The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) prompted companies across the United States to reexamine their corporate governance and financial reporting systems.  Although compliance efforts regarding the sales process are often overlooked, a typical inquiry-to-order process introduces a high probability for SOX compliance issues to arise. 

Manual sales processes with high levels of manual interaction are fraught with SOX compliance risk. BigMachines can assist companies in their SOX compliance efforts by providing solutions to these issues. Three areas where compliance issues often occur are customer discounts, quote/order approval, and channel discounts/promotions.

• Customer Discounts:  The customer discount process is streamlined by the BigMachines Lean Front-End ® (LFE) solution, which provides management with visibility and control while still offering the sales team flexibility.  This helps to ensure the accuracy of the revenue figure recorded in the financial statements.
• Approval Tracking:  BigMachines creates an electronic approval trail and records a complete quote history which enhances a company’s compliance efforts by creating an audit trail and more transparency within the financial reports.
• Channel Discounts/Promotions: BigMachines captures sales channel information such as the quantity and price of product being sold, and can include data on sales promotions and discounts passed thru distributors or Value Added Resellers (VARs).  This information provides the company with greater forecasting capability, which can allow them to track liabilities more accurately.

To learn more about how BigMachines can help your company’s SOX compliance efforts, please contact us at inquiry@bigmachines.com.