FAQ
Q) Our US office has given us instruction on what to do and templates to complete, so I don’t think we need this training.
A) You will be significantly more effective on the job and in satisfying SOX requirements if you take this training. This is the only training program that tells you why you are doing what you are doing. Only when you understand the holistic big picture (which you will get in this seminar plus workshop) will you be able to add value to the SOX compliance project above and beyond just the bare minimum requirements. The biggest mistake one can make is in assuming that SOX is just about “templates”.
Q) We don’t need to do it here, everything is done in US.
A) If there is absolutely nothing that you need to do here, then this training program may not be for you. However, if you are a wholly owned subsidiary or a significant vendor, then it makes sense for you to attend since you need to determine what to do (e.g. SAS70) and what not to do (e.g. SOX) in the context of the compliance project.
Q) We have our own internal training and updates from our head office, thus we don’t need any external training.
A) Our instructors experience compliance projects in dozens of different industries, across hundreds of different organizations, and interact with thousands of business and technology executives each year. The lessons that they can bring and the knowledge that they can share is unsurpassed as far as such training goes. It is the goal of SOX Institute to help you think outside the box and go beyond your silo, whether that be your own profession, your department, your company, and even your industry. Learn best practices from the best of the best in the industry. Why learn the hard way.
Q) Our finance operation is outsourced, thus we don’t need to undergo such training.
A) Even more reason why you need such training. Just because it is outsourced does not mean you are not responsible. And the only way you can understand and keep track of what the outsourced finance operation is doing is to attend this training. The SOX training provides the complete picture, and therefore will give you a comprehensive understanding of what the outsourced finance function should be doing in the context of SOX. Without this knowledge and understanding, you could accidentally or deliberately be “taken for a ride” by the outsourced organization.
Q) We are already in Year 2 of SOX, no longer in the implementation phase, so I don’t think this Boot Camp can help.
A) What many of our boot camp attendees who are in Year 2 and beyond say is that they wish they had attended this before they embarked on their SOX compliance initiative because they could have done a much better job with it, and saved a very significant amount of money. They are glad to have done it in Year 2 (and beyond) because it is still not too late to remedy some of the approaches that were taken in Year 1, and more importantly to be able to put in place affordable, sustainable compliance initiatives for the long-run. The boot camp is designed such that regardless of where you are in your compliance lifecycle, it will be of immense benefit to you.
Q) We are not a US listed company, thus there is no requirement for us to implement SOX or any SOX related compliance.
A) Even though we refer to this as the “SOX boot camp”, this goes beyond SOX in that it is about best practices related to corporate governance and internal controls. It is not just about SOX, but rather it applies across the spectrum of legislation, both industry specific (such as GLBA and Basel II), as well as region specific (such as Clause 49 and Bill 198). Therefore, the lessons learned are valuable in that they go beyond just SOX, but rather look at SOX as just a set of best practices that any organization, in any industry, in any country (listed in the US or not) can benefit from. It is our commitment that you will have a more streamlined, better controlled organization if you implement some of the lessons you will learn in this boot camp.
Q) We are only listed in UK/Europe/Japan, thus the SOX Act doesn’t affect us.
A) [See above.]
Q) We don’t need to be audited here for SOX compliance although we are listed in the US.
A) However, your parent company (most likely in the US) will need to be audited, and will be required to demonstrate full and complete due diligence at your location. Failure to be able to demonstrate that could result in the parent company failing its SOX audit and having to delay its filings. So even though you may not be directly audited, it is critical that your SOX compliance be just as robust as the parent company’s in the US because from the auditor’s perspective you are an integral part of the parent company.
Q) Our external auditor (eg, PWC, KPMG & etc) are already providing the SOX training.
A) The training that external auditors provide is generally very good, and in some cases sufficient for SOX compliance. However, as external auditors, including the Big-4 do agree that training is sometimes too narrowly focused from their perspective alone, and they in fact oftentimes recommend that their clients look for additional training above and beyond what they can provide. The reason for this is that SOX and similar compliance is not a cookie-cutter solution, but rather it needs to be approached from a variety of ways, and with some out-of-the-box thinking. Hence, the variety in training (between external auditors, in-house training, and off-site training where you can interact with other companies and get some really good lessons learned from them) is highly recommended.
Q) We are waiting to see if SOX is going to be a permanent inclusion or if there will be a replace with something else (eg, corporate governance requirement).
A) SOX is here to stay. It is not going away, and it is highly unlikely that it will even be “watered down”. However, regardless of what happens to SOX, corporate governance, risk management and regulatory compliance are here to stay anyways. What that means is that SOX or no SOX, companies around the world will have to adhere to corporate governance and internal controls standards similar to those established by SOX and similar legislations. This is the era of compliance, and the sooner you get your organization streamlined, the sooner you can get back to “business as usual”, as well as the sooner you will be able to reap the benefits (ROI) of adopting these business best practices.
