Ready or not, the Dec. 15 deadline for non-accelerated filers to start complying with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is fast approaching—and this time, the odds that small companies can avoid compliance yet again are small.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...