The survey was conducted by ARC Morgan, a Sarbanes-Oxley compliance consulting company based in the Netherlands, with 376 respondents who are responsible for overseeing compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, from 21 countries in EMEA and diverse industry sectors -- all respondents have head offices in the region.

The survey found that an notably high percentage of companies (more than 80 percent) reported that spreadsheets play an important role in both assessing the control environment and final financial reporting. The survey also found that a large number of companies have found it increasingly difficult to balance the Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts with IFRS and local government requirements.

ARC Morgan believes that the results of the benchmarking survey should cause alarm within boardrooms of European companies that must comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

On a positive note, the majority of respondents said that they saw Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 as an opportunity towards general housekeeping and enhancement of processes.