Last November, Huron Consulting Group released a study it conducted on the status of audit committee members of major US companies. While over the period analyzed (2002-2005) the number of directors fitting the definition of “accountant” increased from 5% to 11%, a majority of the companies sampled still did not have an “accountant” on their audit committee in 2005. Additionally, 17% of companies did not have an audit committee member with either an accounting or finance background.

Section 407 of Sarbanes-Oxley requires all public companies to disclose whether or not the company’s audit committee has at least one member that is a financial expert, and if the company does not have at least one such director on the committee, it must disclose why not.

Read the study in its entirety here.