As organizations complete their second year of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) compliance, executives and audit committees are expecting more value with lower costs. Fulfilling these expectations will require a shift from simply repeating the same SOX project each year, to a sustainable, cost-effective compliance process that is embedded into business as usual.

For many companies, significant opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their SOX compliance efforts reside at the application level. The questions answered in this booklet have risen in our discussions with clients and others in the marketplace who frequently deal with SOX compliance matters and are focused on improving internal control over their critical business applications.