Small Business News

• Forbes: Where's The Stimulus For Small Business? (February 24, 2009)
• USA Today: Business Founders Likely to Emerge from Meltdown (February 23, 2009)
• Reuters: U.S. Broadband Stimulus Likely to Aid Smaller Firms (February 20, 2009)
• TIA Podcast Interview with Small-Business Leader Tamara Casey of 4DK Technologies (January 19, 2009)

SEC Extends Deadline on Sarbanes-Oxley Survey

January 22, 2009

The SEC announced it has extended from January 16 to January 31 the deadline for public companies to participate in a voluntary Web-based survey about the costs and benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) Section 404. The Chamber strongly urges companies to participate in this survey. Participation allows small businesses an opportunity to provide input to the SEC on the impacts of SOX.

SOX Section 404 requires companies to conduct independent audits and internal management assessments of their internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR).

The cost-benefit study was announced by the SEC in February 2008 to assess the effect of previous measures taken by itself and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).  In connection with the study, the SEC proposed a one-year extension of Section 404's auditor attestation requirement for smaller companies, which it later approved in June.

The survey is open to any company with Section 404 compliance experience in the United States or globally. 

Results from the survey will inform its ongoing cost-benefit study of Section 404 implementation.  The cost-benefit study has a special focus on the consequences for smaller companies, who are scheduled to begin complying with Section 404's independent audit requirements at the end of the year. It has been reported that more than 2,000 companies already have completed the survey.

Chamber Efforts to Adjust SOX 404 Implementation

Last year, CCMC filed a comment letter with the SEC supporting the proposed one-year delay of the implementation date for Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404(b) for small businesses and applauding the SEC’s initiative to study the costs of Section 404 under the new rules.

In 2007, we submitted comments to the SEC and the PCAOB highlighting the disproportionate impact of Section 404 on smaller public companies.  The Chamber, working with others, also released the results of a survey conducted to quantify the expected cost to small businesses based on the current SOX 404 implementation dates.  In December 2007, the Chamber, along with other industry representatives, testified before the House Small Business Committee to highlight some of the key findings from the study.

Information about the SEC’s Section 404 survey project is available at http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/404survey.htm.

Please contact Tom Quaadman at (202) 463-5540 or tquaadman@uschamber.com with any questions.