Framework for internal controls for SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002) compliance

Abstract

Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 (SOX) was enacted to improve the transparency, accuracy and integrity of corporate financial reporting. Section 404 of the Act deals with Management's Assessment on a regular basis to document and test the existing Internal Controls which directly impact the operational risks. As part of the project we1. Come up with a framework for evaluating the existing Internal Controls in an organization, which will help it to achieve SOX compliance (Section 404). The internal controls we look closely deal with financial reporting.2. The framework developed is applied in the context of a software technology firm and we try to identify how it measures up to it. We also have identified areas of improvement and come up with recommendations to help the firm in its journey to complete SOXcompliance.3. Develop a simplified process including Excel based models/ dashboard/ tracking sheets, which would help a small or medium enterprise or a Business Unit (in the case of a bigger organization) to achieve compliance.4. We evaluate a few commercial Business Process Management packages, which help an organization to automate the control system to achieve SOX compliance.5. Finally, we evaluate Flow-briX a BPM product from Wipro to see if can be used as a SOX compliant BPM product.