SAP SOX Compliance


What Is SOX Compliance?

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 requires financial transparency by U.S. public companies, ensuring their data is secure and accurate. Drafted by Congressmen Paul Sarbanes and Michael Oxley following several U.S. corporate and financial scandals, SOX compliance means having a formalized system for internal controls — one that provides full financial transparency.

In a blog post, the criticality of SAP governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) for SOX compliance is explored. The author points out that two sections (Section 302 and Section 404) are the most important and relevant for SAP GRC and finance users.

What Is SOX Compliance?

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 requires financial transparency by U.S. public companies, ensuring their data is secure and accurate. Drafted by Congressmen Paul Sarbanes and Michael Oxley following several U.S. corporate and financial scandals, SOX compliance means having a formalized system for internal controls — one that provides full financial transparency.

In a blog post, the criticality of SAP governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) for SOX compliance is explored. The author points out that two sections (Section 302 and Section 404) are the most important and relevant for SAP GRC and finance users.

An SAP SOX compliance checklist should address the following:

  • Segregation of duties
  • SAP GRC monitoring
  • Safeguard SOX audit trails against emergency access
  • Automate SAP audit reporting

Further Resources for SAPinsiders

Accounting & Finance Expands Its Influence. In this article, learn how UGI Utilities developed a strategic roadmap to better anticipate internal and external demands on the business — including regulations such as SOX. The utility shares how using BlackLine and its task functionality provides intuitive controls for SOX compliance.

Beyond SOX: Addressing non-financial risks through SAP configuration and sound supporting processes. Often, compliance is a focal point during SAP implementation to ensure compliance with financial reporting and regulations, such as SOX. However, there are optional SAP controls that could provide even more value to companies’ SAP system and supporting processes. In this session, Steve Biskie from RSM shares how to minimize and mitigate operational and strategic risks through SAP configuration. Understand who in the organization should be involved in recommending and validating control changes, and how to set up an appropriate cross-functional team to ensure decisions are sound and don’t introduce other risks.

Bridging the Cybersecurity Gap in IT General Controls (ITGC). Compliance with regulations like SOX often require a set of controls in place to mitigate risks to the integrity of financial reporting. Current ITGC testing performed by internal and external auditors is only focused on one slice of access risk. In this session, Brian Tremblay from Onapsis shares why it’s critical to understand the threats that exist to your SAP system beyond the current ITGC scope and how they relate to compliance with SOX.

 

A vendor that can help SAP customers with SOX compliance is Appsian Security. The provider offers a single platform for automating how users secure user identity, govern access, detect and prevent fraud, and demonstrate compliance with SOX, the General Data Protection Regulation, and more across critical business applications.  

969 results

  1. Comply with Sarbanes-Oxley Regulations by Locking Posting Periods in CO-PA

    Published: 15/May/2007

    Reading time: 11 mins

    Discover how to use the Profitability Analysis (CO-PA) valuation enhancement to lock posting periods against changes in CO-PA data. See also how this solution helps meet Sarbanes-Oxley compliance for internal controls on CO-PA reporting. Key Concept Valuation is a key capability of costing-based Profitability Analysis (CO-PA) that the system uses to automatically fill value fields...…

  2. Tips for Integrating Global HR Processes and HCM Global Template Solutions with SAP ERP HCM and Manager Self-Service

    Published: 06/April/2011

    Reading time: 11 mins

    Learn the key concepts and leading practices for designing global HR processes and integrating them with the SAP ERP HCM Personnel Administration (PA) module. Use this article to understand key considerations in configuring the PA module to work for your global design by applying leading practices to your personnel actions, SAP ERP HCM Processes and...…

  3. Seven Steps a Global Energy Company Took to Bring BI Potential to Life

    Published: 09/February/2012

    Reading time: 10 mins

    ManagementSee how a global energy company quickly jump-started its business intelligence (BI) capabilities using Xcelsius dashboards (now known as BusinessObjects Dashboards) and the Rapid Management Cockpit methodology. It was able to deliver up-front business value without undertaking traditional bottoms-up BI development processes, which can be costly and time-consuming. BI end users, analysts, administrators, and developers...…

  4. 7 Standard SAP Reports for Audit Information

    Published: 15/January/2008

    Reading time: 11 mins

    Many SAP users think that only third-party tools can carry out a security audit of your SAP system. If you know where to look in your SAP system, you can find some hidden gems that provide you with information that auditors want. See seven standard reports that you can use to better prepare for your...…

  5. Spotlight: The Four I’s of the Internal Audit Process

    Published: 24/October/2012

    Reading time: 13 mins

    How an organization’s internal audit team assesses risk is a key concern of organizations, as evidenced by survey findings and reports by accounting industry groups. Steve Biskie, Managing Director at High Water Advisors, comments on this hot topic. The role that internal auditors have with regard to risk has come under scrutiny after several surveys...…

  6. Build a Dashboard for Management of Internal Controls

    Published: 15/May/2005

    Reading time: 22 mins

    Managers often struggle with the timely availability of compliance-related data and the way the information is visualized for analysis and presentation purposes. You can eliminate these problems by following a four-step process to build a management dashboard for SAP’s Management of Internal Controls (MIC) application. You can also use this procedure to build dashboards for...…

  7. Get Your System Clean with Risk Analysis and Remediation

    Published: 15/December/2008

    Reading time: 15 mins

    Become and stay Sarbanes-Oxley compliant with Risk Analysis and Remediation. Learn about its main features, technical architecture, and setup. Key Concept SAP GRC Access Control delivers controls that identify and prevent access and authorization risks in cross-enterprise systems. The controls prevent fraud and reduce the cost of continuous compliance and control. SAP GRC Access Control...…

  8. Explore Cloud Services for Application Testing While Controlling Risks through Governance

    Published: 14/October/2010

    Reading time: 13 mins

    Service rentals, faster service, low operational costs, and lower energy costs are some of the reasons for the increasing popularity of cloud services for application testing. Testing procedures, economies of scale, service governance, and jurisdictional issues are the criteria in selecting a cloud service. To protect test plans and tools against unauthorized access, risks are...…

  9. SAP BusinessObjects Global Trade Services: Minimize Trade Risks with Letters of Credit

    Published: 21/September/2010

    Reading time: 10 mins

    See how SAP BusinessObjects Global Trade Services handles letters of credit and understand the enhancements in the letter of credit functionality for faster and more efficient processing. Learn how this functionality is integrated with the logistics system. Find out how to configure letters of credit in SAP BusinessObjects Global Trade Services through a step-by-step configuration...…

  10. Mitigate Residual Risks When Using SAP’s Green Software Solutions

    Published: 15/April/2010

    Reading time: 10 mins

    Learn how to mitigate residual risks of carbon emissions when using SAP’s green software solutions. Find out more about SAP Carbon Impact on-demand service, how to visualize and compare carbon footprint data with dashboards, and how to mitigate sustainability residual risks. Key Concept Residual risks of carbon emissions are the remaining risks after sustainability controls...…