Practical Guide to Corporate Governance and Accounting: Implementing the Requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Product Description
Practical Guide’s author, David Hardesty was voted one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting” for 2006 by Accounting Today magazine, for the third time.

RIA and WG&L are proud to offer an indispensable service created specifically to help you reach your compliance goals: Practical Guide to Corporate Governance and AccountingImplementing the Requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.:
This authoritative service includes analysis, explanations, sample client letters, checklists and tables to help you understand exactly how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the related SEC and PCAOB rules and regulations affect you and your company or firm. The Practical Guide also offers cross-reference tables grouped into who-isaffected categories so you to can determine what actions to take. In additiont there is special focus on:
Management’s new responsibilities under Sarbanes-Oxley;
The impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on accountants who audit public companies, as well as the impact on those who do not perform public company audits;
The impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on nonprofit organizations;
The impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on private corporations;
Audit committee responsibilities under Sarbanes-Oxley;
The internal control and information technology requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley.
Recent updates to the Practical Guide include expanded sections covering numerous topics such as PCAOB restrictions on tax services, standards for independence and ethics, and different approaches to the evaluation of internal control. New material has been added including a new section concerning PCAOB Auditing Standards No. 4, Reporting on Whether a Previously Reported Material Weakness Continues to Exist, a new section that discusses the results of the initial year of section 404 testing, and a new section concerning the corporate tax department.

Order from Amazon TODAY —> Practical Guide to Corporate Governance and Accounting: Implementing the Requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Internal Control Strategies: A Mid to Small Business Guide

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Praise for Internal Control Strategies A Mid to Small Business Guide

“Internal Control Strategies is an excellent field guide for the implementation and maintenance of efficient and effective internal control systems. The book provides a practical approach to interpreting guidance from oversight agencies and integrating it with industry practice in a real-world environment. This handbook is an essential tool for managers and professionals going through the day-to-day struggle of managing auditor expectations and permitting business to proceed in the most efficient manner.”
-Michael Rodriguez, former senior manager of finance, Qualcomm Incorporated

“Internal Control Strategies is the clearest path forward for middle-market SEC registrants and their independent registered public accounting firms as they streamline the SOX 404 compliance process in 2008 and beyond.”
-Stephen G. Austin, MBA, CPA, Managing Firm Partner,Swenson Advisors, LLP, Regional PCAOB Accounting Firm

“Clearly written and practical, Internal Control Strategies is a must-read for every chief audit, finance, or compliance executive.”
-Jeff Miller, Partner-in-Charge, Business Risk Services,Squar, Milner, Peterson, Miranda & Williamson, LLP

“As a CFO of small to mid-sized publicly traded and privately held companies, one is usually faced with the challenge of developing and implementing the right levels of internal controls and compliance within the restrictions of limited financial and human resources. Internal Control Strategies presents the relevant topics in a clear and concise manner, allowing the reader to understand the internal control framework and specific underlying requirements quickly. The author’s vast experience with SOX compliance ensures a targeted and pragmatic approach for the successful implementation of internal controls. Her recommendations are ‘to the point’ and eliminate some of the guesswork we all have experienced while working towards SOX compliance.”

-Robert S. Stefanovich, Chief Financial Officer, Novalar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

The SEC requires all publicly traded companies to attest to theeffectiveness of their internal controls.

Is your business ready?

Internal Control Strategies: A Mid to Small Business Guide clearly explains the latest PCAOB, SEC, and COSO guidance, providing you with an effective tool and reference guide for successful implementation of sections 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Extremely knowledgeable and insightful, author Julie Harrer brings practical clarity to this complex topic, leading you step by step in addressing the challenges associated in bringing your business in compliance with SOX.

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Trade Secret Asset Management: An Executive’s Guide to Information Asset Management, Including Sarbanes-Oxley Accounting Requirements for Trade Secrets

Product Description
Of all the intangible assets, trade secrets are the most valuable and the most intangible of all. Their existence depends entirely on the standard of care applied by the information owner. Failure to meet this standard of care can result in the loss of the company’s entire portfolio of trade secrets without any legal recourse. Trade Secret Asset Management provides essential understanding of the legal, security, and accounting issues surrounding trade secret assets. The legal discussion includes the definition of trade secrets, their importance to the corporation, and the manner in which they are defended or lost. Security issues include protecting trade secrets against insider and outsider theft, and the often neglected issue of inbound security. The accounting section details the processes of inventory, identification, valuation, and reporting of trade secrets, and concludes with a discussion of new corporate responsibilities for trade secret assets under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. From the 120-year-old formula for Coca-Cola to yesterday’s enhancements to Google’s search technology, trade secrets drive the competitive advantage and shareholder value of today’s corporations. Trade Secret Asset Management is the only book written for the executive suite that provides the knowledge and understanding required to take maximum advantage of the corporation’s most valuable property-its trade secrets.

