Morning Star published this article signaling upcoming changes to auditing practice

Accounting reforms adopted by Congress in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 mandated that companies conduct annual assessments of internal controls and that they be attested to by the firm's outside auditor.

and while creating this mandates the Board always keeps in mind the cost/benefit that the new mandate would yield.

"I believe that our standard on internal control passes the cost-benefit test," agreed PCAOB member William Gradison. He acknowledged that higher audit costs will be passed on to shareholders in public companies, but said they will be offset by more reliable, informative and accurate audits.