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First-of-Its-Kind Report Quantifies Actual Cost of Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 Compliance for Smaller Public Companies

Lord & Benoit, a SOX research and consulting firm, recently gathered empirical cost data to answer a crucial question that government officials, legislators, and business executives have been asking since June of 2007: "what exactly is the cost for a smaller public company to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404(a) and Section 404(b) regulations using the latest guidance issued by the SEC and PCAOB?" The data reveal that for non-accelerated filers, the total average first-year cost for management assessment and additional audit fees is $78,474, which is 13.8% less than the $91,000 cost the SEC initially predicted.

The new Lord & Benoit Report, entitled "The Sarbanes-Oxley Investment: A Section 404 Cost Study for Smaller Public Companies," is based on a cross-section of 29 smaller public companies in the semiconductor, manufacturing, distribution, banking and finance, real estate, food and beverage, transportation, mining, software, energy, services, and biotech industries. The Report is also based on an Audit Analytics study of actual audit fees reported by nearly 5,500 public companies.

First-of-Its-Kind Report Quantifies Actual Cost of Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 Compliance for Smaller Public Companies

Full post as published by inside Sarbanes Oxley on January 10, 2008 (boomark / email).