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Do your controls fulfill
Sarbanes-Oxley requirements?

The Sarbanes Oxley Act is a very complex, far-reaching piece of legislation. The primary objectives of the act are to provide greater transparency to investors, amplify the objectivity and culpability of the external auditors, and ensure internal controls are sufficiently robust to eliminate financial fiascos such as Enron, WorldCom & Tyco. For most corporate financial staff, the third aspect by far will create the largest workload, and generate the most significant impact on their operations.

In evaluating internal disclosure controls, there is no greater risk area than in the end-to-end payment process. For large organizations, external spend for goods & services dwarfs any internal spend via payroll. On average, external spend consumes $0.50-$0.60 per revenue dollar. External spend is a cross-functional process that involves the business unit making the purchase, the receiving department, purchasing staff, accounts payable, and multiple contact points within the supplier’s organization. With numerous hand-offs in the process, and a supplier base that may number in the tens of thousands, it is a process that holds significant financial risk. Add to this equation numerous operating locations and thousands of employees, and you can see that many things can go wrong. Sarbanes Oxley demands that your company be proactive in preventing errors.