The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Essay - 1162 Words

Introduction The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or SOX Act, was enacted on July 30, 2002. Since it was enacted that summer it has changed how the public business handle their accounting and auditing. The federal law was made coming off of a number of large corporations involved in scandals. For example a company like Enron was caught in accounting fraud in late 2001 when the company was using false financial statements. Once Enron was caught that had many lawsuits filed against them and had to file for bankruptcy. It was this scandal that played a big part in producing the Sarbanes-Oxley act in 2002. Sarbanes-Oxley Act: What is it? The Sarbanes-Oxley act also goes by ‘Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act’ or also the†¦show more content†¦The new Sarbanes-Oxley Act passed with flying colors. In the Senate it passed unanimously 99 to 0, while in the House of Representatives it passed 423 in favor, 3 opposed, and 8 abstaining. Later that year, on July 30, 2002, President George W. Bush signed off on it making it a law. Why Was the Act Created? Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley created the act to keep businesses from producing false financial documents just to get investors to invest into the company because it appears that the business is doing very well. Companies like Enron under this new act couldn’t produce the false accounting statements without first having an auditor coming in and checking over the inventories or book keeping data. Now investors can relax a little more and not worry that the financial statements are falsified or are generalized and rounded up to make the company look good. Investors can trust that the auditors are doing their job and verifying the books and data for those companies. How Does the Act Affect the Business? It affects the businesses by making the corporate officers can interact with the auditors. The act gives more independence to outside auditors as well. With the new act every business should know that every financial statement they produce should be valid and able to be backed up. Businesses can no longer get off the hook for simply not knowing that they wereShow MoreRelatedSarbanes Oxley Act1322 Words   |  6 PagesSarbanes-Oxley Act The Sarbanes-Oxley is a U.S. federal law that has generated much controversy, and involved the response to the financial scandals of some large corporations such as Enron, Tyco International, WorldCom and Peregrine Systems. These scandals brought down the public confidence in auditing and accounting firms. The law is named after Senator Paul Sarbanes Democratic Party and GOP Congressman Michael G. Oxley. It was passed by large majorities in both Congress and the Senate and coversRead MoreAnalysis of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act3143 Words   |  13 PagesAnalysis of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Abstract The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was enacted in July 30, 2002, by Congress to protect shareholders and the general public from fraudulent corporate practices and accounting errors and to maintain auditor independence.    In protecting the shareholders and the general public the SOX Act is intended to improve the transparency of the financial reporting.    Financial reports are to be certified by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial OfficerRead MoreEssay on The Sarbanes-Oxley Act852 Words   |  4 Pagestoday that are using the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) legislation that helps to safeguard their company and their financial records. The Sarbanes-Oxley act began in 2002 and the purpose behind this act was to protect organizations, it had a major impact on accounting and record keeping. 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