Hi Community members,
A solution to last week’s challenge can be found here.
This challenge was submitted by our ACE Carolyn Canterman (@Carolyn). Thank you, Carolyn for your submission!
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) is a U.S. federal law enacted to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures. Under SOX, companies must implement internal controls over financial reporting.
These controls are categorized as:
- Key Controls – considered critical for financial reporting and subject to stricter review
- Non-Key Controls – important, but with less scrutiny
Each SOX control requires:
- A Preparer, who performs the analysis.
- A Reviewer, who independently reviews the work.
Both the Preparer and Reviewer must sign off by entering their name and date. This sign-off process is logged as evidence of proper control execution.
You are an auditor reviewing the SOX Control Sign-Off Log for accuracy and compliance.
You will be provided with three input files:
- The SOX Control Sign Off Log, evidencing the Preparer and Reviewer sign off for each Control, for two different months.
- Information on the employees.
- List of issues that you are checking for.
Use the Issue Rule List to validate each Control entry. A control has an issue if it violates any of the following rules:
- Both Preparer and Reviewer must be present, and they must be different individuals.
- Sign-off dates must follow proper sequence:
- Both Preparer and Reviewer must have a date.
- Reviewer date must be within 5 days after the Preparer date (inclusive).
- Reviewer date cannot be before the Preparer date.
If the SOX Control is marked as a Key Control, the Reviewer must be a manager.Your Tasks
Task 1: For each Control in each Period, count how many issues are present according to the rules above.
Note: If information is missing or unclear and you cannot determine whether there’s an issue, do not count it as an issue.
Task 2: Which Period had more total issues — March 2025 or April 2025?
Task 3: Task 3: Across both periods, which control had the most issues in total?
Bonus Task: Which person is associated with the most total issues across all controls and periods?
Once you have completed your challenge, include your solution file and a screenshot of your workflow as attachments to your comment.
Good Luck!
The Academy Team
