The latest evidence on compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley suggests the meter is still running, with costs continuing to rise for the majority of public companies.
A first-quarter 2016 poll by Protiviti of 1,500 executives, more than half with public companies, shows that 68 percent of public companies devoted 10 percent more hours internally in 2015 to their Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts. Half of the large accelerated filers and accelerated filers in the survey group said their external audit fees also increased, along with 41 percent of nonaccelerated filers.
