To re-establish investor confidence, the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation made executive certifications of financial statements a permanent requirement for all publicly traded companies in the U.S. In doing so, they introduced a newly defined term “disclosure controls and procedures.” This expanded the concept of Internal Controls over Financial Reporting.
Internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) is mandated by the SEC for public firms to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. ICFR is essential for establishing public trust in capital markets and financial statement issuers.
SOX Section 302 became effective August 29, 2002. It stated:
“The executive certification requirement applies to companies filing quarterly/ annual reports with the SEC under Section 13(a) or 15 (d) of 1934 Exchange Act.” Since the implementation date for SOX 302 was well before SOX 404, many questions surfaced regarding the adequacy of procedures established. In addition, many companies have not significantly revisited their procedures since initially establishing them.
SOX Section 302 certification requirements are essential to proper financial reporting. All personnel should have a strong understanding of the requirements and their obligations related to SOX Section 302. This course is designed for CPAs to provide them with a deeper understanding of the requirements behind SOX Section 302, the meaning of the certifications required from management and an analysis of processes that should be continually re-evaluated for improvement.
Information within this course comes from readily available public domain documents and is utilized by the trainer as a supplement for relaying the course content.
Note: The concepts outlined in this course are up to date and relevant in regards to the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. Although there have not been any changes in the legislative concepts of the law since it’s release in 2002, some aspects of executing the work have evolved. This speaker is preparing a series of courses titled “Sarbanes-Oxley 20 years later”. Those courses can be found individually on the platform and would be beneficial for anyone involved with compliance.
NOTE: The Instructor has created 5 new segments on Sarbanes-Oxley Update - 20 Years Later:
Sarbanes-Oxley Update - 20 Years Later: Accounting Risk Assessment Considerations
Sarbanes-Oxley Update - 20 Years Later: Sourcing Emerging Risks Part 1
Sarbanes-Oxley Update - 20 Years Later: Evaluating Testing Processes
Sarbanes-Oxley Update - 20 Years Later: Sourcing Emerging Risks Part 2
Sarbanes-Oxley Update - 20 Years Later: Examining Fraud Risks
Prerequisites
No Advanced Preparation or Prerequisites are needed for this course.
Learning Objective
- Discover background Section 302 requirements
- Explore other disclosure requirements
- Identify disclosure controls and procedures
- Explore the management process
- Recognize the differences between Sections 404 and Section 302
Last updated/reviewed: July 8, 2025
(211) Reviews
(150 rating)Good refresher course that could benefit all from goal setting to delegation.
Lots of new information on big datas role with fraud detection.
Concise and direct course on the sections 806,902 qnd 906. Direct with great examples of how the sections work
Great presentation to understand the importance of HR within the budgeting and planning process of a Company.
Good overview of SOX 302, including the history, the requirements, explanations of the key components, and relation to SOX 404.
Really great course. Professionally communicated and in an interesting way that provides insight as to the nature of the inner workings of the SEC and public companies in more ways than just accounting.
Great summarized course to understand the basics of a Board of Directors structure
Found this to be the most understandable lesson so far.
I like to read the slide decks in the pdf format. The pdfs for this course were not sufficient to learn the content.
Great information about useful tools. Didn't know there were so many plugins available
This course is a very good material for beginners, but also experienced professionals. It is clearly and accessibly structured with key points brought to attention of the students.
Well explained and excellent slides for future use. Well explained and excellent slides for future use.
It's hard to distill the entire history of ethical thought down into a 2 hour business course, but I give credit to the instructor for making the effort.
What a fantastic course! This course was chock full of great tips and general ideas. Definitely a ton of "a ha" kind of moments and very helpful for those of us at the middle management level who would like to try to convince the Executive level that moving even at least to data mining would be helpful. Also, really appreciated the presenter's use of helpful visuals as well.
Very interesting course! ..................................................................
very good presentation and helpful and I agree that it will further help me in my work and upgrade my skills and knowledge
Enjoyed this course and the additional insights from the instructor. Very clear and concise concepts. Would highly recommend to organizations or individuals needing more insight to the "SOX World".
