Question of the Week

What is the Sarbanes-Oxley law, and what resources does ASQ have about it?

A: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 – or more commonly by the acronym SOX.

This federal law was enacted in July 2002 in response to several high-profile corporate and accounting scandals, notably those involving Enron, Tyco International, and WorldCom. The aim of the law is to protect shareholders and the general public from accounting errors and fraudulent business practices by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosure.

Here is the full text of the law. (PDF, 263 KB)

ASQ is home to the ASQ Sarbanes Oxley Network. This network is open to the public without cost, but users are asked to register to participate. Registration offers access to current and future articles, networking opportunities, archived information, and much more.

ASQ also offers a Sarbanes Oxley Blog.

Articles on SOX published by ASQ include:

Sarbanes-Oxley and Six Sigma: Windfalls and Pitfalls

By Christina M. Bates and Francis R. Bates
Six Sigma Forum Magazine, August 2006

The potential benefits and drawbacks of using Six Sigma methodology to achieve SOX compliance. Open Access
Using Internal Auditing to Mitigate Risk from the Sarbanes-Oxley Law
by Sanford Liebesman

2005 ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement Proceedings

Guidance for the leaders of companies to help them keep from running afoul of SOX. Logged-in Members: Instant Access. Or you can buy a PDF.

Sarbanes-Oxley and ISO 9000
by William A. Stimson

Quality Progress, March 2005

How ISO-certified companies can use existing frameworks and prcesses to comply with SOX requirements. Logged-in Members/Subscribers: Instant Access. Or you can buy a PDF.

Sarbanes-Oxley: Pain or Gain?
By Charles G. Cobb

Quality Progress, November 2004

How building systems for SOX compliance can result in business benefits. Logged-in Members/Subscribers: Instant Access. Or you can buy a PDF.

Books available from ASQ include:

ISO 9001 & Sarbanes-Oxley: A System of Governance
by William A. Stimson

This book offers valuable insight about Sarbanes-Oxley, including its relationship with the ISO 9001 quality -anagement system standard and how an existing ISO 9001 framework can be easily integrated with a company's financial system to achieve compliance with the requirements of the act.

Sarbanes-Oxley Ongoing Compliance Guide: Templates, Key Processes, and Summary Checklists
by Anne M. Marchetti

A quick and easy implementation and maintenance guide for ongoing Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.

Manager's Guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Improving Internal Controls to Prevent Fraud
by Scott Green

While larger companies can afford to spend millions of dollars to implement control-system monitoring tools, managers of small to mid-sized companies can be unsure of how to move forward.This book provides a highly accessible, simple, and practical approach to help assess internal control structures at the transaction level.

Another Web site to visit: the Sarbanes-Oxley collection maintained by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.