August 2, 2004
Accelerated Filing Reprieve? Last week,
Last week, Jim Quigley, CEO of Deloitte & Touche USA, testified before the House Committee on Financial Services at a hearing on Sarbanes-Oxley. In his testimony, Quigley said it is very challenging for companies to comply with both an accelerated filing schedule and the new internal-controls rules in the same year. Quigley said Deloitte planned to send a letter to the SEC asking the agency to delay implementation.
It appears that the SEC may actually be considering a one-year extension for the accelerated filing deadline for Form 10-Ks, according to a July 26th Wall Street Journal article. Under the phase-in as originally established in 2002, for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2004, 10-Ks will be required to be filed within 60 days of the fiscal year end (rather than the 75 days they had this year).
In addition, accelerated filer companies are required to file their 10-Qs within 40 days after each quarter end this year – with this deadline dropping to 35 days next year.
Our New Survey on Accelerated Filer Deadlines!
We have a hunch that meeting a 35-day 10-Q deadline might be even more challenging than a 60-day 10-K deadline. To find out whether this hunch is correct, we have posted a quick survey on the ability of accelerated filers to meet these upcoming deadlines. Please weigh in on this important debate!
You also might want to review the final results from our recent survey on disclosure committees.
-Submitted by Julie Hoffman