BackChannelReport: Sales & Jobs Leads

Karl Nagel | Sarbanes-Oxley

Almost four years after the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley, a number of factors have become evident that hold significance for a wide range of job seekers and professional services providers:

1. Audit firms are now restricted in providing non-audit services - this presents a number of opportunities for IT developers, systems sales and support, human resources recruiters and personnel consultants, financial services advisors and other professionals to offer services directly to public companies that had previously been controlled by audit firms.

2. Audit firms are operating in riskier environments - clients must fulfill a wide range of accounting, financial and systems requirements in order to satisfy various audit rules and regulations - SOX 404 is only one piece of the puzzle. CPA firms desire clean audits - they are now looking to outside organizations to help them and their clients meet these requirements.

3. Audit service fees have grown significantly over the last four years - the result has been a movement away from traditional Big 4 firms towards both mid-size regional and local audit firms. Who are these firms and what types of resources and capabilities do they possess? Turnover at both public companies/audit firms is most clearly seen in references to the most widely stated cause of 404 deficiencies: lack of qualified personnel.