The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it is extending the deadline for compliance with section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Compliance with the section initially was set to be reflected in annual reports ending on or after June 15, 2004, but has been pushed to Nov. 15 for "accelerated filers."
SEC defined an "accelerated filer" as companies with "a public float of $75 million or more as of a date within no more than 60 and no less than 30 days before the end of the company's last fiscal year." For "non-accelerated filers" the initial deadline of April 15, 2005 has been pushed to July 15, 2005.
Section 404 requires companies "to include in annual reports a report by management on the company's internal control over financial reporting and the accompanying auditor's report," SEC said in a release.
Although the Sarbanes-Oxley Act correlates primarily to financial reporting in companies publicly traded in the United States, the act--specifically section 404--has spurred corporate travel managers to set and document internal controls that deter and detect instances of abuse
(BTN, Jan. 19).