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Need Sarbanes-Oxley Training?

Are you seeking to learn more about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act? CPA Training Center provides Sarbanes-Oxley Act training and other SOX training information to help answer the questions, "What is Sarbanes-Oxley?" or "What are the Sarbanes-Oxley requirements?"

What Is SOX?

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (otherwise know as SOX) was legislation created to protect shareholders, investors, and the general public from accounting errors and fraudulent accounting activities by corporations.

SOX is the common name for bipartisan legislation introduced under the name the "Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act" and the Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency Act” by Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland and Representative Michael G. Oxley of Ohio. Sarbanes-Oxley was a response to the types of corporate and accounting fraud perpetrated by big companies like WorldCom and Enron. It has been an effective way of making sure that all publicly traded companies are operating fairly and above board.

SOX Reporting Requirements

The Act legislates Sarbanes-Oxley requirements; namely, what financial records a company must store and for how long, and stipulates penalties for non-compliance.

Essentially, SOX mandates strict reforms to improve financial disclosures from corporations and prevent accounting fraud. It requires that all publicly-traded companies establish internal controls and procedures for financial reporting.

The Sarbanes Oxley Act requires:

• That all financial reports include an Internal Controls Report that shows that a company's financial data is accurate and adequate controls are in place to safeguard financial data
• The establishment of payroll system controls. A company's workforce, salaries, benefits, incentives, paid time off, and training costs must be painstakingly accounted for
• A SOX auditor is required to review controls, policies, and procedures during a Section 404 audit
• Auditor independence, corporate governance, internal control assessment, and enhanced financial disclosure
• Year-end financial dislosure reports

Though Sarbanes-Oxley does not call out any specific IT requirements, the law does have a great impact on information systems, including the security of those systems, because the financial information covered under the law is processed and stored by IT systems.

Does My Business Need Sarbanes Oxley Certification? What Are The Sox Certification Requirements?

You do not need a Sarbanes Oxley certification, per se. However, if you are a public company or accounting firm, you do need to comply with the requirements of the act. Lack of knowledge of these requirements is not a defense, which is why we offer SOX training courses to help you familiarize yourself with these requirements for your company and your clients, so you can be sure to stay in compliance.

While ultimately, SOX requirements are better for increasing transparency among companies, it can be costly to stay in compliance and much more costly to be caught out of compliance. Our SOX training courses will give you all the information you need to navigate SOX.

We offer both online webinars and in-person seminars on SOX for the benefit of your business and those you work with. We understand that some companies may not have the time or resources to attend multiple in-person trainings, while others may prefer the face-to-face, interactive experience to online learning. We are here to accommodate your needs.

Information you can learn from an SOX webinar course includes how SOX affects payroll. If your current payroll manager is not aware of SOX regulations, you could be at risk of exposure. Our webinar will help you learn which aspects of payroll and benefits may be subject to a SOX audit and how to make sure you are in compliance.

Our live courses are three or four-day intensive seminars that get deep into the provisions of the act to give you a detailed background in SOX, including vital issues like internal auditing for SOX, assessing risk, identifying auditable activities and documenting internal controls. You can also learn about how to find the kind of fraud that an SOX audit might uncover, auditing specific functions of your business like purchasing, marketing and human resources and what you need to know about IT audit concepts.

Many of our courses come with supplementary materials you can take home to enhance your understanding of the material. All our online and in-person courses are taught by experienced financial professionals who are intimately familiar with the provisions of the Sarbanes Oxley Act.

SOX Training Courses

The CPA Training Center offers several SOX training courses to help with your - and your clients' - SOX compliance requirements. These SOX training courses provide a wealth of information that is well worth the expense when you consider the costly and complex auditing issues you can avoid with complete knowledge of SOX. To find the course you need and register, simply click on a Recommended Course below or use select "Sarbanes-Oxley Act" from the "Professional Development" section of the search box below.