The Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act was created with the intent of improving the quality of accounting, reliability of financial statements to investors, and providing oversight to accounting professionals through the creation of a new federal agency, Public Accounting Company Oversight Board (PACOB). Create an argument supporting whether SOX achieved these goals, and whether financial data reported today is more accurate and reliable than prior to the Act. Provide support for your rationale.

Assess the impact to the Public Accounting Profession with the creation of the PACOB and the inability of the profession to be self-regulated. Indicate your level of support for the federal regulation of the profession. Provide a rationale for your response.