A new study from Financial Executives International has found a steep drop in the costs of Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 compliance. The average cost was $1.7 million during fiscal 2007. It's hard to compare precisely, but the reported figure in 2006 was nearly $3 million. It's fair to say that companies are getting sharper about compliance. Of course, AS5 helped tremendously. Companies are relying on fewer controls, and generally taking a risk-based approach. Respondents (185 companies) reported needing an average of 11,100 person-hours internally to comply, an 8.6 percent drop. External hours needed dropped nearly 14 percent. Offsetting the savings? A 5 percent hike in hourly auditor fees. The bottom line is that total audit fees rose nearly 2 percent.  

For more:
- here's the release [1]

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