I have enjoyed so much this course, which I considered have an invaluable materials and knowledge to use as a permanent reference and to apply in SOX audit duties regularly. Thanks to Lynn for this magnificent and outstanding course because it will help me to achieve my professional goals in my Auditor career :)
Very informative course and great experience provided to learners
I enjoyed getting to now some of the automation areas that are being seen across SOX compliant companies.
The course is well organized and easy to understand!
I found the slides to be very interesting. Ms. Louis made the slides very engaging.
Great course on ethical and regulatory considerations for remote employees. This will interest you!
It is a very lengthy topic. I like it but it would be better if can have more detail of each subsection. Feel like it is not enough and wish to have more examples.
I have completed the course and have no further comments.
good course, a lot of good information provided verbally and not in slides.
The title is misleading, I thought the instructor was going to talk more about the concern of the CFO in running the organization, new technology adoption etc.
Great course with good examples of important aspects of the profession and certification.
Great introduction to bookkeeping. I would highly recommend.
Thanks for the very comprehensive course in understanding expectations under SOX standards.
I liked how the course detailed and explained the traits and skills areas.
The course material explain the full scope of the IT and its relation to controls
I like how the instructor works through simple, real examples of the close process. Good refresher.
Good overview of professional ethics for New York CPAs.
Very nice summary Very nice summary Very nice summary Very nice summary
The course covers a significant amount of material that is often uncommon such as disposal of divisions and going concern treatments. It's well done and interesting.
This was a great course to introduce me to features of excel that I have never used to give me a great understanding of how they might be used in practical everyday applications of Excel.
Presenter is easy to listen to but, the course needs real world examples - not just reading tax brackets.
Good overview of 2023 fraud trends and beyond, how account takeover happens, including the detection and prevention strategies for account takeover.
Some of the actions described no longer seem to fit in with today's accounting systems and date from a time when, for example, they were not yet used.
Great overview of the COSO and internal control processes/procedures
Excellent course on some basics of Strategic Management. Nice intro for newcomers in the workforce who have not grasped the importance of strategic placement in the market.
Amazing course! Very solid material to provide a broad understanding of how Fraud is managed according with SOX.
I liked the course because it introduces you to a short history of the regulations and how they developed over time.
This course provides some great information. The topics covered are very helpful as well.
Jim has a great teaching style making it easy to grasp the key concepts for this course. This was a very good refresher for me. Thank you Jim!
I am very happy with the training I received in these modules. I also very much appreciate all the templates and documentation provided in the last module. I know that I will be referring back to this material often in the future.
Great introduction to ITGC auditing. Like the control type split. Good knowledge of DC operating and controls.
Great exposure to Fraud Risk Management Strategy. Fraud Risk Monitoring is crucial in today's business environment. Professionals from business and accounting background could make use of the information for professional certification studies and on-job applications. I would definitely keep the notes for future reference.
A lot of material covered but nicely separated by topics.
Good overview of the basics of debits and credits and useful examples of trial balances.
This excellent course helps and encourages to use healthy scepticism to detect cash related fraud cases.
Material was a little hard to understand and retain. I would have liked more clarification
A helpful, tangible approach on the topic. Judgment and specific company factors play into a conclusion/position. The information within this webinar will be useful.
An excellent course on SOX Section 404! Perhaps a little discussion about what is meant by acceptable level" of risk and who determines it will surely be appreciated by those taking this course
This was a great class that gave me some important tips that I hadnt previously considered. Very useful!
This is a really good informative course--thanks for putting it together.
Excellent course, the material and trainer were really clear even for those new in SOX world.
I learned a lot from this course and will highly recommend it!
The training videos was good and understandable. The PPT presented was clear .
These tools will provide assistance in the development and execution of SOX compliance procedures.
ExcelLent :) Well-structured and easy to study Text Based Course. Very useful supporting materials. Interesting info.
Dislike: The writing of the exam questions aren't as well written as the rest of the courses.
This a trending topic in current industries and gaining more focus for its use cases and utilization. The course provided a good introduction to this topic.
