Remediation Services

Virtually all aspects of the Sarbanes / Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) require some form of remediation from organization to organization.  By this, we generally accept the philosophy  that most companies who start out on the road to SOX compliance will have to perform some type of remediation in order to achieve the compliance anticipated under the SOX Act, as promulgated by the United States Congress in 2002.  What do we mean whenever we discuss the term remediation?  Well the definition provided in Webster’s Dictionary is “the act or process of correcting or     counteracting” something that is not currently operating correctly, efficiently or is not in place to alert or prevent unacceptable events from occurring.  Thus as we apply  this definition to SOX, it affects the following areas:

• The revision of existing internal controls or financial reporting processes, after “SOX Implementation”, in order for them to operate as originally envisioned;

• The establishment of internal controls or financial reporting mechanisms, after “SOX Implementation”, in areas where they do not currently exist;

• The revision of internal controls or financial reporting processes, after “Management Testing”, when determined not be operating as envisioned through a SOX audit; and

• The revision of internal controls or financial reporting mechanisms, after ongoing monitoring through Section 302 disclosures, when determined not to  be operating as required.

Remediation services require the use of knowledgeable, experienced and control oriented professionals in as much as re-engineering a control or reporting process requires skill and the ability to work closely with those who run or operate   the control (Owners).  Some of the   steps involved in a remediation effort might include the following:

1. Identify source of audit or control failure;

2. Flowchart process and determine recommended remediation steps;

3. Determine if failure is control based or operation based (Process adherence);

4. If a control based failure, then develop solution to issues and implement;

5. If a operation based failure, then determine why the process was not followed  or what influences affected the failure;

6. Work with client personnel to recommend solution to process failure and document;

7. Monitor solutions for one cycle to ensure compliance with the internal control   or financial reporting process;

8. Report status of internal control or financial reporting remediation efforts on a weekly basis; and

9. Notify internal audit to re-test the control or reporting process, but only after at least   one operating cycle of the “fix” has occurred.

As can be seen, remediation of control or reporting failures is not simple and requires  significant effort on the part of both the individuals remediating the deficiency and those who must implement the “fix”.   Most organizations do not maintain enough resources to staff the day-to-day operations, develop remediatation solutions for the control and reporting failures   and then implement the control or reporting “fixes”.  This is where GTS can be of significant assistance!

Why GTS Network

GTS brings just the right combination of resources and knowledge to the project, saving our customers valuable costs which can be used elsewhere in the Company.  We hire and place  on each engagement only the best professionals available and we guarantee that our pricing and overall cost estimates will be the most advantageous  to you the Client.  At GTS we want to be your SOX partner!

 Global Technology Solutions, LLC (Your One-Stop SOX Consultant)