Honors Program Theses
Award/Availability
Open Access Honors Program Thesis
First Advisor
Ron Abraham
Keywords
United States. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; Corporations--Accounting; Accounting--Standards;
Abstract
While the new requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act might seem like an excellent step towards improving the honesty, integrity, and reputation of the corporate accounting world, the actual implementation of these regulations is proving to be quite a headache for public companies and their auditors. Congress developed new rules for publicly held companies, but they failed to provide any guidelines or best practices for companies to follow in the compliance process. In addition, the costs of implementing the various provisions of SOX are adding up to be much higher than originally anticipated, creating a burden for smaller public companies. This paper will describe the benefits to the public marketplace that result from companies' compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, and compare those benefits to the numerous costs incurred. The central question will be whether the Act creates more costs than the benefits provided by more stringent accounting and reporting standards are actually worth. The cost-benefit section will be followed by a more in-depth look at the effects of SOX on smaller public companies, including some of the recommendations made by the Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies. This paper will conclude with a few observations and an answer to the question of whether the benefits of SOX compliance are worth the costs.
Year of Submission
2007
Department
Department of Accounting
University Honors Designation
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the designation University Honors
Date Original
5-2007
Object Description
1 PDF file (20 pages)
Copyright
©2007 Stephanie Lynn Johnson
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Stephanie Lynn, "Sarbanes-Oxley - From Idea to Implementation: A Look at the Impact on Public Companies" (2007). Honors Program Theses. 672.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/hpt/672
Comments
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