Accounting Commons^™

Addressing Problems With The Segregation Of Duties In Smaller Companies, Audrey A. Gramling, Dana R. Hermanson, Heather M. Hermanson, Zhongxia Shelly Ye

Faculty and Research Publications

The article discusses the problems encountered by smaller companies in the U.S. in the segregation of duties under Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) section 404(a), which requires management to disclose its assessment of the effectiveness and weaknesses of internal control over financial reporting in the U.S. Analyses of the management report on internal control of sample companies cited by the authors showed that there are differences in the level of disclosure. The costs and benefits of using third parties in resolving segregation of duties problems are considered.