...ACCOUNTING STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS ACCOUNTING STANDARDS & REGULATIONS During the year 2002, the accounting profession was subjected to a series of highly publicized scandals. For example, it was discovered that the prestigious Arthur Andersen firm had played a role in the fraudulent reporting practices that led to the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation. Andersen accountants had helped the company hide its losses, and had shredded important documents that were relevant to the case. In June 2002, Andersen was found guilty of obstructing justice, was fined $500,000, and was sentenced to five years probation (Sachdev, n. p.). Also during 2002, the telecommunications firm WorldCom was found guilty of fraud as a result of having “improperly accounted for more than $3.8 billion of expenses” (Klein, 2002, p. 1). Other companies too, such as Tyco, Qwest, and Adelphia Communications, all became involved in accounting- related scandals. These various scandals had a negative impact on public views regarding the accounting profession. As stated in an article in the CPA Letter, the high-profile business failures of Enron and others “called into question the effectiveness of the profession’s self-regulatory process as well as the effectiveness of the audit to uphold the public trust in the capital market” (Landmark accounting reform, 2002, p. 1). Many people began arguing for stricter regulations in the accounting industry. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for...
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...The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the PCAOB Liberty University Abstract As a result of massive accounting scandals in the United States between 2001 and 2002 involving notorious companies, such as Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, and various other recognized entities, President George W. Bush signed into legislation during 2002 the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This historic piece of legislation has had a profound effect on the accounting profession. As a result of the act, the PCAOB was created. Since its inception, the PCAOB has created some of the most importing accounting standards that are used every day by auditors of public companies. This paper takes a look at the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and its effect on internal controls and small businesses. Also, I will discuss the purpose and specific pronouncements related to accounting information systems and internal controls; as well as the impact of possible future pronouncements. Keywords: Sarbanes-Oxley, PCAOB, Accounting information systems The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the PCAOB Massive accounting scandals in the United States between 2001 and 2002 involving notorious companies, such as Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, and various other recognized entities, led to the creation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This historic piece of legislation has had a profound effect on the accounting profession since it was signed into law. As a result of the act, the PCAOB was created. Since its inception, the PCAOB has created some of the most...
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...520: BUSINESS REGULATIONS: SARBANES-OXLEY August 14, 2006 Need a Sarbanes Oxley Compliance Plan? The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, sponsored by US Senator Paul Sarbanes and US Representative Michael Oxley, represents the biggest change to federal securities laws in decades. Effective in 2006, all publicly-traded companies are required to submit an annual report of the effectiveness of their internal accounting controls to the SEC. It came as a result of the large corporate financial scandals involving Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing and Arthur Andersen. Provisions of the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) detail criminal and civil penalties for noncompliance, certification of internal auditing, and increased financial disclosure. It affects public U.S. companies and non-U.S. companies with a U.S. presence. SOX is all about corporate governance and financial disclosure. High-profile business failures culminating in a media fixation on Enron called into question the effectiveness of business’ self-regulatory process as well as the effectiveness of the audit to uphold public trust in capital markets. Legislation to address shortcomings in financial reporting was slowly progressing in Congress. The sudden collapse of WorldCom guaranteed swift congressional action. President Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in to Law on July 22, 2002. The most significant legislation affecting the accounting profession since 1933. Developing meaningful reforms...
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...The Impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on Corporate America In discussing the impact of one of the most important laws passed in Congress to legislate the accounting and reporting rules of corporations, I need to give a brief definition and some background information for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed into law by the United States Congress. After a series of high profile corporate scandals, such as Enron and WorldCom, the Congress of the United States passed this legislation “to improve and maintain investor confidence. The law requires companies to have more independent board directors (not just company insiders), to adhere strictly to accounting rules, and to have senior managers personally sign off on financial results.” (Bateman, 173). Before the fall of corporations like Enron and WorldCom, there was also far too much corporate fraud during the Internet bubble. According to Stanley Block and his co-authors, “The major accounting firms had failed to detect fraud in their accounting audits, and outside directors were often not provided with the kind of information that would allow them to detect fraud and mismanagement.” (Block, 12). What is the definition, in a nutshell, of the Sabarnes-Oxley Act? This is something that needs to be defined and understood before examining the positive and negative impacts of this law upon corporate America. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act “establishes strict accounting and reporting rules in order to make senior...
