Thomas Ray, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's top auditor, has told a financial reporting conference that major opportunities for increased efficiency exist in the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley.

He said efficiencies could be found in the auditor's evaluation of management's assessment process, and how the auditor's risk assessment is applied to the nature, timing and extent of the tests of controls.

Ray made these remarks while speaking at the 25th Annual Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Reporting Institute Conference last week.

‘I believe it also is helpful to point out that the auditor's evaluation of management's process is most efficient when management has done a good job documenting both the design of the company's internal control and the assessment process and results,’ Ray said.