Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Compliance
Drive a more efficient and effective SOX compliance program.
Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Compliance
We help clients streamline their approach to SOX compliance, strengthen their internal controls framework and lower long-term compliance costs in the context of their business.
Now, for tomorrow
With the rapidly changing world and the continuous evolving strategic, compliance, financial and operational risk landscape, it is imperative to have the right talent supporting your SOX compliance program.
Baker Tilly recognizes the need for a flexible approach. Key components to successful SOX compliance programs include collaboration with external audit and management, and a forward-thinking approach utilizing digital capabilities.
Technology is advancing and so should your SOX program approach. Utilizing digital capabilities to deploy an effective SOX compliance program can help reduce time and impacts to your company while providing a quality compliance program.
Flexible approach
The needs of your company are evolving and perhaps your needs for supplemental resources to assist with SOX compliance may vary at times. We commonly see organizations need these types of assistance with SOX:
- IPO readiness: Preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) requires many decisions, including decisions about your internal control structure and framework. We take into consideration where you are in the process of going public and your plans for the future of the business. We assist with the evaluation of your existing internal controls framework, including opportunities to leverage automated controls and support your environment by integrating enterprise resource planning (ERP) workflow.
- Program optimization: A review of your internal control framework to identify opportunities to further optimize and enhance your internal controls.
- Co-sourcing: We work closely alongside internal resources as an extension of your team. This may include additional assistance or expertise needed for identifying and documenting controls, your SOX compliance testing, or remediation of control weaknesses. We work collaboratively with internal audit departments to assist with the completion of internal control testing to support your SOX compliance program.
- Out-sourcing: We can seamlessly be deployed as your internal audit function to help achieve your SOX compliance needs, working closely with and in alignment with management and external audit to help ensure compliance.
Collaboration with external audit
When working with clients, we often find the most successful compliance programs have collaborative relationships with management and external audit. Developing a collaborative relationship creates efficiencies for control owners and eliminates duplication of efforts. We work with external audit to support a reliance approach for the testing performed by internal audit.
Digital SOX compliance optimization
Embracing technology and automation in your SOX compliance program can yield significant time savings. The use of intelligent automation and automated controls through ERP workflows can create significant efficiencies.
- Intelligent automation: In our testing approaches, we utilize robotic process automation (RPA) and scripts to automate manual tasks. This creates efficiencies for our team and minimizes manual tasks performed.
- Automated controls: We work with our clients to utilize the ERP system and workflows to develop automated controls.
- Data Analytics: We utilize data analytics to help guide our audit activities and better identify risks within our review.
IT SOX compliance
Your organization benefits from Baker Tilly’s deep knowledge of information technology general controls (ITGC) and our team’s ability to be highly effective working with your external audit.
SOX insights
Five common pitfalls for new SOX filers (and how to avoid them)
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) compliance is a complex and challenging journey. Explore five common pitfalls — and how to avoid them — with help from Baker Tilly SOX specialists.
Agents of Change with Richard Chambers and Heather Acker
Heather Acker, Baker Tilly risk advisory managing principal, and Richard Chambers, senior internal audit advisor at AuditBoard, discuss the importance of internal audit in an area of increased risk and disruption.
Four key concepts to consider when using advanced reporting solutions in your SOX program
This article highlights emerging technologies in the risk landscape that your IT components of your Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance function will need to be ready to respond to.
Identifying risks and controls when implementing RPA solutions in a SOX environment
This article highlights risks and controls for companies using RPA solutions in a SOX environment.
SOX readiness: Preparing for an IPO
Initial public offerings (IPOs) will require compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). Learn more in this infographic.
The future of SOX and internal controls: incorporating ESG
Internal audit has an important role in advancing the evolution of risk assessments, information aggregation, and reporting management in response to environmental, social and governance (ESG).
They work collaboratively with us to identify opportunities to streamline our process and reduce our overall SOX compliance efforts on a continuous basis.Chief Financial Officer of a major public corporation
Our strategic alliances
AuditBoard
Together, Baker Tilly and AuditBoard provide clients with a solution that augments the transformation and optimization of their financial management, risk and compliance functions. The pairing combines deep advisory experience and insight with advanced audit technology to enhance GRC management. Read the press release.
In this episode of Agents of Change, Heather Acker, risk advisory managing partner, and Richard Chambers, senior internal audit advisor at AuditBoard, share their perspectives on internal audit and the future of the profession.
Workiva
Baker Tilly and Workiva create value-driven offerings to transform and optimize an organization’s governance, risk and compliance (GRC) functions and support their ESG journeys with enhanced reporting insights. Through our alliance, Baker Tilly and Workiva can help organizations streamline risk management processes and compliance reporting within a cloud-based platform. Read the press release.
Our professionals
Since we’ve transitioned to Baker Tilly, the team has helped us rationalize our control environment, update process documentation, and test the necessary controls. They also work collaboratively with us to identify opportunities to streamline.Chief Financial Officer of a public company
Client stories
Manufacturing company successfully realigns its global control environment
Baker Tilly assists manufacturer with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
Publicly traded manufacturer improves financial reporting control environment after SOX compliance review
Baker Tilly assisted management in re-engineering the IT SOX program within the company and completed the design and operating effectiveness testing of the internal control environment for IT SOX compliance.
REIT improves business processes and operations while ensuring SOX compliance with outsourced internal audit function
A REIT was looking for an outsourced internal audit function to assist with SOX compliance. Baker Tilly became the REIT's internal audit partner.
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