More evidence about the impact of SOX Section 404 with restatements of earnings hitting an all-time record according to the latest figures from Glass Lewis . The firm, which provides research for institutional investors, found that 971 public companies restated their earnings in the first 10 months of this year. That's opposed to 619 for all of 2004, 514 in 2003, 330 in 2002 and 270 in 2001.

On the plus side, Forbes reports that the bigger companies say they are becoming more savvy about Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Financial managers claim that they are using 404 compliance as an opportunity to improve, streamline and centralise reporting processes across business functions and geographies, and compliance managers say they are becoming better at working out what to scrutinise. Director of the financial compliance group at Microsoft, Sean Gates, says: "We are becoming smarter about what's really relevant to our SOX 404 assertion."

Trouble is not every business is Microsoft. The big question is whether Sarbanes-Oxley will start delivering gains, instead of extra costs and headaches, for smaller companies. Don't hold your breath.