It was very well structured, well-paced and easy to follow training course. Structuring the course in segments as well as offering a continuous play option is perfect for any learning style. The examples given were good.
This is an excellent SOX topic that I have not previously seen covered before.
The learning activity was engaging and appropriate. It met my expectations.
Professor Wu - This is second course of yours that I am taking and I am amazed of the various tricks and tips you have illustrated on sumifs and pivot tables. And yet, I am considered to be a pivot table expert! Thank you, I will continue to practise and use them for better outcomes.
Like in other webinars Lynn has, I loved how she goes deep in every slide using examples and/or making great observations for when you are in the process of RA. With that, you can see she is very knowledged in the subject she is teaching about.
Material not specific enough in terms of definitions and concepts.
The Course was very engaging and provided great examples of real life. The instructor is very enthusiastic and content is to the point.
Very good introduction to the topic but old information. Looking forward more courses from the instructor but with updated content.
The course is very informative and covers all necessary topics that are needed to be proficient in the Sarbanes Oxley. I highly recommend this course to individuals who wants to learn and understand SOX.
Very good test, I am now SUPER good at ethics need more words to hit 50
Concise content and very helpful considering the global business environment and impact of digitalization driving the increase in fraud incidents.
Very informative course. I recommend to anyone, don't have anything else to comment on.
This was very helpful and I will definitely save these training materials if our department is ever called on to conduct an audit of the network. Currently we also have an Information Security team that is a second line of defense to our Internal Audit team.
Great course! A very thorough review of internal controls that was easy to understand.
Did not understand the section on controversy around Pitt & Webster. Seemed somewhat irrelevant
the course was very insightful and its very applicable to my technology area of practice
A good course on ITGC. It has helped me refresh and reinforce my understanding of the topic
This course was a bit difficult due to lack of previous knowledge and reading through the course materials instead of instructed lead. Overall, the course was very educational.
I would have liked a deeper dive on the SOX Testing Process and IT sections. IT was very general and didn't give a lot of specifics or depth. The control testing didn't even mention IPE. Would have liked more guidance on testing specifics. The background, explanation of legislation, auditing standards, COSO, etc were very beneficial.
Contains some helpful information when trying to schedule time with management
Objectives Met, Appropriate requirements, Activties completed
Great summary of SOX Section 302 ICFR requirements fir internal control and financial reporting
This is an excellent course from Lynn Fountain! The real-life scenarios and current event considerations bring life to the topic.
I enjoyed the examples given in this course. These examples helped to bring all of the concepts that I am learning in the certification together!
Great deal of practical solutions to enhancing executive presence. Solid examples by the instructors.
Very meaningful and informative course gives a very good understanding on standard evolution.
Great overview of COSO 2013 and how management is responsible for their internal controls.
The course was adequate but suggest you relook at the questions. The use of not in the questions is very confusing even for the most experienced person. Also your question in the final exam on incentives is poorly worded
Good refresher course to understand the concept of SOX
I am with a new company implementing a SOX program. While I had experience in SOX previous to this class, these lectures have provided new information, a great foundation, and good real world examples. I will likely be returning to the classes and handouts on a routine basis for guidance.
Very good course, Its good to have a one presentation rather than many
Very Informative. Comprehensive learning. Extensive material provided.
Excellent articulation of COSO 2013 principles that have provided better practical linkage. Only one improvement recommended is to include some more specific examples
Best point: understanding SEC vs PCAOB and AS2 to AS5
Good material and references to get further details. An add-on course of Implementation might be helpful.
Thank you for another great course that introduced the connection of COSO 2013 and fraud.
KPI section could be more informative in measuring how effective your profile is.
good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good good
The tools (resources, downloadable material) in this are incredibly valuable - a great conclusion for this certification program.
Excellent detailed evaluation of top down risk assessment for Sarbanes Oxley.
This was an excellent and engaging course. It gave a simple, but wholistic introduction to the Sarbanes Oxley Act. Looking forward to watching the remaining courses in the certification.
