Armanino Case Study
Case Study
Retail Chain get SOX Expertise to Meet Audit Deadlines
January 05, 2017

At A Glance

Customer Profile

A top luxury brand in the home furnishings marketplace turned to Armanino to help design, perform, and document compliance testing for Sarbanes Oxley Act regulations. Working together with Armanino, the company completed its preparations for the external audit on time and with greater confidence in the results.

Services

  • Armanino Risk Assurance & Advisory Consulting Services

Benefits

  • Delivered in-depth Sarbanes-Oxley expertise that complemented the current internal audit team
  • Used compliance and audit best practices to design, test, and document controls
  • Completed internal audit requirements on time to meet external audit deadlines

Challenge

Every company strives for healthy growth and profitability. But growth brings its own challenges, especially when it’s years of double-digit growth. For the internal audit and compliance team at a major home furnishings retailer, “keeping up with expansion is a constant challenge for our organization,” says the vice president (VP) of internal audit and compliance at the retailer.

One area that became a critical issue was staffing for Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act compliance testing. “We were having problems getting the additional resources and technical expertise we needed to complete our SOX testing in advance of the external auditors coming in for the official audit,” says the VP of internal audit and compliance.

Solution

Fortunately for the retailer, it knew where to turn for help: Armanino LLP, the largest independent accounting and consulting firm in California. Armanino’s Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) practice offers a range of services to help companies meet evolving regulatory and business requirements.

Armanino quickly provided the staffing augmentation the retailer needed. “The Armanino consultant was an ideal match in skills and experience for what we needed,” says the VP of internal audit and compliance. “I really wanted someone who could integrate into the internal audit team quickly, take the lead on SOX testing, and who wouldn’t need constant supervision to get the quality of results we wanted. We got that and more with our Armanino consultant.”

Working as part of the internal audit team, the Armanino consultant designed the SOX testing for the retailer, conducted the tests, and created documentation of the controls and testing for the external auditors. All of the efforts were completed over the course of a threemonth period.

Major Home Furnishings Retailer

Results

Relying on Armanino’s expertise and knowledge of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) audit best practices helped the retailer deliver a high-quality set of documentation to the auditors. “Because of Armanino’s responsiveness and expertise, we were able to meet all the deadlines for the external auditors,” says the VP of internal audit and compliance. “Plus we felt better prepared for the external audit than we’ve been in the past.”

With a successful audit under their belt thanks to help from Armanino, the internal audit and compliance team can focus on keeping pace with the growing company. The organization continues to rely on Armanino for occasional assistance with governance, risk and compliance efforts.

"Armanino has been a great partner for our company and for my team. I really appreciate the responsiveness, executivelevel involvement, expertise, and reliability that we’ve gotten with Armanino.” –VP of Internal Audit and Compliance, Major Home Furnishings Retailer.


Download Case Study

Stay In Touch

Sign up to stay up-to-date with the latest accounting regulations, best practices, industry news and technology insights to run your business.

Resources
Related News & Insights
Penetration Testing: What It Is, Why It’s Important and How It Can Benefit Your Business
Article
Do you know where your cybersecurity blind spots are? A pen test can help you find out.

March 20, 2023
Lessons Learned From SVB: Update Your Investment Management Policy to Mitigate Risk
Article
Take proactive steps to strengthen your investment management policy and ensure your company’s long-term stability.

March 20, 2023
Insurer Validates and Optimizes HR System Changes Through Benefit Audit
Case Study
Learn how audit services helped an insurer validate their current system processes and uncover fixes to minimize risk.

February 16, 2023