The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Friday that it has once again extended the deadline for non-accelerated public companies to comply with Section 404(b) of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX 404). This extension will expire beginning with the annual reports of companies with fiscal years ending on or after June 15, 2010. This expiration date previously had been for fiscal years ending on or after Dec. 15, 2009.

According to the SEC's press release, "the extension was granted so that the SEC\2019s Office of Economic Analysis could complete a study of whether additional guidance provided to company managers and auditors in 2007 was effective in reducing the costs of compliance. Because the study was published less than three months before the December 15 deadline, the Commission determined that additional time is appropriate and reasonable so that small public companies and their auditors can better plan for the required auditor attestation."

Under SOX 404(b), auditors of public companies are required to perform an audit of the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR). The smallest public companies, those with a public float below $75 million, are still required to design, implement, test, and document internal controls. However, their auditors will not be required to attest to the effectiveness of these controls until fiscal years ending after June 15, 2010. For more information, please contact Brian Mandell-Rice, National Director of Public Company Practice Area, at 303.298.9600 or bmandell-rice@heincpa.com.

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