Survey Reveals Costs of Sarbanes-Oxley
A survey done for the Independent Community Bankers of America shows that Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act will have a significant effect on the cost of auditing for community banks.
Section 404 changes the way management oversees internal controls and how outside auditors report on the effectiveness of those controls. According to the ICBA survey, the average community bank will spend more than $200,000 on outside audit fees, consulting fees, software costs, and vendor costs to comply with 404 provisions. The provisions will increase outside audit fees an average of $87,198 - about 52 percent of total annual financial statement audit fees, the survey also found. They will require an average of 2,079 internal staff hours and $86,000 in software and consulting costs.
Copyright © 2005 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 15, No. 4, 5/05
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