I had mentioned earlier here that Sarbanes Oxley 404 compliance needs to be taken up as a project. Over the last 3-4 years there have been many companies which have succeeded and some companies which have failed in their 404 compliance efforts. I had the opportunity to interview many CFOs and SOX Directors during a recent conference. I asked these people what they thought were some success factors as well as some reasons why Sarbox projects fail. Below is a summary of the answers that I received.

Why Sarbanes Oxley Projects Succeed

1. Planning and on going control are two most important success factors.
2. Having the right leadership, defining stakeholder expectations are also important.
3. Lastly many SOX directors agreed that appropriate team organization and appropriately scheduling tasks is equally important.

Why Sarbanes Oxley Projects Fail

1. Under-estimating the complexity has been listed as the most major failure reason by compliance directors.
2. Disorganized deployment of resources, unclear roles and responsibilities is second on the list for most CFOs.
3. Lack of commitment, differing expectations and undefined deadlines are also factors attributing to SOx project failures.

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