The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush on July 30, 2002, brought sweeping reforms that have an impact on broad areas of corporate governance, auditing and disclosure, and carry implications for nearly every CFO, CEO, COO, controller and board member in corporate America.

When signing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, President Bush said, "Today I sign the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This law says to shareholders that the information you receive from a company will be true and reliable, for those who deliberately sign their names to deception will be punished."

We all live in the Age of Consequences, especially chief officers. After all, SEC sets out penalties for willful and knowing violations of this section are a fine of as much as $5 million and/or imprisonment for up to 20 years.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act transfers liability and responsibility from the corporate entity to chief officers. Under section 404, chief officers must certify that internal controls are in place.

Of Sarbanes-Oxley's numerous sections, 404 is the most complex and specialized to comply with. Previously, all audits began with a blank piece of paper; section 404 requires an auditor-to-auditor communication, prior to both the independent auditor's evaluation of internal controls and the chief officer's certification.

Management signs off on policies, processes, methodologies, people and responsibilities, and verifies that systems actually exist and are functioning effectively. Specifically, the following details must be in place: 1) easily monitored business process models; 2) managed records and documents; 3) written list of employees' responsibilities and accountability; 4) risk controls to provide a 48-hour snapshot of what took place in the system, when and by whom.

Through Sarbanes-Oxley, corporations will embrace "best practice" technology and vastly improve the connections between process, people and technology. Furthermore, the SEC recommends COSO evaluation criteria to evaluate Sarbanes-Oxley section 404 because the process provides assurance regarding effectiveness and efficiency of operations and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. ßetaWatch is well-versed in COSO evaluation criteria, and regularly posts a free quick and informative e-note http://www.betawatch.com/sarbanes-oxley-primer/index.htm.

ßetaWatch can help management keep up with the stringency required by Sarbanes-Oxley, section 404. ßetaWatch would like to be your technology audit partner to help you achieve, within specified timeframes, section 404 compliance.

ßetaWatch Inc. digital due diligence™

ßetaWatch Inc. President and Senior Consultant Temi Grafstein and her team provide Sarbanes-Oxley approved COSO -- Internal Controls -- Integrated Framework that provides assurance regarding the achievement of effectiveness and efficiency of operations and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. We comply with the International Organization for Standardization’s document, ISO 9126, a worldwide standard for software-product evaluation and quality characteristics.

We have provided technology audit services for clients in a wide range of technologies including middleware, virtual private network, customer-relationship management, e-commerce, firewall, knowledge management, transaction switch, point of sale, media convergence, online auction, information warehousing, and P2P.

Grafstein developed ßetaWatch's propriety software and system audit tools, digital due diligence™, to accelerate revenue growth.

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