Did last week's public meeting clear the confusion over 404? It was no surprise that the SEC voted in favor of a new framework. But, as we've noted before, from an implementation perspective, the devils are in the details. And right now, we're still short of details. A final reconciliation of the SEC's guidance and the PCAOB's AS5 is still in the works. The final version of AS5 is to be submitted to the SEC by probably by the end of May or early June. Christopher Cox says he thinks there will be a unified set of guidance and rules released in time for the 2006-2007 audits. The SEC will also focus on smaller company issues (relief), articulating a principles-based approach and detailing the extent to which an auditor can use the work of others, notably management. The PCAOB for its part has released a few new proposals. One would require companies to distinguish changes that stem from errors from changes due to principles. All this has to be harmonized with the SEC for the Sarbox community to have real confidence in the system.

For more:
- here's a Financial Times article