Source: A Sad Tale: The Demise of Arthur Andersen Case financial data from annual reports, SEC court filings, LexisNexis or other news sources, Bloomberg Terminal, or other source.

Assignment: As an analyst at a Policy Think Tank (choose one between – Brookings Institute, Center for American Progress, Rand Corporation, or Heritage Foundation), you must conduct research on select public accounting firms, including overview of the industry, public sentiment, and regulatory framework before and after the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). The impetus for this analysis report is to recommend to your manager whether the SOX Act should be continued, modified, or repealed.

ANALYSIS REPORT MUST INCLUDE (narrative of your research and analysis with supporting tables, charts and graphs, as appropriate). The report must be no more than 4 pages. As appropriate, any computations must be provided in an Excel spreadsheet as a separate file. There should be only two files submitted (report with embedded charts, tables, graphs, and Excel worksheet).

(1) Background: Provide an overview of the selected Think Tank’s mission as it relates to the SOX policy and highlight why your selected Think Tank is best suited to author this report. Provide brief historical discussion of the problems with Arthur Andersen and other public accounting firms, especially your assigned firm which was the impetus for the SOX legislation. Conduct research and analysis of the public accounting firm industry and the need for more regulatory control prior to the implementation of SOX.

(2) Before SOX (1999-2002): For your assigned firm, conduct research on the industry operations, competitive landscape, and industry outlook for public accounting firms which may have contributed to the need for SOX. This research should include:

a. Comparison of market share by revenue of your assigned firm compared to the industry

(especially to top five firms);

b. Comparison of industry ratio analysis, especially profitability ratios of the industry compared to your assigned firm;

c. Conduct analysis of revenue percentages, staffing levels, and operations focused on consulting services, audit services versus other services for your assigned firm as compared to the industry;

d. Discuss complaints and concerns about the ethical operations and performance quality of your assigned firm as compared to the industry; and

e. Discuss other pertinent information that provides insights into the impetus for SOX.

f. In your narrative, answer Q1 from the source case.

(3) After SOX implementation (2003-2006) until the conviction of Arthur Andersen is overturned: Conduct research on the competitive landscape of the top public accounting firms after implementation of SOX until the Arthur Andersen conviction is overturned. Highlight how your assigned firm may have been advantaged or disadvantaged by the implementation of SOX and Arthur Andersen’s conviction. This research should include:

a. Comparison of market share by revenue of your assigned firm compared to the industry

(especially, the top four accounting firms);

b. Comparison of industry ratio analysis, especially profitability ratios of the industry compared to your assigned firm;

c. Conduct analysis of revenue percentages, staffing levels, and operations focused on consulting services, audit services versus other services for your assigned firm as compared to the industry;

d. Discuss complaints and concerns about the ethical operations and performance quality of your assigned firm as compared to the industry; and

e. Discuss other pertinent information that provides insights into how the implementation of SOX impacted your assigned firm.

f. In your narrative, answer Q2 from the source case.

(4) Revisit impact of SOX on public accounting firm industry (2019-2023): With a focus on how the public accounting industry, especially your assigned firm operates in a post-SOX era. Discuss how complaints and concerns about the ethical operations and performance quality of public accounting firms changed. This research should include:

a. Comparison of the market share by revenue of your assigned firm compared to the industry (especially the top four firms);

b. Conduct revenue analysis (ROE, ROA, and Profit Margin) of your assigned firm compared to the industry;

c. Analyze percentages of revenues from consulting services, audit services verses other services for your assigned firm compared to the industry;

d. Discuss complaints and concerns about the ethical operations and performance quality of your assigned firm compared to the industry; and

e. In your narrative, answer Q3 from the source case. ** market share includes all public accounting firms

(5) Evaluation. Based on your research and analysis above, especially related to the operations and performance of your assigned firm is the SOX Act still needed? Recommend whether the policy should be maintained, updated (discuss how), or repealed. You may include past and current information about issues related to public accounting firms to inform your recommendation.

Report Format. Submit one Microsoft Word file or Adobe (*.pdf) file with all tables, graphs, figures embedded:

❖ Title page with your name and selected Think Tank.

❖ All the sections must be properly labelled using the sections listed above.

❖ All required sections must be included.

❖ The report must be written for the target audience and be free of typographical and grammatical errors.

❖ Include page numbers.

❖ Consistent font size and type. At least 12 font for text and 11 font for graphs and charts. Preference is single-spaced.

❖ Title page and references are not included in the page count.

❖ Include references, as appropriate.

❖ Submit report via Canvas before 11:50pm on the due date.