Sarbanes Oxley Assistance

---

Our Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance service offerings are designed to help organizations understand and comply with requirements for corporate governance, financial transparency and internal controls. We can assist you in implementing and developing programs to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Brown Smith Wallace advantage includes:

• National and international reach
• Significant Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) experience
• A commitment to communication and knowledge transfer
• SOX program automation software
• High caliber professionals at competitive fees
• Broad and deep internal control and industry knowledge

Brown Smith Wallace professionals have been at the forefront of assisting management with the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance programs. We have led the successful implementation of many Sarbanes-Oxley programs and continue to lead programs for numerous clients. We provide a full range of Sarbanes-Oxley consulting services including:

• Project Management and Quality Assurance
• Risk Assessment and Program Design
• Documentation
• Remediation
• Testing
• Program Evaluation and Process Improvement

Our approach is to help clients design programs that are most cost-effective while delivering the level of assurance desired by the CEO and CFO. We do this by:

• Focusing on appropriate financial reporting risks
• Emphasizing true key controls
• Maximizing reliance on application controls
• Identifying opportunities to implement continuous monitoring solutions
• Coordinating (avoiding duplication) with other relevant risk management activities (e.g., internal audit, loan review, etc.)
• Working with the external auditors to allow for a maximum reliance approach

Over the last three years, we have worked with clients to help them realize annual cost savings by helping them reduce their Sarbanes-Oxley compliance effort.

Program Management and Quality Assurance

We can help you complete Sarbanes-Oxley projects on time, within budget and up to the expectations of key stakeholders (e.g., management, the audit committee and your external auditors). We provide dedicated project planning and management oversight. This enables your organization to meet its objectives in a timely and efficient manner.

Our professionals have the experience and expertise necessary to ensure your SOX project is successfully planned and completed. Our track record of successful engagements delivered on-time, within budget and meeting client expectations is a testament to the value we add to our client’s projects. All of our engagements adhere to our project management methodology, which is based upon principles and practices developed by the Project Management Institute. Our methodology is comprised of steps that encompass the lifecycle of every project.

SOX Risk Assessment and Program Design

The foundation for an effective SOX program is performing an appropriate risk assessment so that efforts can be focused on areas of greatest risk to financial reporting. Our Risk Assessment methodology provides a consistent approach understanding risk from a financial reporting (SOX) perspective. Deliverables include a risk profile, which serves as the foundation for developing a risk-based SOX compliance program. In addition, our significant SOX experience allows us to bring leading practices to help clients structure their program to be most efficient and effective. Companies look to Brown Smith Wallace to evaluate their current SOX program design with the objective of ensuring the compliance effort is most cost-effective.

Documentation

Documentation for SOX compliance requires a complete understanding and examination of the business processes that drive the financial state and the related internal controls utilized to ensure integrity.

We often help businesses realize other benefits from this documentation effort by identifying opportunities to make processes and internal controls more efficient and effective. Companies typically have opportunities to create greater consistency and clarity, reduce complexity, automate manual activities and implement real-time and continuous monitoring systems.

Remediation

We have significant experience helping companies develop programs to remediate process and internal control weaknesses. We frequently help clients design approaches and implement solutions that address these issues as well as develop policies and procedures. Our team provides cost-effective, timely and efficient remediation services with little disruption to your daily business operations.

We strive to find solutions that improve processes and control effectiveness and efficiency by creating self-sustaining solutions, automating internal controls and identifying ways to implement real-time monitoring practices.

Testing

We can help you design well-focused testing strategies and programs to evaluate whether your internal controls are appropriately designed and operating effectively. We can also perform testing of key internal controls (automated and manual), as well as manage and oversee these efforts. Whether we take a leadership role or participate as a member of your existing team, we ensure our efforts and work products are integrated with the overall Sarbanes-Oxley program.

Our experience with internal control testing allows us to focus on controls that are relevant to your financial reporting risks. This allows us to design a testing strategy that is most cost-effective.

Program Evaluation and Process Improvement

An effective Sarbanes-Oxley program should leverage leading practices, including recent SEC and PCAOB guidance, and be customized to your environment. We help clients design new programs or evaluate existing programs that are most cost-effective while delivering the level of assurance desired by the CEO and CFO. We do this by:

• Focusing on appropriate financial reporting risks
• Emphasizing true key controls
• Maximizing reliance on application controls
• Identifying opportunities to implement continuous monitoring solutions
• Coordinating (avoiding duplication) with other relevant risk management activities
• Working with the external auditors to allow for maximum reliance

Our SOX programs are effective because we require significant, active involvement from our most experienced professionals (partners, principals and managers). This is something that differentiates us from our competition.