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The enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 was meant to reduce corporate financial fraud. This act shields investors from the possible harm that may be caused by corporations through fraudulent activities related to accounting. The act is based on strict guidelines for enhancing financial disclosures which minimize fraud in corporations’ accounting activities. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has brought many changes both in management and in accounting for corporations. It also revolutionized the internal controls for public corporations. The internal control departments are important players who assist management in public corporations to fulfill their corporate governance potential. One of the major changes in internal controls that came with the enactment of the act was that public corporations were required to hire independent auditors for reviewing their financial and accounting practices. Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the management is mandated with ensuring that the internal financial controls are effective. It is the role of management to invite auditors to assess and report on the possible weaknesses in internal controls. (Kim, 2016).
From both the accounting and management perspectives, the Sarbanes-Oxley act has improved the reliability of financial information produced by internal controls. The effectiveness of internal controls is closely attached to the reliability of the financial information produced. The enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley act has improved public confidence on the financial reports generated by public companies.

Both managers and accountants also feel that the changes brought by the Sarbanes-Oxley act have highly deliberated fraud incidences in public companies. Hence, the general view is that the act has had a positive impact in reducing financial statement fraud.
Accounting firms have expressed views regarding the changes required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act with regard to the scope of service they offer for companies. In section 201 of the act, firms that offer auditing service to public companies are limited in the scope of the services they provide. For example, firms are prohibited to provide actuarial and traditional bookkeeping services as well as the implementation of accounting information systems. As a result of the increased due diligence, accounting companies have an increased liability to provide auditing reports on time. The management of public companies has also had their view regarding the changes required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This act has been associated with increasing costs for public companies for its implementation. These costs range from purchasing of internal control software to the payments for the audits. Managers also have an increased responsibility because all transactions involving principal stakeholders need to be disclosed. The CEO and CFO are required to take personal responsibility for the annual and quarterly financial statements under section 043 of the act. (Jahmani, & Dowling, 2011).
The changes brought about by the Sarbanes-Oxley act have had a massive impact on corporations, accounting firms as well as investors. These changes have resulted in improved financial performances for corporations hence strengthening the corporate governance. Management has to take more responsibility for the financial reporting of the corporation. Accounting firms also have been assigned personal responsibility for their audits even as they complete these audits within the necessary time. This has led to a massive reduction of financial frauds. The confidence of investors has been boosted by the changes of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It has now become difficult for corporations to defraud their investors. (Ge, Koester, & McVay, 2017).
References
Ge, W., Koester, A., & McVay, S. (2017). Benefits and Costs of Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 (B) Exemption: Evidence from Small Firms’ Internal Control Disclosures.
Jahmani, Y., & Dowling, W. A. (2011). The Impact Of Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER), 6(10).
Kim, Y. H. (2016). Effectiveness of the Sarbanes Oxley Act on Corporate Governance: Evidence from Executive Turnover.