Preparing for UK SOx Compliance

Organisations in the UK are now required by evolving UK SOx regulations to strengthen financial reporting and resilience. This means implementing robust internal controls, accurate reporting practices, and effective anti-fraud measures.

For finance and audit leaders, UK SOx compliance is more than a regulatory obligation; it’s about building confidence, trust, and resilience into every financial process.

A renewed focus for finance and audit leaders

The introduction of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (UK SOx) aims to rebuild trust in the UK’s financial ecosystem and improve accountability across listed entities.

Who is affected? – All Public Interest Entities (PIEs) and Publicly Listed Companies (PLCs).

What changes? – Finance and Audit Directors will be legally required to vouch for the accuracy of financial statements and the robustness of internal controls.

Why it matters: Company directors will be personally accountable for reporting accuracy, marking a significant shift in UK auditing and governance practices.

This aligns the UK more closely with international best practice and strengthens investor confidence.

" UK SOx compliance is a monumental change in the landscape of auditing and financial reporting and I can confidently say that UK SOx is the most significant transformation I have witnessed. "

Anish Kapoor

CEO

At the beginning of your UK SOx compliance journey?

To find out…

• Who qualifies as a Public Interest Entity (PIE)?
• What are the potential risks associated with non-compliance?
• How can organisations effectively prepare for UK SOx?

Download our guide, written by our CEO Anish Kapoor, where he discusses the origins of UK SOx, the timeline for implementation, the implications for risk and finance managers, plus a checklist to help Finance & Audit teams prepare.

Why robust internal controls are the key to UK SOx compliance

Enhanced risk visibility

Internal controls strengthen risk visibility, accountability, and transparency, while also reducing manual errors. They help finance and IT functions become more resilient, guiding long-term behavioural change across the organisation.

Accurate financial reporting

Automation improves corporate transparency. By removing manual intervention, financial data is harder to tamper with. The result: higher-quality, reliable financial reporting that boosts stakeholder and investor confidence.

Effective anti-fraud measures

Fraud remains a major challenge for UK businesses, from procurement fraud to duplicate payments. Automated payment controls and standardised processes reduce manipulation risks, while also ensuring compliance with UK SOx requirements.

Darlington Building Society

“We needed something that reflected our controlled environment, with an additional layer to flag that there is no risk of fraud. Previously this was a manual process and meant there was nothing stopping someone from logging in and adding miscellaneous bank account details, for example. The payment approval process controls in AccessPay helped reduce this risk.”

Head of Change and Procurement, Darlington Building Society

Read the full case study

How AccessPay supports your SOx compliance journey

Implement effective payment controls

The AccessPay platform introduces automation into payment processing and statement management. Features include:

• Standardised approval workflows
• Segregation of duties
• Secure access with MFA or SSO
• Data encryption for security
• Automatic audit trails for every action

This ensures payments are consistent, traceable, and compliant with UK SOx accounting and reporting standards.

Automate bank feeds for accurate statement data

Automation eliminates the risks of manual downloads:

• Bank feeds connect directly with finance applications
• Daily and intra-daily MT messages guarantee consistent reporting
• File transformation ensures data is in the correct format
• Removes manual access to sensitive banking credentials

This reduces fraud risk and improves reconciliation accuracy, a critical step in SOx audit UK readiness.

More on automating bank statement feeds

Detect suspicious transactions with our Fraud & Error Prevention Suite

AccessPay’s Fraud & Error Prevention Suite helps corporates proactively detect and prevent fraud:

• Scans payment files for anomalies (unrecognised creditors, duplicate payments, exceeded thresholds)
• Performs Sanctions Screening and Account Name Verification
• Enforces segregation of duties with dual-approval rules

Together, these controls create a multi-layered fraud prevention strategy that aligns with UK SOx implementation requirements.

Fraud & Error Prevention Suite

Key Benefits of automated payment controls

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Remove manual intervention to reduce fraud risk

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Support wider regulatory compliance, including UK SOx compliance and operational resilience frameworks

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Automate reporting for financial statement accuracy

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Comprehensive audit trails for inspection and review

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Multi-layered approval workflows to capture suspicious activity

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