Sarbanes-Oxley

Sarbanes-Oxley has become the ad hoc standard for financial transparency, trust, and corporate accountability. While mandatory for all publicly-owned companies, Sarbanes-Oxley is also becoming a best practice for all types of companies who wish to identify with good governance practices.
A significant amount of attention is currently focused on Section 302 (Disclosure) and Section 404 (Internal Controls). Sarbanes-Oxley Sections 302 and 404 are designed to ensure information required to be disclosed is initiated, processed, recorded, and reported, and that management has assessed the effectiveness of internal controls regarding the reliability of financial reporting.
CEOs and CFOs of public companies must:

• Certify that they have reviewed financial statements and each annual or quarterly report.
• Certify that each such report fairly represents the company's financial condition.
• Certify that they have established and are maintaining internal controls
• Ensure the effectiveness of such internal controls every quarter.
• Address significant changes in internal controls or other factors that could significantly affect such controls.
• Identify corrective actions taken regarding deficiencies/weaknesses in controls.
• Disclose any significant deficiencies in internal controls and/or any fraud involving persons with a significant role in upholding such controls