Sarbanes-Oxley Costs Dropping
|
The cost of complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may have finally started to drop. A survey from Financial Executives International (FEI) found that corporate America spent less on in year two than year one. 274 public companies were polled, of which 238 were "accelerated filers" and average revenues of $6 billion, in the fourth such survey. Accelerated filers total average cost for Section 404 compliance was $3.8m during the 2005 fiscal year.A 16.3% discount from 2004. Reasons for the reductions are shown to be lower staff and consultant time and reduced auditor fees Internal staff time decreased by 11.8%, external costs including software and consultant fees dropped 22.7%. Auditor attestation fees dropped 13%. Despite the cost drop, the overwhelming majority, 95% do not believe the benefits of compliance with Section 404 have exceeded the costs. "We've made strides during the second year of Section 404 implementation, but there is still room for improvement. Based on the feedback from our members, it is clear that the degree of documentation is the number one issue," said FEI President and CEO Colleen Cunningham. "While an overall decline materialized, the decline was less than anticipated compared to an expectation by most companies surveyed by FEI last year. A year ago companies predicted non-auditor expenditures to drop 39 percent and auditor fees to drop 26 percent."
|
Related Articles
Similar Areas Selected Books Keywords Financial Executives International
|