If you think SarbanesOxley compliance costs are going to dramatically decrease anytime soon, you are mistaken. According to a report issued Nov. 29 by Boston-based AMR Research, SOX compliance for 2006 will be $6 billion, similar to the $6.1 billion spent in 2005.
How companies budget SOX compliance will change in 2006, as funds dedicated to internal headcount will decrease by 8% while funds allocated to technology will increase by 13%.
Over the next 12 months, 80% of the companies surveyed planned to add or improve their compliance by investing in both compliance management and continuous controls monitoring software.