizations, to meet the stringent corporate governance mandates, financial controls and internal auditing and best practices requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley.
And, as we now know, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in its wake, has established a new paradigm for corporate accountability. Good internal controls are no longer just good business practice, it's the law. And, while the law's initial impact was felt most acutely by publicly-traded U.S.-based companies, ultimately its affects will be felt by every company and business organization of any size and complexity, including foreign companies trading their securities on U.S. markets.
"Effective compliance assistance helps companies and its executives achieve three critical assurances: that their business transactions comply with established controls; that their control systems are comprehensive and designed to account for all transactions; and that their data is accurate and complete" says Ray Burrasca, Managing Director of SOXBox SolutionsTM. "Furthermore, all things considered, the most important factors at this time are the present state of a company's internal controls and its documentation of those processes that support the internal controls".
"Over the past several years, there has been a lot of noise about tools and players vying for compliance-management dollars. Mr. Burrasca recommends using a three-step approach to narrow the field: define the scope of the task at hand in your company; strike a balance between compliance effort and internal controls; and pay attention to the right choice of auditor or consultant and their compliance review process.
About SOXBox Solutions' Integrated "Best Practices" Compliance Capability
When it comes to Sarbox and "best practices" programs, our management's 30+
years of experience in the areas of corporate governance, securities law compliance and "best practices" consulting cause SOXBox SolutionsTM to stand out from the competitors in both the public and private company marketplace, making it one of the most effective independent business consulting firms providing advisory and compliance services in this arena. For more information, contact us at admin@soxboxsolutions.com.
An Additional Item of Interest
SOXBox SolutionsTM Sarbox/"Best Practices" Compliance
Achieve corporate compliance now. Or watch investor confidence shatter. The simple fact is that even now, more than four years after the law's passage, most companies are still unsure about how to comply with the various sections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Companies must establish an internal control system for tracking and auditing financial processes; then executives and the external auditor must testify to its effectiveness.
These requirements, in combination with shorter reporting deadlines and the heavy civil and criminal burdens on executives to be absolutely certain of the information presented in financial statements, present a substantial challenge for many companies. Because of the recent trend toward mergers and acquisitions in various industries, most companies are currently forced to pull financial information from dozens of operational systems and general ledgers located in different business units and around the world. And now with shorter reporting deadlines, the need to close the books quickly and accurately is more important than ever.
Companies need a solution that will support a closed-loop process for continual compliance and constantly improving performance: a solution that will allow them to define, communicate, assess, certify and improve compliance procedures and processes. Comprehensive and Flexible
SOXBox Solutions TM integrated "best practices" compliance program offers comprehensive, flexible solutions for Sarbox and "best practices" compliance. With SOXBox Solutions you can more effectively track, store,document and audit every financial process and control within your business. SOXBox SolutionsTM also provides the technology to reduce reporting cycle times by quickly accessing, consolidating and cleaning all the financial data throughout an enterprise. The time saved in consolidation can then be used to review analytic results in your reports and evaluate the success of compliance initiatives.
Ensure compliance with the Sarbox/best practices compliance requirements by using SOXBox Solutions to:
-- Assess and validate financial statements with sophisticated reporting and analytics. -- Create an auditable, trackable, searchable repository for documents, processes and controls. -- Consolidate data from disparate sources more quickly and accurately. -- Track, analyze and report on risks and material changes. -- Monitor the effectiveness of compliance and governance initiatives. Compliance Will Be A Requirement - And An Opportunity
With the flexibility of SOXBox SolutionsTM, executives can be confident in their company's compliance today, as well as their ability to adapt whenever new requirements come along. Compliance issues also present an opportunity for organizations to evaluate the overall success of their financial systems and performance management strategies.
Call us today for an opportunity to view a live presentation of the capabilities of our SOXBox SolutionsTM. You'll be glad you did!!! How To Contact Us SOXBox SolutionsTM is located near the Denver Tech Center in Denver, Colorado.
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