Office add-on for Sarbanes-Oxley now available

Microsoft on Monday released an add-on for its Office System products designed to help companies meet reporting requirements set in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Microsoft on Monday released an add-on for its Office System products designed to help companies meet reporting requirements set in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

The Office Solution Accelerator for Sarbanes-Oxley was created with the help of accounting companies and takes advantage of features in Microsoft’s Windows SharePoint Services and InfoPath 2003, according to Microsoft.

Office Solution Accelerators are packages of components, templates and architectural guidelines designed to help users streamline specific business tasks using Office 2003 applications. Microsoft previously released accelerators for recruiting and for proposals.

Originally the Office Solution Accelerators were only available to those customers who signed up for Microsoft’s Software Assurance maintenance and upgrade plan. Last month however Microsoft decided to make the Office additions available to all Office users at no charge.

The Solution Accelerators require some configuration and customization, which can be done by a Microsoft partner or by a customer’s own IT department, Microsoft said.

Office Solution Accelerators can be downloaded from Microsoft’s Web site.