SOX provides explicit legislative directives for SEC regulation, altering this authority division, of what was once perceived as the states' exclusive jurisdiction.

Rule 404 of the SEC

The following Executive Summary reflects the Rule 404 of the SEC:

Auditors can't critique their own work and must avoid the appearance of conflict to comply with section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. That gives CPAs a new consulting opportunity to document and test non-client companies' internal controls.

A firm interested in developing this niche has to know the skills it will need, the time and staff required, the depth of the market, the best way to approach clients, the limits on auditor involvement and what information technology tools are available.

The market exists because companies temporarily may be unable to meet the project management and staffing needs to design the section 404 internal audit functions that later will be checked by the...
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