COSO Releases Monitoring Guidance

Feb. 4, 2009

FEI Summary

On Feb. 4, 2009 the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) issued new guidance entitled, Guidance on Monitoring Internal Control Systems. The guidance is applicable to public and private companies of all sizes, and is aimed at helping companies improve - and take credit for, when appropriate - effective monitoring of internal control. It is also aimed at helping companies use monitoring to make the internal control process more efficient as well as effective, and to consider that balance holistically, including the level of work performed by management and internal audit and the degree to which the external auditors can rely on that work, based on factors such as the persuasiveness of information gathered in the monitoring process.

The Introduction to the new COSO guidance can be downloaded for free from COSO’s Web site www.coso.org. The full set of monitoring guidance (3 volumes) is available both in electronic and hard-copy format and can be purchased at http://www.cpa2biz.com/search/results.jsp.

Members of COSO’s sponsoring organizations AICPA, AAA, FEI, IIA, or the IMA, are entitled to a discount on the purchase price; please enter the appropriate coupon code in the Discounts box during checkout. Here is the discount code for members of the above organizations to use if you are ordering the:

• Hard copy print publication only: Coupon code SBP
• PDF download: Coupon code SBK
• Print & PDF bundle  Coupon code SBP

To learn more about the new guidance:

• read COSO’s press release,
• see this article about COSO in Financial Executive Magazine January 2009. T
• view the archived webcast of a program sponsored by Grant-Thornton and FEI in December 2008 explaining the (then-upcoming) guidance. 
• see COSO's press conference slides (Feb. 4, 2009)

COSO Seeks New Chair

In other COSO news, as previously reported, COSO is currently seeking applications for a new Chair. The current chair’s – Prof. Larry E. Rittenberg’s – term ended last year and he has agreed to stay on an interim basis during the search for a new chair. Further information, including a link to the COSO Board Chair Position Description, is available here. Applicants are asked to submit their applications by March 15, 2009.

If you have any trouble ordering COSO’s new guidance or have any other questions about COSO, contact Edith Orenstein eorenstein@financialexecutives.org.

Prepared by Edith Orenstein, Director, Technical Policy Analysis, Financial Executives International (FEI). This summary does not reflect FEI opinion unless specifically noted above.