Six Benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance

As much as accelerated filers griped about the burden of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance in the initial years, one part of a new study from business consulting and internal audit firm Protiviti revealed that their tunes change a bit as they gain more experience with meeting those requirements.

Specifically, in the survey of more than 400 executives and professionals across a variety of industries, 70 percent said the benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance outweigh the cost. Over time, the many man hours and all the money spent on software to automate controls, consultants, auditors, filing fees, etc., pays off.

A majority (87 percent) of respondents to Protiviti’s survey said complying with Sarbanes-Oxley reaps benefits – beyond avoiding trouble from regulators. Click through to see what six of those benefits are.

Fifty-four percent of respondents said Sarbanes-Oxley compliance allows them to better understand how their internal controls are designed and what makes them effective.

Forty-six percent of respondents agreed that continued compliance allows the internal audit team to focus more of its time and energy on performing traditional audits.

Forty-three percent of respondents said that continued Sarbanes-Oxley compliance leads to more effective and efficient operations.

More than one-third (39 percent) of respondents agreed that compliance allows their external auditors to rely more often on the work that has already been done by the internal audit team rather than retesting every control.

The further a company is in its Sarbanes-Oxley compliance journey, the easier it is to identify and eliminate duplicate controls or controls that are otherwise unnecessary, according to 36 percent of respondents.

Thirty-four percent of respondents say compliance costs – particularly for Section 404 and Section 302 requirements – decline as the compliance effort advances beyond the first few years.