The PCAOB Turns 5.099

Among the many changes spawned by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was the designation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board as audit firms' new watchdog. The organization celebrated its fifth anniversary on April 25. Here's a look at its history, by the numbers:

8 — Staffers employed at the start

477 — Staff as of last year

$2.9 million — Average amount spent by companies during their third year of compliance with Section 404 (according to Financial Executives International)

17 — Enforcement actions taken against auditors and firms

4,000 — Public-company audits reviewed

5 — Years companies attempted to implement Section 404 based on the PCAOB's guidance for auditors

68% — Reduction in pages between initial Section 404 guidance (AS 2, 185 pages) and its 2007 successor (AS 5, 59 pages)

3 — Chairmen to date (including former FBI and CIA head William Webster, whose brief stint as chair ended amid concerns about his involvement at a company accused of fraud)