SOX – IS It Really Affecting Small And Mid-Size Companies? Enron, WorldCom, Parmalat: The criminal corporate and accounting scandals of these heavyweights shocked the international financial community. In the wake of these scandals thousands of jobs were cut and investors lost billions of US$. To regain public trust in accounting and reporting practices the US legislature passed the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). SOX requires that public companies evaluate and disclose the effectiveness of their internal controls as they relate to financial reporting and that independent auditors for such companies attest to such disclosures. Corporate executives who knowingly and wilfully misstate financial statements risk high jail sentences and large fines. Does your company belong to a public listed US corporation or are you working for such a firm under an outsourcing contract? If the answer is yes, then chances are high that SOX applies to your company. Even if SOX compliance is not immediately required for your company, private corporations will not completely escape the burden of this legislation. The EU Commission and various European governments work on corporate governance regulations that mimic parts of Sarbanes-Oxley for private companies. And compliance with them will soon be required also for small and medium-size firms. Make use of chances and advantages of SOX A sustainable approach to SOX requires a transition out of a “one-time project” approach into a mode in which compliance is well integrated into your company’s daily operations. View the Act as a unique opportunity to define best practices to mitigate risk, improve processes, and raise credibility among stakeholders, employees, and customers. What you get is an adequate internal control system and rational structures for your company’s reporting, thus making it easier for your management to identify chances for improvement and cost cutting. How MFBResultants can support you Success will require a focused, defined and sensitive monitoring of a company’s first-time SOX implementation. Many small and medium-size firms lack both, adequate resources as well as necessary know-how for the comprehensive compliance-related work. The independent experts of MFBResultants can support you to bring in an infusion of competent resources to allow your company a successful and efficient implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Compliance with the regulation need not be a daunting task. It is important that your employees take ownership for the success of the project. After all, it is your employees who have to understand, accept, and implement SOX. They have to feel that their time and efforts contribute to the success of the project. In workshops and on-the-job trainings, the experienced coaches of MFBResultants will teach your employees all necessary regulatory and practical knowledge, thus enabling your firm to react flexible and successful to any future regulatory standard. Talk to us. Together we can work on a successful implementation of an efficient control and reporting system for your company’s operations. MFB Resultants - We Create Results