Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Requirements

Signed into law by President George W. Bush on July 30, 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is focused on the proper management and disclosure of corporate financial data. It states that anyone who knowingly and intentionally alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies or makes a false entry in any record or document shall be prosecuted and fined under the law.

An independent research recently released estimates that Sarbanes-Oxley spending next year will once again top $6 billion. Of that amount, thirty-two percent of $1.9 billion will be spent on technology. Why is this the case? Traditionally companies have focused on the human side of adhering to the SOA, although this focus has very proved costly to maintain. Companies are beginning to see the benefit of deploying technology to manage the requirements SOA.

How Can Enterprise 21 Support SOX Compliance?

• Secure system log on and tracking
• Transactions are recorded and accounted for properly
• Online support of corporate policies and procedures
• Segregation of duties via multi-level system security
• Online approvals and authorization for key transactions
• Online reporting of financial data
• Timely information capture and accessibility
• Strict adherence to GAAP
• Proper period ending
• Workflow management and exception reporting

How Does the IT Department Influence SOX Compliance?

The IT department has direct influencer over a company’s SOX compliance. This team supports and helps control the flow of financial data, while also maintaining the adherence to internal controls throughout the organization. This is accomplished through corporation’s business software, which is most cases is closely tied to the organization’s business processes. For most firms, one cannot exist without the other.

A firm’s business or enterprise software automates the documentation and control of daily transactions and processes, while also maintaining the flow of these transactions to ensure they are in fact compliant. The system provides the basis for any financial reporting and thus the data required for any CFO or CEO to validate the financial statements are in accurate.

To learn more about TGI’s Enterprise 21 software solution and 21 CFR Part 11, contact a sales representative at 800-837-0028.