Management of public companies of all sizes are now responsible for assessing their internal controls over financial reporting to identify material weaknesses, remediate them, and conclude if any still exist as of the end of their fiscal year. This responsibility includes; SOX-404 compliance planning, documenting internal control design, risk identification and assessment, evaluating the design, testing the controls, correcting weaknesses, and reporting on the results. Without a question this has been a painful process for many companies that have led to value-destruction. The seminar's objective is to offer important considerations to reduce your SOX-404 costs, while still meeting SOX-404 requirements and limiting financial reporting risks. Indeed, this training looks at case studies and methodologies to strengthen your control environment through more cost effective controls to enhance the audit committee and external auditor comfort levels.

Topics covered include:

• Overview of SOX-404 requirements
• Common material weaknesses and underlying causes
• How to keep SOX compliance costs under control
• A top-down, risk based approach
• Understanding the COSO Framework To determine scope and boundaries
• Establishing scope – the most important cost driver
• Using materiality with the risk-based approach to identify the greatest risks
• Leveraging the control matrix-your all important dashboard
  • Using the trail balance as the beginning point for your master control matrix
  • Understanding the precise definition of a "key" control
  • How to address the 5 GAAP assertions
  • How address authorizations and anti-fraud controls
  • Who, what, when, where, why and how to capture crucial compliance information
  • Best practices for SOX documentation
• Conquering Entity-Level Controls
  • Understanding the pervasive nature of entity-level controls
  • Why the board of directors is the most important control of all
  • Documenting "the tone-at-the-top" and other soft controls
• Examining IT controls through the COBIT framework
• Pursuing a win-win in documenting control design
• Trends and take-aways for streamlining SOX-404