The Impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on Auditing Research Paper

The Impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on Auditing - Research Paper Example Within this context of understanding there are a number of specific requirements. These elements are the necessity of auditors to identify all significant financial reporting elements, including both accounts and disclosures ("Sarbanes-oxley section 404:," 2008). Within these accounts and disclosures, the relative level of risks associated with a potential accounting error must be designated ("Sarbanes-oxley section 404:," 2008). After the identification of these risks have been established, entity-level controls must be established as a means of mitigating accounting error risk with effectiveness ("Sarbanes-oxley section 404:," 2008). This ensures that situation and organizationally specific auditing and accounting measures are developed to further improve accurate financial statements ("Sarbanes-oxley section 404:," 2008). Similarly, transaction-level controls must be implemented in situations where entity-level controls do not apply ("Sarbanes-oxley section 404:," 2008). Finally a comprehensive assessment mechanisms must be implemented that takes into account the nature, extent, and timing of the financial accounting inputs to assure accuracy and precision. the Sarbanes-Oxley Act demonstrates a drastic shift in accounting and auditing standards. In this context of understanding, before the implementation of SOX corporate firms, while required to record financial measures, were oftentimes able to escape stringent account practices by intentionally or unintentionally neglecting the efficient recording of financial inputs. Before SOX corporations such as Enron and WorldCom were able to strategically create inefficient processes wherein aspects of corporate financial inputs that reflected unfavorably on the organization were able to conveniently implement outdated or poor assessment procedures ("Sox 404 reduces," 2010). Conversely, after the passage of SOX 404 top-down risk assessment, auditors were required to not simply examine an