About This Course:
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is a federal law that was enacted on July 30, 2002 in reaction to the major corporate scandals that were going on at that time, such as that which involved the infamous Enron. Included in the bill are responsibilities entrusted to the boards of directors for public corporations, along with the criminal penalties that can be enforced in response to certain kinds of misconduct.
The Act also demands that the Securities and Exchange Commission create regulations to guide corporations in their compliance with the law.
The purpose of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was to crack down on corporate fraud. For example, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in addition to creating the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) (which does exactly what its name would suggest), also banned the act of company loans being given to executives.
The Act also provides whistleblowers with job security so that those who witness something unlawful can report it without fearing they will be terminated as a result.
Although SOX applies to almost every aspect of corporate business, there are unique aspects of payroll and HR that, if mismanaged, can and do result in major violations of the Act.
This webinar will focus on those aspects of the SOX act. Topics include the sections of SOX that apply to all companies, areas of payroll and HR that need special attention, and the internal controls necessary to ensure not only compliance with the act, but are meant to enhance your companies efficiency and profitability.
KNOW HOW TO BE SURE YOUR REPORTING ACCURATELY REFLECTS PAYROLL AND HR RELATED EXPENSES.
Further, the PCAOB has announced that their focus in SOX audits will be cyber security. Several recent data breaches have resulted in major disruptions to corporate operations. Obviously, the fear instilled in the public as a result of these breaches cannot be underestimated. Therefore you will learn how to evaluate your IT systems for security.
You will be given advice from the SEC and other agencies in order to launch this investigation for your company's sake.
What You'll Learn:In this webinar, we will cover the following:
- Origin and Summary of SOX
- Corporate scandals that led to passage of the Act.
- Section 302 which establishes reporting requirements
- Section 404 establishing 3rd party requirements and Internal controls
- Section 802 establishing penalties for non-compliance.
- PCAOB recent changes and focus
- SOX Compliance Specifics
- Executive and BOD requirements
- What are internal controls required for compliance?
- Specific payroll and HR control areas
- How to Comply - Internal Controls
- The basics of internal auditing and/or 3rd party reviews
- Separation of duties
- Payroll authorization and reconciliation controls
- Regulatory compliance controls
- HR related internal control examples.
- Policies vs procedures
- Use of Third Party Administrators
- SAS 70 requirements
Top FAQs
Payroll Administrators must be able to:
- Properly "classify" workers
- Apply the various exemptions
- Calculate gross pay and properly make deductions
- Correctly identify, pay, and withhold taxes for employees
- Administer deferred compensation, cafeteria plan, sick pay, and other compensation
- Handle stock options, expense reimbursements, relocation, and other "expenses"
- Follow the proper policies, procedures, and documentation requirements for garnishments and levies
- Properly complete and file all required reporting requirements
- Correctly complete year-end requirements and establish year-beginning requirements
- Implement and maintain fraud, audit, disaster recovery, and record retention processes and procedures
While many payroll-related regulations are federally-governed, there also are many state requirements, including those for handling garnishment, final paychecks, and unclaimed paychecks. Each state's requirements differ in the details, so be sure to check your state's requirements by clicking the applicable link(s) at the bottom of this page.
Employees work directly for the company, which controls their work, pays their taxes, and often provides benefits, whereas the Independent Contractor is hired to do a specific job without the employee perks.
Definitely! An audit can be done either by an internal person or outsourced to an expert, with the expectation of fixing or updating any issues to avoid fines, penalties, etc.
Payroll is much more than just handing out paychecks, and includes a variety of responsibilities such as handling garnishments, travel pay, multi-state taxation, unclaimed paychecks, and much more in a timely and accurate fashion.
In business since the mid-1990's, we have over 25 years of experience delivering high-quality training content via seminar, webinar, online, and other formats. Each of our courses are delivered by an industry expert who will share his or her years of experience to help you be in compliance, smarter, and more productive, and almost all offer SHRM and HRCI credits.
The company withholds income tax, Social Security, and Medicare from wages paid for employees, but none for Independent Consultants.
In addition to ensuring that employees are paid correctly and on time, "Payroll" has numerous time and reporting requirements. The primary payroll areas include paychecks, reporting, operations, and management.
A payroll audit is a review of an organization's payroll procedures. It can be done internally for assurance or by an external entity such as the government in reponse to a complaint, lack or inconsistent reporting, etc.
It often depends upon which factors - such as pay, tools, equipment, work hours, manner and means of performing services, etc,) the worker has control over.
A payroll audit typically occurs because either for many reasons: an employee makes a claim of unfair pay practices
Continuing Education Credits:
Click the 'Credits' tab above for information on PHR/SPHR, PDCs, and other CE credits offered by taking this course.
