Today Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) called for a delayed implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 requirements for small public firms to ease the burden on complying with the expected new auditing standards. Section 404 requires firms to establish internal control frameworks and to file internal control reports. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) proposed rules and guidance late last year addressing this section and are accepting public comments through Monday, February 26th.

“We can have strong corporate accountability standards while also reducing the burden for small firms who spend more time and money earned than big companies to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley,” said Kerry. “We must do everything possible to appropriately reduce red tape in order for small firms to grow and become dynamic public companies.”

[1] Yahoo!: Kerry, Snowe Urge Sarbanes-Oxley Extension for Small Firms