Rochester, N.Y. (July 1, 2004) -- An alliance of North American CPA firms that offers training, marketing and resources for Sarbanes-Oxley Rule 404 compliance work has expanded its ranks to include 13 firms in four months, and hopes to grow to at least 70 by the end of the year.
Formed in April by The Bonadio Group, based in Rochester, N.Y., the Alliance for SOX 404 Compliance looks to work with other accounting and consulting firms seeking additional resources to help them complete the internal auditing and documentation required by the law's deadline.
“We have come together because we saw it as a way to leverage different types of vertical experiences from a shared base. We have a means for sharing resource needs through a private intranet, and we provide everything from marketing materials to training,” said alliance spokesman Alan Vitberg. “Getting into the market and being able to do SOX work is more than just being able to do an internal audit. There are many project complexities and the alliance trains and provides whatever resources it has available to help out.”
Fees for entering the alliance range from $5,000 to $15,000 depending on firm size, which affords members all marketing materials, opportunities for splitting the cost of branding initiatives, and training. In addition, members are offered the opportunity to use and resell CompliancePoint, which Vitberg described as “a low-cost, no-frills workhorse SOX compliance product” manufactured by Newport Beach, Calif.-based Pipeline Software.
In addition to The Bonadio Group, alliance members include: Cooper Molyneaux LLP (Canada); Grassi & Co. (New York); Eadie and Payne (California); Moore Stephens Apple Inc. (Ohio); Moore Stephens Wurth Frazer Torbet (California); MSF Financial (Arkansas); Orozco, Medina Y Asociados, SC (Mexico); TravisWolff (Texas); Watkins, Meegan, Drury (Washington); Brown Smith Wallace (Missouri); Asher and Co.
(Pennsylvania); and Pipeline Software.
-- Seth Fineberg