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Sustained SOX: A practical guide for implementing a sustainable Sarbanes Oxley process Volume I of III

Product Description
This is Volume I of III. This entire series is based on our practical experience in the design, implementation and assessment of internal control frameworks since 2003. The primary focus is on providing you with pragmatic methods for developing a sustainable series of Sarbanes Oxley processes. VOLUME I This volume introduces to the initial set of required procedures. The entire SOX process is reviewed in detail with examples, forms and formats provided to assist you in developing sustainable, cost efficient processes. • The SOX ORGANIZATION hierarchy required – includes complete roles and responsibilities for all SOX participants, • PREREQUISITES that must be established for an effective Sarbanes Oxley process – the policies, procedures, guidelines that comprise the methodology, • THE ENTITY LEVEL CONTROL PROGRAM using COSO as the framework model – including the points of focus, related controls and assessment methods including sample Interviews and Questionnaires. • THE SOX CALENDAR in detail – including the entire list of required tasks by quarter, the inter-departmental coordination requirements, the external Auditor coordination, and more, • SOX COMMUNICATIONS – how to organize and implement this critical process – this section is often ignored and leads to ineffective, costly mistakes during the initial and ongoing phases – includes training, presentations, a complete message library, library and regulatory updates and more, • The SOX REPOSITORY – the roles, responsibilities, how to implement the ongoing procedures, the validation and analysis processes that are critical to management reporting and more, • RISK ASSESSMENT PROCESSES – includes the Financial Statement Risk Assessment processes, the assignment of Significant Accounts and Processes, default Financial Assertions and more, • REPORTING AND METRICS – if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it! This section provides you with the reports and metrics that should be used to manage the entire SOX process, • DEFICIENCY MANAGEMENT PROCESSES – including combination (with non Business Unit identified deficiencies), Aggregation processes, and more, • ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES for both the Entity Level and Transaction Level programs, and • SUB CERTIFICATION PROCESSES for all organizational hierarchal levels. VOLUME II

This volume focuses on more specialized and advanced procedures in the following areas: • INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY – covers the requirements for both the Entity and Process/Transaction Level programs. Reviews in detail the General Control Computing controls, Application Level controls and End User Computing Application (EUCA) Controls, • STANDARDIZED PROCESSES AND CONTROLS– when adopted, the use of these standardized processes can reduce the overhead for ongoing SOX certifications. Volume I introduces you to this subject, • PROCESS AND CONTROL CONNECTORS AND END TO END PROCESSES – the design, implementation and assessment of complex processes and controls, • SYNCHRONIZED PROCESSES AND CONTROLS – these require coordination across multiple business units e.g. Human Resources, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, etc., and • SOX MANAGEMENT SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS – In Volume I, we introduced you to the analyses and reports required to support the SOX effort. In Volume II, we will provide you with the information on how to automate these processes. It includes complete data structures; the validation processes that should be employed (Volume I provides you with the initial validation requirements); the analyses and queries that you should execute on this validated data; etc. VOLUME III The final volume in the series focuses on: • PRESENTATION MATERIAL – includes Senior Management presentations, Audit Committee presentations, Fiscal Year End conclusion presentations, Deficiency Management presentations, etc., • TRAINING MATERIALS – includes Assessments Guidelines and Processes, Sub certifications processes, Entity Level Controls for control owners and assessment teams, etc., • ADVANCED WORKSHEETS – includes advanced, specialized worksheets for all processes, advanced report formats, special processes for IT and synchronized controls, • INTERVIEWS AND SURVEYS – includes the entire suite of interview and survey forms for all Entity Level Controls, and • ASSESSMENT WORKSHEETS AND TOOLS – includes the assessment worksheets required for all organization hierarchal elements with a summary at the Financial Statements level.

Order from Amazon TODAY —> Sustained SOX: A practical guide for implementing a sustainable Sarbanes Oxley process Volume I of III

SAS 70 | A Guide to Type I & Type II Audits

Welcome to today’s regulatory environment, where SAS 70 Type I & Type II audits have permeated the landscape like never before. Ever since the Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002, SAS 70 audits have been on the upswing, and in a big way. Sure, they were used before when the SAS 70 auditing standard was introduced in 1992, but certain provisions with the SOX act, most notably, section 404, have pushed these audits into the limelight.

If you are a service organization seeking to become SAS 70 Type I or Type II compliant, then there’s alot to learn about this highly specialized auditing standard. Once you gain a strong understanding about many of the core elements of a SAS 70 audit, you will be able to make a wise, informed decision on moving forward with the audit and with the right provider for conducting the audit.

Important Points about SAS 70 audits
Scope

You will need to find out early on what the scope of the SAS 70 audit is going to be. That is, will the audit be a straightforward general controls report, or will it include certain business processes as part of the engagement. This is important because it dictates SAS 70 pricing and it also brings into play what really needs to be covered in the audit.

Pricing
Be sure to get a fee that is fixed. Thus, all audit costs, including travel and out of pocket expenses are part of the engagement. This is imperative because out of pocket, travel and other miscellaneous expenses can be very, very costly to the audit.

SAS 70 Readiness Questionnaire & Assessments
If this is the first time your organization is undertaking a SAS 70 Type I or Type II audit, then its imperative that you start on the right track-SAS 70 readiness questionnaire assessments are what you need. They help lay the groundwork for a successful SAS 70 audit while also proving invaluable for learning about any shortcomings or deficiencies in your internal controls.

You can learn more about SAS 70 audits through publications from the AICPA. Additionally, you can visit the official SAS 70 Resource Guide.

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