Joseph T. Burns: “in 2002 Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, providing important safeguards against unscrupulous accounting…”

“in 2002 Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, providing important safeguards against unscrupulous accounting practices. In the wake of significant corporate accounting scandals, Congress created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It restricted the actions of accounting firms who perform audits--specifically preventing them from undertaking other activities which lead to conflicts of interest. At the end of the day, this legislation is important to protect shareholders and employees from dishonest accounting practices that can cost them their futures and, in extreme cases, even their businesses. Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley requires the Commission to create rules for annual reports and to prescribe internal control reports to ensure that financial reporting is accurate and ethical. The goals of this provision are warranted but the burden on smaller publicly held companies has come at a great cost. Unfortunately, they are also incredibly and unnecessarily burdensome for small- and medium-sized businesses. In my State of Montana, it is these small- and medium-sized businesses that fuel the engine of our economy. Small businesses are collectively the largest employer in Montana, and it has always been important to me that the Federal Government consider the impact its regulatory policies have on small businesses.…”