GAO-25-107500, SARBANES-OXLEY ACT: Compliance Costs Are Higher for ...
...GAO was asked to review the compliance costs and other effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Among its objectives, this report examines the compliance costs associated with Section 404 of the act, and the effects of the Section 404(b) exemption, such as on companies and the reliability of their financial information....
https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-25-107500.pdf
GAO Finds that SOX Costs are Proportionally Higher for Smaller Companies
...The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report on the costs of compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). In Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Compliance Costs Are Higher for Larger Companies, GAO found that compliance costs are higher for larger companies but proportionally more burdensome for smaller ones. SOX Section 404 imposes two requirements on public companies ......
https://www.auditupdate.com/post/gao-finds-that-sox-costs-are-proportionally-higher-for-smaller-companies
Financial reporting rules boost trust ? but small firms still face ...
...Summary: Keeping financial reporting honest is critical, but for smaller public companies, meeting Sarbanes-Oxley requirements can be a costly challenge. A new GAO report finds that while compliance boosts transparency, the burden of auditor fees and internal controls hits small firms harder ......
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/financial-management/2025/08/financial-reporting-rules-boost-trust-but-small-firms-still-face-steep-compliance-costs/
Deregulation: Will Sarbanes-Oxley Reform Make the Short List ...
...The GAO analysis found what everybody already knows, which is that: Larger (nonexempt) companies generally incurred higher overall Sarbanes-Oxley compliance costs, but these costs were proportionally more burdensome for smaller (exempt) companies....
https://www.thecorporatecounsel.net/blog/2025/07/deregulation-will-sarbanes-oxley-reform-make-the-short-list.html
Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Costs: Size Matters, Burden Differs ? Fed ...
...GAO?s June 2025 report GAO-25-107500 reveals that Sarbanes-Oxley section 404 compliance costs scale higher in dollars for big firms but hit smaller public companies harder proportionally, with audit fees spiking 13 percent when firms lose their exemption. Exemptions free cash but correlate with weaker controls and more restatements, raising investor-confidence questions....
https://www.fedcontractpros.com/blog/sarbanes-oxley-compliance-costs-size-matters-burden-differs
A Question on SOX Compliance Costs - Radical Compliance
...Brace yourselves, SOX compliance professionals! A new government report finds that Sarbanes-Oxley compliance costs are generally higher for large public companies, but more onerous for smaller ones ? confirming what everyone in the field has already known for, like, the last 20 years. The report was released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office last Friday. Its stated purpose was to ......
https://www.radicalcompliance.com/2025/07/22/a-question-on-sox-compliance-costs/
GAO Issues Report on Internal Control Audits for Small Companies
...Earlier this month, the General Accounting Office issued a report on the impact of the exemption of small public companies from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act?s internal control attestation requirements. In 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act exempted public companies with market capitalization of less than $75 million from section 404 (b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires that public companies obtain ......
https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/blogs/keeping-current-disclosure-and-governance-developments/gao-issues-report-on-internal-control-audits-for-small-companies
Sarbanes Oxley News, Sarbanes Oxley Compliance Professionals ...
...Similarly, auditor fees are not itemized specifically for Section 404(b) compliance (they typically are included in total audit fees). Thus, available data and analysis on compliance costs are limited....
https://www.sarbanes-oxley-association.com/Sarbanes_Oxley_News_July_2025.pdf
Costs of Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance - Sox-Online
...At first, the SEC projected conservatively that compliance with Section 404 alone would cost $1.24 billion (or $91,000 per company) annually to implement Section 404 (a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act....
https://www.sox-online.com/costs/
Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Compliance Costs Are Higher for Larger Companies ...
...GAO was asked to review the compliance costs and other effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Among its objectives, this report examines the compliance costs associated with Section 404 of the act, and the effects of the Section 404 (b) exemption, such as on companies and the reliability of their financial information....
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-107500
2025 Sarbanes Oxley Compliance Requirements for Sections 302, 404, 409 ...
...According to a 2008 SEC survey of officers at public companies, Sarbanes-Oxley cost the average company $2.3 million annually in direct compliance costs, including staff time, documentation, and external audits, compared with estimates of $91,000 in annual costs before the Act was passed....
https://sarbanes-oxley-101.com/?v=1.0.24
House Panel Revisits Sarbanes-Oxley as Smaller Companies Cite Rising ...
...As Republican lawmakers seek to reduce compliance burdens for public companies, Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was once again the main topic of discussion during a House hearing....
https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/news/house-panel-revisits-sarbanes-oxley-as-smaller-companies-cite-rising-burdens/