Dallas, Texas - January 14, 2003 - Findings of an online survey conducted by BizNet Software indicate companies do not have a complete understanding of the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley, changes will have to be made to the current ways of doing business to meet the new demands, and companies are still trying to define how they will respond.  Important findings include:

• Over one-third of the participating companies reported their CEO does not participate in the financial review of the numbers prior to release.
• When asked, "How complete is your company's understanding of all the new requirements within the Sarbanes-Oxley Act", the average response was only moderately clear.  The smaller the company, the less clear the understanding.
• When asked, "How does your company plan to respond to the new certification requirements mandated by Sarbanes-Oxley", over three-fourths reported they will need to make changes to the current way they do business in order to comply, with almost half reporting they do not yet know what those changes will be.
• When asked, "How does your company plan to meet the shorter regulatory reporting window for annual and quarterly financial statements", almost 90% said they will have to make changes to the current way they do business in order to comply, and again almost half reported they do not yet know what those changes will be.
• Most companies use both multiple data sources and multiple software applications to produce the final financial statements, yet more than 50% of respondents do not have a formal document that identifies all the processes that are undertaken to get the financial data into the General Ledger for the close.

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About BizNet Software
BizNet Software's staff of accountants and IT professionals specializes in helping companies improve the financial reporting process by enhancing existing financial systems and processes, resulting in better decision making and shorter closing cycles.

CONTACT:

Steve Hill
Michael & Partners
stevehill@michaelpartners.com
972.716.0500 x105

Ben McMann
BizNet Software
bmcmann@biznetsoftware.com
972.893.0000 x101