A Comparison of CFOs' and CPAs' Perceptions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the PCAOB

Nancy T. Hill, PhD, CPA, and John E. McEnroe, DBA, CPA, and Kevin T. Stevens, DBA, CPA

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) has been in effect now for over half a decade, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has been issuing auditing standards and guidance on how to implement those standards for nearly as long. The perceived merits, flaws, and consequences of SOX and the PCAOB have been reported and debated repeatedly in the financial press. Yet, William J. Dodwell notes (“Six Years of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Are We Better Off?” The CPA Journal, August 2008) that the question remains “Are we better off?” since the implementation of SOX. We have also asked ourselves this question, and it motivated us to engage in a series of research projects involving various facets of SOX and the PCAOB that may help find an answer by providing feedback from professionals who have been tasked with implementing and working with SOX.