About the COSO Framework
COSO materials
- Overview of the 1992 COSO Framework
- The Original COSO Cube
- About the 2004 Updated COSO Framework (Enterprise Risk Management — Integrated Framework)
- The New COSO Cube
Guidance for Smaller Public Companies
- Executive Summary from COSO: Internal Control over Financial Reporting — Guidance for Smaller Public Companies (PDF)
- FAQs (PDF)
- Q & As (PDF)
COSO News Releases
- COSO News Release on 6/4/08: COSO Releases Exposure Draft of Guidance on Monitoring Internal Control (PDF)
- COSO News Release on 9/17/07: Guidance on Monitoring Internal Control Systems — Discussion Document (PDF)
- COSO News Release on 7/07/06: Internal Control over Financial Reporting — Guidance for Smaller Public Companies (PDF)
- COSO News Release on 9/29/04: Enterprise Risk Management — Integrated Framework (PDF)
- Article: Putting COSO Theory into Practice. Tone at the Top, The Institute of Internal Auditors, November 2005 (PDF)
The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)
The following information is excerpted from the COSO home page.
COSO is a voluntary private sector organization dedicated to improving the quality of financial reporting through business ethics, effective internal controls, and corporate governance.
COSO was originally formed in 1985 to sponsor the National Commission on Fraudulent Financial Reporting, an independent private sector initiative which studied the causal factors that can lead to fraudulent financial reporting and developed recommendations for public companies and their independent auditors, for the SEC and other regulators, and for educational institutions.
The National Commission was jointly sponsored by the five major financial professional associations in the United States, the American Accounting Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Financial Executives Institute, the Institute of Internal Auditors, and the National Association of Accountants (now the Institute of Management Accountants). The Commission was wholly independent of each of the sponsoring organizations, and contained representatives from industry, public accounting, investment firms, and the New York Stock Exchange.
The Chairman of the National Commission was James C. Treadway, Jr., Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Paine Webber Incorporated and a former Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (Hence, the popular name “Treadway Commission”). Currently, the COSO Chairman is Larry E. Rittenberg.
Sponsoring Organizations
- AICPA - American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
- AAA - American Accounting Association
- FEI - Financial Executives International
- IIA - The Institute of Internal Auditors
- IMA - Institute of Management Accountants