Good course overall. The instructor is knowledgeable and interactive, but it was hard to follow and keep up at times because the instructor went a little too fast and used too many technical terms.
Your courses have all been so wonderful, so informational, and so thorough--in short, greatly appreciated by me! Thank you for sharing your expertise, your wealth of knowledge, your inclusion of examples! I have greatly enjoyed reading and listening to all of your lectures thus far.
Great course and very well prepared and explained.
Good review of various types of audit reports that can be issued. However, this course did not cover the dating of the report or the auditor's responsibilities for reporting of subsequent events.
A lot to digest! Terms are essential in understanding concepts.
LOTS of good information! So much actually that I am sure that I need to come back to these slides many times to really understand this thoroughly. There are so many things to be taken into consideration. Good templates and examples.
Gave a good overview of SOX related to ITGC. Would have like to gone into more detail on application controls. Overall, good course.
great course, easy to read and follow along the way the text is written
Overall course contained very good information and history behind the "why?" we do all the work we do
Excellent course!!!Stated learning objectives were met, stated prerequisite requirements were appropriate and sufficient and instructor was effective.
Amazing explanation. Very clear articulation.
Thank you so much for this amazing course where I had the opportunity to learn so many interesting things that I will be able to apply in my daily routine.
Great introduction course! PLEASE REVIEW THE COURSE FOR THE NUMBER OF CPE CREDITS. SHOULD BE 2.5?
Well detailed and properly explained concepts on fraud risk assessment. This is a good introduction into Fraud risk assessment and sets the expectations for beginners
i felt that the instructor gave her best effort to capture the new concepts of the standard.
Very helpful, however, too much theoretical information, years, reports
This course should be at least 1.5 CPE Credit since it is 1.5 hour long
Thanks for this in-depth course. The course material is rich and the delivery, very excellent.
This was a good course. well delivered. Good job .
This course provided great background information regarding the history and need for SOX. It also helps explain the key requirements of SOX currently.
This was a great course to establish the principles of ethical leadership. I really enjoyed the real world examples included within the presentation.
This was a very confusing one. I finally passed when I answered one question which seemed again what the material and I understood. It was question six. I disagree that it should be answer A. A going concern is considered when a company has issues about going a year from the opinion letter date.
Great addition to illumeo. Really helps keep up with the Ethics requirement in a timely manner.
This entire section is new to me and is very technical. This would be helpful if you need to understand the basics of XBRL.
Excellent full package on SOX and COSO principles with key template to implement process in the organization.
This course was well developed and well presented. Good coverage of the subject.
Good review course. This was a solid refresher for something I have been away from for some time.
This course was a little boring solely based on nature of material, good job by Lynn to present boring material
The final module in this marathon of a course - 17 courses yet it was very well delivered and comprehensive. Job well done as I learnt a lot.
This is one of the most useful courses I have ever taken. Thank you for the helpful fixes to so many of the common problems we face in managing our inboxes.
This instructor courses are always very helpful and are well thought out. I always look for her courses on-line as I always learn something new and interesting from her classes.
Provides a good insight into section 404 requirements
The explanation is very clear, straight to the point.
Very good and simplified course. It serves as a good refresher for people practicing SOX and ICFR only daily basis but serves as a good basis for people just starting to learn SOX.
I thought the course was very helpful. It is well laid out and a lot of good guidance on building overall communication at an executive level.
Everything is making sense but I guess what I'm struggling with is how to identify the "differences" between ASC 606 vs previous version. I felt like all the things that you said existed before. I was wondering if there is a summary/table available where I can clearly see the difference in transaction treatment between ASC 606 and the old version.
good review, nice to be back to this online trainings
This SOX 404 section possess good controls information.
This course helped me strengthen my understanding of IA fundamentals.
Overall good learning material. the XBRL vs SOX was really good learning in a way that shows link between them.
An important aspect that companies forget to look at because cyber attacks are seldomly experienced by them. Great refresher on how to react to cyber attacks
Simple and very usefulThe simplicity was surprising yet we overlook most of the tasks involved here
well thought out and acceptable for cpe review purposes
Very insightful with some very useful sources of additional information that will come in handy.
