The act, (Pub.L. 107–204 (text) (PDF), 116 Stat. 745, enacted July 30, 2002), also known as the "Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act" (in the Senate) and "Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency Act" (in the House) and more commonly called Sarbanes–Oxley, Sarbox or SOX, contains eleven sections that place requirements on all U.S. public company boards of directors and management and public accounting firms. A number of provisions of the Act also apply to privately held companies, such as the willful destruction of evidence to impede a federal investigation
Sarbanes-Oxley compliance is no walk in the park, nor does it carry a small price tag for companies who traditionally have underfunded or undervalued the accounting function.
Twitter’s past 10-Ks and 10-Qs might make for really interesting reading...
I worked for a company that transitioned from privately held to publicly traded during my tenure. The steps to become SOX compliant approached ridiculousness. We wasted hours of labor each day crossing t’s and dotting i’s. I’m ashamed to say I’ve cussed Sarbanes and Oxley more than a few times.