Sarbanes Oxley Corporate Governance

Course: SOX and Corporate Governance

Course ID:AACDPSG09

CPE Hours: 10.5

Format: PDF

Course Description:

The past few years have witnessed a number of high-profile corporate scandals: Enron, Tyco International, Healthsouth, Global Crossing, and WorldCom (now-MCI). While these are the most glaring, there are many more companies whose shareholders and employees have suffered as stock prices have fallen, such as Cisco, Nokia, Lucent Technologies, and most internet-related businesses. The course examines recent developments in finance and accounting and a series of corporate accounting scandals on the heels of the Enron debacle that have led to new sweeping accounting guidelines, proposals, and legislation—most notably, the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act. Many of the issues surrounding the SOX Act—especially Section 402, Internal Control over Financial Reporting and Sections 302 and 906, Management Certifications

—are discussed. The general issues on corporate governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR), including stock option expensing, are also covered. The illegal practice of stock option backdating is described as well.

Course Outline

Price: $95.00

Delivery: Internet/Interactve

NASBA Category: Auditing

Learning Objectives:

List and describe each of the sources of accounting irregularities and scandals.

Give some examples of recent financial restatements.
Explain the Enron debacle and its major reasons.
Define Special Purpose Entities (SPEs).
Identify the stock option controversy: to expense or not to expense.
Explain the background that led to the issuance of FASB No. 123R.
Illustrate why stock option backdating can be hazardous to shareholders.
Describe briefly a series of rules and regulations put out by the FASB, NYSE, SEC, and AIMR.
List the major features of the Corporate Responsibility Law—the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002.
Define corporate governance and describe how governance can be measured quantitatively.
Explain how software and technologies can be helpful in implementing the SOX Act.
Describe the Section 404 of the SOX Act—Internal Control over Financial Reporting.
Explain how the Section 302 and Section 906 certifications relate to the Section 404 reports.
Outline a list of questions you need to answer for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
Compare and contrast social responsibility (CSR) and business ethics.
Summarize some key sections of the SOX Act.

Level: Basic

Prerequisites: None

Updated/Revised: May 2009

Price:

$90.00