In a bold move, Waltham, Mass.-based OpenPages recently acquired the rights and assets of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ internal controls compliance software. The acquisition immediately brings over 350 PwC clients to OpenPages, positioning the company as a dominant leader in the emerging enterprise compliance management market. Software in this market generally helps companies manage their Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts, […]
Internal Controls
Posted inInternal Controls
28 Internal Control Disclosures In March
According to a review of regulatory filings during the month of March, 28 companies disclosed material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal controls, or provided updates on the status of their control-improvement processes. That number is up from 18 similar disclosures in February, and 23 in January. (See box at right for previous months’ data). […]
Posted inInternal Controls
PCAOB Approves Internal Control Standard
As expected, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has approved its long-awaited standard for audits of internal control over financial reporting. The auditing standard, known officially as “An Audit of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting Performed in Conjunction with an Audit of Financial Statements,” addresses both the work that is required to audit internal control […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Q&A With Jefferson Wells CEO Owen Sullivan
Earlier this month, the SEC extended the compliance date for the internal control provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley. Accelerated filers will now need to comply for their first fiscal year ending on or after Nov. 15, 2004. The original compliance date was June 15. This week, we talk to Jefferson Wells CEO Owen Sullivan — whose firm […]
Posted inInternal Controls
18 Internal Control Disclosures In February
According to a review of regulatory filings during the month of February, 18 companies disclosed material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal controls, or provided updates on the status of their control-improvement processes. In January, 23 companies made similar disclosures. (See box at right for previous months’ data). Types Of Weaknesses Over one-third of the […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Q&A With PwC’s Global Systems, Process Assurance Leader
Last week, the SEC extended the compliance date for the internal control provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley. Accelerated filers will now need to comply for their first fiscal year ending on or after Nov. 15, 2004. The original compliance date was June 15. (Click here for details). This week, we talked with Lynn Edelson, the Global Leader […]
Posted inInternal Controls
With PwC’s Global Systems, Process Assurance Leader
Last week, the SEC extended the compliance date for the internal control provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley. Accelerated filers will now need to comply for their first fiscal year ending on or after Nov. 15, 2004. The original compliance date was June 15. (Click here for details). This week, we talked with Lynn Edelson, the Global Leader […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Internal Controls: A New Enforcement Frontier?
When crises of corporate conduct reveal widespread shortcomings in public company disclosure, lawmakers and regulators turn to questions of internal controls. Dissatisfied with the output of corporate reporting, they tinker with its inputs and the processes that connect the one to the other. With the new certification and attestation requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, this […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Certifying Internal Controls — A Trap for the Unwary?
A great deal of frenzy currently surrounds the Sarbanes-Oxley requirement that public companies assess, and their outside auditors attest to, the effectiveness of the company’s internal controls. To paraphrase Epicetus, “[w]hat concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are.” Most companies seem to be adopting one of […]
Posted inInternal Controls
Common SOX 302/404 Mistake: Not Assessing Controls Over Notes And Supplemental Disclosures
One of the most common mistakes we still see in practice is too narrow an interpretation of what is covered by Section 302 and 404 control effectiveness representations. Many companies appear to be under the mistaken impression that these representations relate only to the accounting processes that feed disclosures in balance sheets and income statements. […]
