Financial Services

Corporate Governance, Internal Controls

Changes in corporate governance in the United States were codified with the passage of the Sarbanes Oxley Act in 2002. The act requires, amongst other things, sign off by public companies' CEO's and CFO's on the effectiveness of their internal controls over financial reporting. This has resulted in most U.S. public companies documenting (or re-documenting) all of their internal processes to ensure they are effective in detecting a fraud or material misstatement.

Canada's answer to Sarbanes Oxley is Bill 198. Some may think that all of these new laws are a necessary evil, benefiting nobody except the accountants who are retained to perform most of the documentation work. However for most companies, this presents an area of opportunity to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness.

By reviewing and documenting internal processes a company can:

A process review will not only give senior management comfort that their internal controls are effective but should also result in cost savings by implementing improvements where necessary. Click here to see how Aries can help you with your documentation and process review.