Business Commons^™

Audit Committee Material Weaknesses In Smaller Reporting Companies, Audrey A. Gramling, Dana R. Hermanson, Heather M. Hermanson

Faculty and Research Publications

One of the critical elements of internal control over financial reporting is an effectively functioning audit committee. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) defines an audit committee as " committee (or equivalent body) established by and amongst the board of directors of an issuer for the purpose of overseeing the accounting and financial reporting processes of the issuer and audits of the financial statements of the issuer." Recent SOX section 404 filings by smaller reporting companies ("nonaccelerated filers," or registrants with less than $75 million of public float), however, indicate that some small companies still are struggling to develop effective …