Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) 404 Streamlining Workshop

Public companies of all sizes are responsible for assessing their internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) under SEC rules and regulations to provide:

1. A statement of management's responsibility for establishing and maintaining adequate ICFR for the registrant;
2. A statement identifying the framework used by management to evaluate the effectiveness of the registrant's ICFR;
3. Management's assessment of the effectiveness of the registrant's ICFR as of the end of the registrant's most recent fiscal year, including a statement as to whether or not ICFR is effective; and 
4. If applicable, a statement that the registered public accounting firm that audited the financial statements has issued an attestation report on the registrant's ICFR.

This responsibility includes; SEC compliance planning, documenting internal control design, risk identification and assessment, evaluating the design, testing the controls, correcting weaknesses, and reporting on the results. Without a question this has been a painful process for many companies that has led to value-destruction in some cases. The seminar's objective is to offer important considerations to reduce your SOX-404 costs, while still meeting SOX-404 requirements and limiting financial reporting risks. This training looks at case studies and methodologies to strengthen the control environment through more cost-effective controls to enhance comfort levels for officers, directors and the external auditor. Topics include: 

• Overview of SOX-404 requirements
• Common material weaknesses and underlying causes
• How to keep SOX compliance costs under control
• A top-down, risk-based approach
• Understanding the COSO Framework to determine scope and boundaries
• Concluding on scope, which is the most important cost driver
• Using materiality with the risk-based approach to identify the greatest risks
• Leveraging the control matrix;
  • Using the trial balance as the beginning point
  • Understanding the precise definition of a key control
  • Addressing relevant GAAP assertions
  • Addressing authorizations and anti-fraud controls
  • Defining who, what, when, where, why and how to capture crucial compliance information
  • Best practices for SOX documentation
• Conquering Entity-Level Controls
  • Understanding the pervasive nature of entity-level controls
  • Understanding why the board of directors is the most important control of all
  • Documenting the tone-at-the-top and other soft controls
• Examining IT controls through the COBIT framework
• Pursuing a win-win in documenting control design
• Trends and takeaways for streamlining SOX-404