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...Open Journal of Accounting, 2013, 2, 8-15 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojacct.2013.21003 Published Online January 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojacct) Sarbanes-Oxley and the Accounting Profession: Public Interest Implications Sara Ann Reiter1, Paul F. Williams2 2 1 Binghamton University, Binghamton, USA North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA Email: sreiter@binghamton.edu Received October 31, 2012; revised December 1, 2012; accepted December 12, 2012 ABSTRACT The US accounting profession was caught up in, and some say responsible for, the whirlwind of accounting and business scandals that rocked the US markets in 2002. To restore investor confidence in financial information, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act created a new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board with the authority to set standards for auditors of publicly traded companies, thus ending a century of professional regulation of auditing. In this analysis we employ sociological theories of professionalism [1-4] to help understand the implications of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation for the accounting profession and for the public interest. We explain why professional self-regulation is important for retaining valuable economic franchises. We also explain why the public interest orientation of the profession is important and how government take-over of auditing standards potentially erodes the public accounting profession’s commitment to the public interest. Self-control over professional work, a key characteristic...
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...The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 The Act & Impact ACC 410, Jackie Lewis, Ph.D. Abstract The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, officially named the “Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002”, is recognized to be the most noteworthy U.S. federal disclosure and corporate governance legislation since the Securities Act of1933 (the Securities Act) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act). Furthermore, the provisions of the Act are momentous enough that it is considered by many to be the most significant change to the federal securities laws in the U.S. since the New Deal. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 The Act & Impact The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was signed into law following the wake of corporate financial scandals. Many large companies such as Enron, WorldCom, and Arthur Anderson were affected. The Act provides a solid set of government rules that are aimed to discourage and punish corporate and accounting fraud, as well as corruption. SOX is designed to carry out these tasks by imposing severe penalties for wrong doings, while protecting the interest of workers and shareholders. The stated purposed to protect investors is maintained by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures, imposing strict rules for audits and auditors of publically traded companies, preventing insider trading and deals, requiring companies to adopt strict internal controls, and increasing the penalties...
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...In response to accounting scandals and in particular Enron, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was passed to provide more oversight of accounting professionals. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The PCAOB is a nonprofit, private-sector corporation that is responsible for the oversight of accounting professionals who are engaged in providing independent audit reports for publicly traded companies (SEC.GOV). One of the effect of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was to make it “illegal to provide certain non-attest services to clients and changed the regulation of the auditing profession” (Boynton and Johnson, 2006). Because of the, independence of auditors has been increased. It has also...
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...Independence After the Enron scandal in late 2001, the government decided that there was a need for more regulations for the accounting profession. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was enacted to ensure more controls on accountants and public companies. One of the issues addressed in the act was the independence of auditors. In 2003 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strengthened their regulations regarding auditor’s independence and requires additional disclosures to investors of public companies about the services provided by the independent accounting firms that are hired to audit the companies. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Code of Professional Conduct has required accountants who perform attest services to be independent of their clients. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act lists the services that auditors can no longer provide to audit clients in Title II. The reasoning for this is that maintaining auditor independence is essential to the audit process. It is necessary for retaining the confidence in the stock market so that the public continues to invest the market. The provision that will have the greatest effect on the accounting profession will be the inability to sell additional services to their current clients and also future clients. (Kleckner & Jackson, 2004) The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the SEC rules do not eliminate the types of services that can be offered to clients, but they clarify and expand the prohibitions...
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...IMPORTANT AICPA INFORMATION ON SARBANES-OXLEY |How the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Impacts the Accounting Profession (AICPA) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ...
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...OF THE SARBANES OXLEY ACT BY TREVOR GARRETT 02/25/2011 Abstract Enron Corporation was one of the largest energy trading, natural gas and Utilities Company in the world that was based in Huston, Texas. The downfall of Enron is one of the most infamous and shocking events in the financial world, and its reverberations were felt around the globe. Prior to its collapse in 2001, Enron was one of the leading companies in the U.S and considered among top 10 admired corporations and most desired places to work at. Its revenues made up US $139 to $184 billion, assets equaled $62 to $82 billion, and the number of employees reached more than 30,000 people in 20 countries around the world. While on the surface it seemed like the perfect Corporation, internally it had highly decentralized financial control and decision-making structure, which made it practically impossible to get coherent and clear view on corporations' activities and operations. Enron manipulated its books and assets to help it report steady profit growth to Stock Exchanges and Credit-rating agencies. Investors generally are not willing to pay as much for the stock of a volatile trading operation, and this gave rise to manipulations. This paper briefly describes the legal and ethical breaches by Enron, the key factors and events that led to its collapse and the passing of the Sarbanes Oxley Act as a consequence of such a catastrophe. The paper also discusses the key components of the Sarbanes Oxley Act and its...
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...The Effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act There have been widespread reactions to corporate scandals which have become seemingly common in corporate America. Government reaction to these unethical corporate and accounting scandals has led to regulation and intervention. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is seen as a response to the lack of corporate governance present in many corporations. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 and commonly called Sarbanes-Oxley, Sarbox, or SOX. This United States federal law was enacted on July 30, 2002 in response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals, including those affecting Enron, Tyco International, Adelphia, Peregrine Systems, and WorldCom. The act is administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It sets deadlines for compliance and publishes rules on requirements. The Act contains 11 titles; these describe specific mandates and requirements for financial reporting. Moreover, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act introduced major changes to the regulation of financial practice and corporate governance. It is seen as the most important legislation affecting corporate financial reporting enacted in the United States since the 1930s” (Li, 1). It is extremely essential in to ensure protect to shareholders and the general public from accounting errors and fraudulent practices in an enterprise. However, with government regulation and intervention one must...
