A Proposed Supplemental Teaching Model For Enhancing Students Understanding Of Sarbanes Oxley

Abstract

The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 brought about major changes in how accounting firms conduct audits of publicly traded companies. Corporate officials have additional responsibilities in the areas of internal controls and financial reports. In addition there is a new organization responsible for established auditing standards for publicly traded companies, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Accordingly, there are new requirements and responsibilities for auditors of publicly traded companies. In effect, the emergence of separate auditing standards for publicly traded companies and for companies that are not publicly traded is creating two distinct fields of auditing. These changes require a different approach to teaching auditing to accounting students. This article proposes one approach to teaching these significant changes for entry level auditors.