Internal Controls

As public companies and audit firms prepare for a new approach to auditing internal controls over financial reporting, a certain trepidation hangs over the process. Regulators have called for a more relaxed audit, but how will the plaintiff lawyers react? The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board codified their call […]

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations has released a draft of new guidance on monitoring internal controls, considered by many to be a vital—if elusive—part of streamlining Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts. The 40-page document was released last week, and COSO officials are asking the business community to review the draft and provide feedback. The comment period will […]

The number of companies reporting material weaknesses under Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley has dropped steadily since the first year of compliance in 2004, suggesting that accelerated filers have made improvements in their internal controls, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission staff member. Among roughly 3,800 companies that filed reports in accordance with Section 404 […]

The clock is ticking for smaller companies that are facing their first-ever Sarbanes-Oxley assessment on internal control over financial reporting, yet experts say many are still banking on another deferral rather than acting now to use the tools at their disposal. Tagle “Some companies are still holding out hope that that they might not have […]

At the Alcon Manufacturing Ltd. plant in Sinking Spring, Pa., process improvement is led by the quality assurance division. At Command Medical Products in Ormand Beach, Fla., the same chore is overseen by the vice president of operations. At other companies, management might try to involve anyone and everyone, down to the shop floor. Process […]

In the latest of our conversations with compliance, risk, and accounting officers at public companies, we talk with Peter Carlson, controller and principal accounting officer at Wachovia Corp. You can see an archive of previous question-and-answer interviews here. Carlson Pete Carlson is senior vice president and corporate controller at banking giant Wachovia Corp. He is […]

Any financial reporting enthusiasts looking for some scary reading should try the 8-K report Dell Inc. filed on Aug. 16. The tale is more than 3,900 words of accounting failure, that apparently started with poor internal controls and will reach its conclusion sometime later this year, when Dell restates more than four years’ worth of […]

As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, ensuring that an organization can recover from disaster is a basic business requirement the board should explore regularly with management. Nowadays, leading companies are taking this requirement and turning it into a strategic advantage: Namely, investments in operational resiliency are assisting organizations to become more responsive to client needs […]

If there were ever a time in the Sarbanes-Oxley era for companies to take the bull by the horns, now would be it. For the largest public companies, the first reporting cycle under new rules for internal control over financial reporting may be months away. But audit experts say now is the time for companies […]

Corporate America’s on-time performance has been somewhat lacking in recent years when it comes to filing financial statements. That may soon change. Many financial reporting experts believe restatements will fall in 2007, reversing an upward march that fell behind at the start of this decade. And late filings, which go hand-in-glove with the number of […]