SOX CONSULTING

YOUR AUDITORS WANT TO KNOW .....

Where are your Backup Tapes Stored?

Can you prove they are being moved offsite?

Can you restore 5 years of financial data and emails on demand?

The importance of regulatory compliance has now become a critical boardroom issue. Companies and their CEO/CFO's that don't comply with these regulations risk legal action, as well as stiff government fines and restrictions. As a result, regulatory compliance has become one of the top business drivers and concerns of company management.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) advises that companies enforce a daily backup procedure (which should include storing tapes in a suitable offsite location to ensure data recovery if a file is lost or destroyed), as an integral element of management control over financial reporting. While such a procedure will support a company’s business continuity plan, it will also act as an important financial reporting control. It is not uncommon for data to be lost or corrupted during the daily processing of financial information, therefore it is essential to have appropriate backup and recovery procedures that allow for proper control over the restoration process.

DataBank assists dozens of US listed companies by consulting on processes to ensure section 404 compliance. It is not enough to perform a backup, SOX compliant companies must be able to prove that they are sending their backup tapes offsite, they are archiving it for the correct period of time and that they have traceable controls on every process.