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. TechEd Spotlight: Milja Gilliespie on the Latest Mobile Announcements from SAP

    Published: 06/November/2013

    Reading time: 6 mins

    Read this interview with Milja Gillespie, Director of Product Marketing for SAP Mobile Security to learn about the latest announcements from SAP in Mobile Security. Learn about app-wrapping and SAP’s partnership with Mocana. Get answers on what Apple’s iOS 7 means for SAP’s security solutions. Milja Gillespie is the Director of Product Marketing for SAP...…

  2. Use a Global Payroll Strategy to Leverage the SAP Payroll System

    Published: 28/December/2011

    Reading time: 15 mins

    Companies that implement SAP payroll systems often find themselves challenged with defining global strategies and solutions for issues that can arise during an implementation. This case study, based on numerous implementations, outlines options and approaches you can take to meet those challenges. Key Concept The definition of global payroll can differ depending on the context. Global...…

  3. Step-by-Step Instructions for Implementing FLSA Calculations in Payroll

    Published: 22/April/2014

    Reading time: 8 mins

    Follow these step-by-step instructions to configure and customize SAP Payroll when an employee gets a bonus or has a recurring or an additional payment that needs to be included in the calculation of FLSA—the US Fair Labor Standards Act–overtime premium. Key Concept The US Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the law regulating minimum wages...…

  4. Integrate SAP Access Control 10.0 with the SAP Enterprise Portal

    Published: 06/July/2012

    Reading time: 14 mins

    Learn how to configure SAP Access Control (AC) 10.0 to integrate with the SAP Enterprise Portal. See how to use the Access Request Management (ARM) capability of SAP Access Control 10.0 to provision users and assign roles to the SAP Enterprise Portal. The ARM capability helps users keep the same access request process for ABAP-based...…

  5. Portal and SAP System Provisioning in One Step

    Published: 05/December/2014

    Reading time: 8 mins

    Jatin Grover explains how to provision access to an SAP system and SAP Enterprise Portal through a single access request when both of them have different user IDs for an employee in the organization. Key Concept The provisioning engine in SAP Access Control accomplishes user provisioning. Usually the provisioning happens either to a single user...…

  6. A Roadmap to RFID Success

    Published: 01/November/2004

    Reading time: 8 mins

    Contemplating going wireless but not sure where to begin (or if it’s even worth it)? Here’s a look at a half dozen of the biggest challenges you should know as you embrace RFID technology. Key Concept Unlike most SAP projects, RFID implementations require hardware and software. In addition to the usual installation and configuration tasks,...…

  7. Create a Control Dashboard to Monitor Your Internal Controls

    Published: 15/July/2004

    Reading time: 14 mins

    It is vital to track user exits to ensure the financial transparency of your company. The author introduces a programmable “control dashboard” that will enable you to recognize, document, and help audit the user exits in your company’s system. How many user exits are working in your R/3 environment? What is the objective of a...…

  8. Implement Proven Testing Practices and Techniques for Large-Scale Global SAP Rollouts

    Published: 13/August/2009

    Reading time: 21 mins

    Learn how to avoid mistakes that plague many SAP implementations associated with flawed testing approaches. Take away valuable information that you can use as a baseline for either enhancing the status quo at your respective projects or for avoiding potential mistakes before testing is initiated. Key Concept Initial implementations and major system upgrades usually include...…

  9. Configuration Validation Reporting Made Easy

    Published: 01/July/2016

    Reading time: 24 mins

    Configuration validation is a reporting utility that helps you know the technical configuration of any SAP system either in flat-list values or in a comparison. The comparison of a group of systems against a target reference system or against predefined configuration values is the crux of the configuration validation utility. Key Concept Configuration validation is...…

  10. Better Manage Enterprise Risk and Streamline Audit Life Cycle Management with SAP Audit Management (Part 1)

    Published: 15/August/2016

    Reading time: 18 mins

    See how SAP Audit Management can help improve the different facets of the internal audit life cycle including audit planning and preparation while enforcing process control and risk management. Key Concept Audit is a process that defines the time, scope, resources, and other attributes for an audit engagement and documents evidence, results, recommendations, and reports....…