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...“President George W. Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ( SOX) of 2002 (Public Law 107-204) on Tuesday, July 30, 2002. Congress presented the act to the president on July 26, 2002, after passage in the Senate by a 99-0 vote and in the House by a 423-3 margin” (The sarbanes-oxley act). A new federal law was passed in reaction to corporate scandals such as the Enron, WorldCom, Tyco cases. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act puts extreme pressure on companies accounting practices and annual reports. Simply put, the act was created to protect investors from corporate corruption, and accounting misconduct. This act also created a new agency called the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB. The main purpose of Sarbanes Oxley Act is to ensure that the corporate sector works with transparency and provides full disclosure of information as and when required. The transparency purpose of Sarbanes Oxley Act is fulfilled by ensuring real time disclosure of information, the adherence to guidelines of the Generally Accepted Accounting practices, full financial details being made available of all the transactions not mentioned in balance sheet. This purpose of Sarbanes Oxley Act is also fulfilled by an expanded disclosure of financial and non financial control measures in force in every company. Similarly, public certification of these internal controls and financial measures also helps fulfilled the purpose of Sarbanes Oxley Act (Bing). The objective of Sarbanes Oxley Act is to make company audit committees...
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... Group Research Project Sarbanes Oxley David, Eric, Jeff We have decided to analyze and research the managerial accounting theory of the Sarbanes Oxley Act. In this project we will describe how this act became in existence, the implementation of this act into major corporations, the organization problem that the act was developed to address, the specific pros and cons of this act, how companies have adjusted accounting process because of this act, and our position on the act. In analyzing and researching these different topics we will better understand the complexity and the specific foundations of the Sarbanes Oxley Act. As stated above we will first look at how the Sarbanes Oxley Act became in existence. The Sarbanes Oxley Act was passed into legislation in 2002 because of a series of corporate scandals. Some regard the Sarbanes Oxley Act as the most significant modification of securities regulation since the 1930’s. However, in the 1990’s, there were a number of amendments that significantly enlarged the regulatory powers of the Securities Exchange Commission. These acts were significant that led up to the implementation of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. These regulations include the Penny Stock Reform Act of 1990, the Securities Acts Amendments of 1990, the Market Reform Act of 1990, and the National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996. All of these acts have helped shape and form the original Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. For years since the original...
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...The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Hung Pham ACC100 Professor Joan Harrison 3/10/2011 Auditing is a professional job that existence of it depends on the virtue of practice in order to serve the interests of the community. There are some idea that have discuss the role of audit professional ethics and the need to establish a mechanism to monitor compliance with ethical standards as well as violations of judicial ethics. Of these, the author continues to discuss the regulations on professional ethics for auditors. The provision on professional ethics for the audit practice is formed by the relationship between professional and social environment. The ethics provisions commonly found in the standards of professional ethics and regulations of the law. Although they both refer to ethics issues, but how to promulgate and content differences. In the U.S., the auditing standards and professional ethical standards by professional organizations audit (AICPA) issued and fully control the quality by professional organizations to undertake. Self-control model derived from the operation causes the independent auditors the United States has flourished, and very soon because the economy is funded by the stock market. The growths of audit activities from the absence of state regulations have led to the formation and development of strong professional organizations. Until the 2000s, a number of financial scandals and accounting outbreak led to the collapse of the leading companies...
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...Effect of Unethical Behavior Christina Canfield August 4, 2013 ACC/291 Vanessa J. McCall Effects of Unethical Behavior In 2002 the congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The first thing is to understand what the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is and what it does. This paper will also view one article about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. To see how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act effect companies this paper will discuss the environment of firms before the act was passed. The question this paper will address it how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act affects auditing firms. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was created to keep accountants firms and businesses honest with accounting documents. According to Jelinek, K., & Jelinek, R. (2010) article there are six specific sections within the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that effect just the client’s role as a buyer and the audit firm’s role as a seller. The six specific sections are 201: Prohibited Auditor Activities, 203: Audit Partner Rotation, 204: Auditor Reports to Audit Committees, 206: Conflicts of Interest, 301 Public Company Audit Committees, and 407 Disclosure of Audit Committee Financial Expert. Each of these affects the auditor’s relationship with the company they are auditing and the other way around. Before the Sarbanes-Oxley act the accounting firm’s environment was configured to the firm’s perspectives on how best to approach the auditor-client exchange. The audit firms were also sale-oriented. Because the audit firms were sales-oriented the firms would reject...
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