SOx--your government at work

I have yet to hear anyone that likes the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Not the underlying idea of avoiding financial scandals and making company officials liable for financial statement fraud, but the actual act itself and the incredible burden of complying. Well, I’m sure all the consulting firms that see the act as a license to print money don’t mind, but that's probably it. Fortunately I don’t get very involved in Section 404 internal control review. But I am responsible for preparing the Section 302 certificate each quarter, which is a major (pointless) pain.

For those not familiar with SOx, Section 302 requires certain officers of a company to certify the company’s financial reports. Which means this gets pushed down to someone like me to compile a list of possible things that could impact the reports. My checklist includes getting input from every area of the company on any little thing that may be an issue. And then the internal auditors come around once a year to make sure I’m documenting everything—a true CYA move in this litigious environment.

If Dante were to visit the inferno again, I would hope there is a special level reserved for those that wrote this act which causes such an incredible drain on our resources. Your government at work--adding new ways to take your mind off of actually working for anyone but them.