The Big 4 accounting groups have predicted a drop in Section 404 related costs for the second year of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Writing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the firms, (Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PriceWaterhouseCoopers) enclosed research from CRA International to back their argument.

The PCAOB also received a copy.

Sarbanes-Oxley and in particular Section 404 costs have been high since the start. Small companies it has been alleged have been hit hard.

The new research found that costs should decrease for both large and small companies.

Large companies, (greater than $700m of market cap) will see a drop of 42% from $7.3m to $4.2m.

Smaller companies ($75m to $700m) will see a drop from $1.5m to $900,000.

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