Is Your Company SOX Compliant?

Is your firm compliance ready according to Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)? Do you have proper documentation to support any lawsuits or fines?

More and more firms are moving towards this compliance method, since they don't want to be slapped on the wrist by clients and other authorities, such as the Canada Revenue Agency. Keeping proper electronic and paper based files are very important.

• Make sure that you keep at least 10 years worth of data of your business, which includes any data files, e-mails, etc. Keeping hard copies of information is also suggested, since back up systems can fail or viruses can hit your company's system and destroy everything, if you don't have it backed up one way or another.

• I would suggest for small businesses to back up their information on a weekly basis at most, but daily would be preferred. Medium to large businesses should back up their information on a daily basis.

• You should also keep a few versions of data, usually one week's worth, just in case something happens to the last data back up files. You can always go back at least a week to any date and retrieve this information.

Don't be stuck in a situation where lawyers are coming after your business and eventually hinder your finances. Make sure that you have a backup plan in place!

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!