August 26, 2004
A 15-day deferral in filing deadlines will do little, if anything, to assist accelerated filers and their auditors in meeting the internal control requirements promulgated the SEC. If the SEC believes very strongly that it is critical that all Exchange Act reporting companies implement the internal control requirements mandated by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 completely and carefully, and that these requirements are central to the Acts objectives of improving the accuracy and reliability of financial reporting, then I would recommend that you provide for a one-year deferred of the internal control requirements to make the internal control rules effective for accelerated filers with fiscal years ending after November 15, 2004. The current rules are resulting in audit fees more than twice our historical cost. In addition, the consultants assisting companies with 404 compliance are charging excessive fees due to the fact that the SEC provided for practically no time between release of the final rules and required compliance with said rules. The rules, as written, are granular and astounding in their breadth. This combination has created an environment for filers and auditors which increases both costs and risks in a manner that would typically have been considered unimaginable in the past. I would like to keep my comments brief. My comments are clear the 15-day deferral will do nothing to assist filers such as Red Robin in meeting the requirements of the internal control rules. Please consider alternatives that would actually help, such as an additional one-year deferral of the internal control rules for all filers.