Tax Experts to Gather at The Sarbanes-Oxley Conference & Exposition

Accenture; E*Trade Financial; Fannie Mae; KPMG LLP; and Stout, Causey & Horning to Address Sarbanes-Oxley Resourcing and Sustaining Compliance via Tax Technology

BALTIMORE, Aug. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute for Financial Excellence, the organization of choice for finance executives, today announced that tax experts from around the country will participate in two sessions titled "Sustaining Compliance through Tax Technology" and "Tax Function Resourcing in a SOX World" at the upcoming The Sarbanes-Oxley Conference & Exposition http://www.sarboxconf.com/ taking place at the Marriott Waterfront in Baltimore, Maryland, September 25-27, 2005.

Executives participating in the "Tax Function Resourcing in a SOX World" include:

* Mary Doyle, Senior Vice President, Financial Systems and Controls,
Fannie Mae
* Daniel Nelson, Vice President Corporate Tax, E*Trade Financial
* Steven Rainey, Partner-in-Charge, Sarbanes-Oxley 404 Tax Services, KPMG
LLP

In this session, attendees will learn about best practices in areas such as tax department organization and reporting lines, use of service providers versus in-house resources, document and knowledge management, and use of technology and software. Panel members will also discuss how tax department resources compare with other companies and what control activities are being used to address tax-specific risk management matters.

"Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 elevates the importance of the tax department and underscores that the tax function needs to be viewed as part of an enterprisewide risk strategy as well as key to an organization's corporate financial controls," said KPMG LLP Partner Steven Rainey, who leads the firm's tax practice on Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404. "As a result, tax issues merit board attention because they can affect a company's bottom line and reputation."

In a separate presentation, "Sustaining Compliance through Tax Technology," David Davidson, Partner, Accenture and Debbie Schleicher, Partner, Stout, Causey & Horning, will provide attendees with examples of how companies utilize tax technology to sustain controls, address compliance requirements, increase efficiency, and gain more accurate and complete data for use in tax processes.

Tax internal control issues are large and continue to provide significant challenges. The initial work to firm-up tax-related controls has been largely tactical, often with a focus on some of the more obvious (and quickly addressed) issues. As companies and their auditors move up the learning curve together regarding tax-related risk management and internal controls, there are underlying and more systemic issues that will be focused on in the next wave of companies' sustained compliance plans. Technology is a key to addressing these issues effectively.

"Tax return forms preparation is generally outside of the scope of 404, while the income tax provision computation generally is in-scope," notes Schleicher. "Provisions require similar amounts of source data, yet the data gathering to run this complex calculation in short time-frames often is lacking the automation and controls to sustain an effective process."

About The Sarbanes-Oxley Conference & Exposition

The Sarbanes-Oxley Conference & Exposition is the definitive event for finance and accounting executives. Approximately 1,000 C-Level and Senior Executives will converge in Baltimore, September 25-27th to learn, share, interact, and network with leading executives facing similar challenges regarding Sarbanes-Oxley implementation and compliance. Participants will also have the opportunity to review cutting-edge products, services, applications and solutions at the Exposition.

Media sponsors of the event include: AccountingWEB, AIIM International, B2B Worldwide, Baltimore Business Journal, Baltimore Smart CEO, Business Ethics, Compliance Solutions Advisor Magazine, Corporate Secretary Magazine, E-Discovery Advisor Magazine, Information Lifecycle Management Newsletter, IR Magazine, IT Compliance Institute, KM World, Maryland Association of CPA's (MACPA), Open Compliance & Ethics Group (OCEG), Sarbanes-Oxley Institute, and The Wall Street Journal.

To Register:

To register for this event visit: http://www.sarboxconf.com/registration.asp

About The Institute for Financial Excellence

The mission of The Institute is to be the organization of choice for Finance Executives that addresses critical finance and accounting issues and produces measurable business results through expert educational programs, focused networking opportunities, and cutting-edge online resources. For more information regarding The Institute for Financial Excellence, email info@tife.org.