SOX Compliance - Average costs to be compliant

Companies are getting more savvy about compliance. Who wants to go to jail or have shareholder value dive? Here are some figures associated with compliance to SOX.

A Foley & Lardner survey found that out-of-pocket costs associated with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance rose 12 percent last year. This is an average of $10 million for large companies with $1 billion plus in revenue. This is a pretty large increase. Fees include vendor-based auditing and legal services. This, to my knowledge, did'nt include technology to manage the process internally. The audit fees rose 6 percent vs. 3 percent in 2005, In 2004 that increase was a whopping 67 percent. Other fees like legal fees and board compensation have made the costs rise too. The survey also found that 1 in 4 people say they are thinking about going private which is the same as 2006.