Why Really Real Time® technology is vital in the quest for meeting Sarbannes Oxley and other financial reporting standards.
Accountancy is in a mess. 20 Years ago Chartered Accountants were the trusted guardians of public companies, reporting cycles were long enough to reconcile all the control accounts and the General Ledger was sacrosanct, with all financial reports flowing from it.
Today, the pressure on management accountants to close the books and turn around the numbers is becoming intolerable, and the traditional General Ledger controls are being cast aside for quick-fix solutions and promises to "find the variance next month."
Enter Paul Sarbanes and Michael Oxley and not a moment too soon. Thanks to the Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002, there are now legal controls in place that pose a serious threat to the liberty of such accounting practices: soon the accuracy of your numbers is going to be extremely relevant if you want to keep out of jail. You can't play Monopoly with your business anymore; there is no get out of jail free card in this game.
This act is just part of a series of corporate governance controls being introduced throughout the world. The International Financial Reporting Standard is soon to be introduced in 2005, will also place greater emphasis in providing consistent financial reporting by publicly quoted companies in Europe.
The importance of the Sarbanes Oxley legislation is not only that financial reports need to be compliant, but that the processes involved in actually producing the reports also has to stand up to scrutiny. This is why having Really Real Time® systems are essential. Any system that duplicates the data away from your General Ledger during the month and year end close cycle is endangering the accuracy of your financial information. It's why Really Real Time® Inquiry Suite is not only a great tool for providing insightful management information, but it may just keep your CFO out of jail.
