Overview
Attaining more reliable and accurate finances has always been a top priority for the office of the CFO. Since the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) was passed in 2002, however, ensuring data accuracy is no longer a sound aspiration...it’s the law for all publiccompanies listed in the United States.
In short, SOX requires CEOs and CFOs to certify their company’s quarterly 10Q and annual 10K filings to the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).
With their signatures, they must not only vouch that these filing documents truly represent the company’s financial state and the results of its operations but also that an internal system of control is in place to detect fraud and human error at both corporate and subsidiary levels.
Yet, how can CFOs guarantee data accuracy? Identifying goals and requirements and actually fulfilling them are two completely different issues. To further complicate matters, while the requirements for SEC filings are very clear, some SOX guidelines are vague and leave too much room for interpretation. The challenge, however, remains the same. CFOs need to deliver their best results in the shortest time possible.
More than ever before, today’s CFOs require a fast, reliable way to guarantee that their financial data is both 100% accurate and traceable. This applies not only for SOX compliance but also for core financial processes – such as planning, forecasting, consolidation, financial reporting and profitability analysis – that help determine and drive business performance.
Meeting compliance requirements does not help CFOs complete their other tasks let alone monitor business performance. As a result, they should not view financial governance as an additional isolated activity but as an extension of their existing financial processes. Gathering, consolidating and tracking data, for example, is just as important for planning and budgeting as it is for financial reporting. These processes, too, could benefit from automated workflows, additional transparency and less risk of manual error.
Tagetik CPM allows to manage US SEC requirements such as 10Q-10K and any other submission to regulatory bodies within one single CPM solution that unifies all processes.
