The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires chief executive and financial officers to put their liberty on the line when they attest to their companies’ financial statements. The safest way to do that: back up those attestations all the way down the line.
Such “sub-certifications” from lower-level employees are not required by Sarbanes; only chief executive and financial officers must certify results, as prescribed by the law’s Section 302. Still, a large number of companies are crafting sub-certification processes anyway, to ingrain the often-touted “culture of compliance”—and to let CEOs and CFOs breathe a little easier.