I like the examples given in this course, which are detailed, and very realistic.
I thought the questions were less aligned to the information in the slide deck as they have been in other courses.
excellent walk through of the evolution of the AS supported by personal experience of the spaeker
I have been working in the SOX/404 area of my internal audit department for a number of years and knew a lot of this at a certain (and varying) level/s - this course showed me where I need to focus more and filled in more gaps than I knew I had!
This course was excellent and provided important information that I will utilize in the future.
Excellent overview about temporary differences, very useful examples and exercises
Good, clear explanation of control activities with a more in-depth look at each principle and POF. The concepts are easy to understand with great examples provided.
this was alot of work but the slides and seminars made it much easier
This course provides a good overall view of what composes ethics and what influences it within an organization
I like how the instructor takes you through specific cycles to demonstrate proper SOD and problems if there is a lack of SOD.
I highly recommend this course to anyone working in accounting. The class material is filled with lots of examples. Great class.
good refresher course for auditors who may not have manufacturing clients regularly
Great course specially regarding the differences between application controls and general controls.
Great review of preparing indirect cash flow statement.
This was a good introductory class for those of us without any XBRL experience.
Overall great webinar. It would be helpful to reduce the number of abbreviations in the slides though.
Much prefer video presentations. Case facts are much more obvious than typical fraud cases. CPA should never practice again demonstrating no knowledge and/or interest in identifying basis of fair financial presentation or uncovering significant issues with client financials.
Includes fraud not just by employee but also by customer. Includes not just cash but also effect on inventory. A good case for decreasing cash transactions.
Great material, effectively presented and well organized.
I was not familiar with XBRL, so this course was very helpful.
This course is full of a lot of technical information. At times I found it hard to follow, but still finished having learned enough to have a reasonable understanding of the topic.
Great course that makes me want to read more about the topic.
This was a good overview to understanding BI and offered basic tools to implement.
This is a great overview of XBRL - I found it very technical having not covered the topic before but still managed to understand enough to pass the test. Lynn's presentation was clear and demonstrated her expertise in this area.
Great insight on how Lease Accounting will change under IFRS 16. And all the decisions that must be made in properly booking right of use asset and liabilities starting next year
This is a very good course. It lays the foundation on becoming an inspirational leader.
Great information! Easy to understand and overall meaningful content....
This is the only course I have ever done on Illumeo that does not have a continuous playback option. The lack of this option combined with the bifurcation of the slides and the examples into a separate documents makes this course harder to follow that most other courses.
Very detailed and interesting statistics presented through out the course.
Good information, easy to understand. Overall enjoyed the whole course.
good reminders and review of how to best represent data in powerpoint
A useful and technical course topic which was presented in a clear and concise manner.
This serves as a good introduction to SEC reporting. Probably not useful for people who already have SEC experience, but it is great for anyone new to the subject.
Hits on all the basics! Good refresher course.
Short albeit good review of T&E expenses.
Some more error rectification technique may be included in this course.
ok
A very interesting topic, another one they don't teach you in school.
helpful
Very informative
Course is easy to use and the instructor was very knowledgeabe. Also the material was easy to follow and kept me engaged while the instructor went through the course.
Excellent overview!
One of the better courses I've seen - detailed and applicable. Good food for thought on key issues.
Excellent, great summary
A continuous play option for the video is ideal.
pretty good course, a little dry for my taste
Good overview of SEC Reporting
Great and informative course! Thanks
Good overview of 606.
This is a very detailed and informative course. I really enjoyed it.
Good introductory course to the topic
Now I use the sub total function.
Great course and fun info (as fun as ethics for CPE can be).
good review material
interesting info
Concise. Good review
Excellent course
Very detailed and easy to follow.
Did not like questions about Apple. Numbers not in front of me.
This was a good initial session / introduction on ERM. It simply was the right place to start before jumping in.
Bullet points - not the entire conversation or presentation - Please!!!!
This is a great synopsis of the IPO process, including the key regulatory considerations and planning elements. I highly recommend this course.
Ask the instructor a question about this lesson