SOx Finance Auditor
Internship
Angelita Chandra
Overview
Beckman Coulter, Inc.
Sarbanes-Oxley (SOx)
Internship Experience
Beckman
Dr. Arnold O. Beckman
1900 - 2004
3
 pH Meter Inventor
 Launched Beckman
Instruments in 1935
 Went public in 1952
 2004 Lifetime
Achievement Award of
the National Inventors
Hall of Fame
 Discovered The
Coulter Counter
Principle
 Established Coulter
Electronics, Inc. in
1958
 In Oct. ’97, Coulter
Corporation was
acquired by Beckman
Instruments, Inc.
4
Coulter
Beckman Coulter, Inc.







5
Biomedical company
Public company (NYSE: BEC)
130 countries; 10,000 employees
Annual Sales $2.44 billion in 2005
Wide range of customers
Competitors: J&J, Bayer, Roche
Barriers to entry: R&D investment and
technical infrastructure; FDA approval
What is SOx?
SOx
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
United States federal law
Major corporate and accounting scandals
Act’s key provisions:
– PCAOB (Public Co. Accounting Oversight Board)
– Auditor independence
– Corporate governance
– Enhanced financial disclosures
Sarbanes-Oxley Requirements
Comparison of Sections 302, 404, 409 and 906
302
404
409
906
Summary
 Executive
certification
issued
quarterly
 Internal control
report issued
annually
 Independent
accountant attests
to annual report
 Quarterly review for
change
 Real time
issuer
disclosures
 8K
requirements
 Abbreviated
certification
issued
quarterly
 Criminal
penalties
How often
are the
evaluations?
 Quarterly
evaluation
 Annual assessment
 Quarterly review for
change
 As needed
based on
triggering
events
 Quarterly
evaluation
Who signs
off?
 CEO
 CFO
 Management
 Independent
accountant
 Management
 CEO
 CFO
8
SOx Objectives
Objectives – Internal controls should be
designed to provide reasonable assurance
on:
Effectiveness and efficiency of operations
Reliability of financial reporting
Compliance with laws and regulations
The Company’s SOx process narratives and
testing of key controls are to support the
reliability of our financial reporting.
9
What SOx Auditors Do
Quality control of SOx narratives ensures
proper internal controls are established and all
identified financial risks are mitigated
Upload the templates to Internal Control
Management (ICM)
Walkthrough
Testing
10
Intern’s Responsibilities
Update narratives
Create testing templates (risks and
controls, audit procedures)
Upload templates  ICM
In ICM: create audit engagement, update
information
Upload narratives  EDMS
Sample selections for testing
Testing
11
Example:
Manufacturing Inventory - Cycle Count
Description:
Periodic inventory counts
Cycle counting produces a unit count
accuracy of equal to or greater than 90%.
Cycle count accuracy is reported in
monthly Cycle Count Summary report.
12
Risks – Cycle Count
All inventory is not counted
Cycle Count adjustments are not made to the
Oracle G/L
Cycle Count adjustments are not researched and
approved
13
Key Controls – Cycle Count
Automatic review of ABC methodology
Reports of new parts to be counted next quarter
Approval of cycle count variance adjustments
Higher level review of Cycle Count Summary
14
Update Narrative
15
Risk & Control Template
Audit Procedure Template
Upload Risk & Control Template
Upload Audit Procedure Template
Create Audit Engagement
Test Performed
Internship
• How?
– Email from Accounting Dept.
• Qualifications:
– Pursuing a degree in Accounting or
related field
– Audit course (ACC 419) is a plus
Challenges & Obstacles
Computer access
Technical terms
Timing
Project Management
System
Lack of SOx Audit experience
Overall Experience
Wonderful!
Learn about how different processes work
Opportunity to use what I studied in school
Real work experience
Improving my skills
Networking
Intern fun activities
Thank You
Questions?