A young Post Falls company has developed an online application aimed at helping corporate boards meet federal accounting reforms that demand better financial disclosure and auditing.


The tiny company, Directors Desk Corporate Governance Services Inc., also is targeting the application, which improves communication between board members and company executives, at nonprofit boards, says its founder and CEO, Bret Beresford-Wood.


The application, which operates entirely online so no software needs to be loaded by users, stores and archives sensitive data such as financial reports, meeting minutes, and performance reviews that are used by boards of directors or trustees. That information can be accessed at any time by directors and senior executives, and enables them to communicate with each other and even vote electronically, Beresford-Wood says.


The product is designed in part to help companies comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which among other things requires CEOs and CFOs to certify in writing that the financial disclosures their company makes are complete and accurate, and that they have enacted controls to ensure proper disclosure by the company.


Our most fundamental objective when it comes to Sarbanes-Oxley and compliance in general is getting directors more information for greater corporate transparency and more effective corporate governance, says Beresford-Wood. That is truly the spirit of Sarbox, he says of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and is why we started this business.


While there is no law that says boards need new and better communication systems, such systems will allow board members to stay better informed and thus make better decisions, which will help shareholders, he says.


Sarbanes-Oxley came about following accounting scandals at some prominent national companies, including Enron Corp. and WorldCom, he says. One of Directors Desks features addresses a requirement in Section 301 of the act, which calls for confidential and anonymous submission of complaints to board of directors relating to accounting, financial, or internal-controls issues, Beresford-Wood says.


Our system is a secure Web page whereby employees or others can submit complaints, and the complaints are routed based on rules to the appropriate director, usually a member of the audit committee, he says.


Growth opportunities


Beresford-Wood believes the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act created a big market for an online application like Directors Desk, and he hopes to pursue business for the 4-year-old company nationally.


So far, the company has just one corporate client, which Beresford-Wood declines to name, as well as a handful of nonprofit clients, including the West Plains Chamber of Commerce and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Spokane.


To take Directors Desk to the next step in its growth, the company sought the help of the Springboard program of Spokanes Inland Northwest Technology Education Center (Intec), and now is looking to secure capital for growth and prepare a major marketing campaign, Beresford-Wood says.


The Springboard program mentors entrepreneurs who need help growing their ventures, and makes presentations to potential investors that it helps to assemble.


Currently, the Directors Desk employs only Beresford-Wood, a former systems analyst in the information and technology department of Empire Health Services, and Richard Meston, who is the startups senior vice president of sales and marketing.


Once we have more funding in place, or sufficient sales, we will begin hiring for several positions, including full-time (software) developers, network engineers, sales and marketing, says Beresford-Wood. We are hoping to go national this year.


Beresford-Wood declines to disclose the companys revenues, or what it charges to provide its online service.


Though Beresford-Wood developed the product initially for corporate boards, along the way the venture decided that it also would be valuable to nonprofits.


This was the first product like this that I have ever seen, says West Plains Chamber President Tom Lienhard. The thing I liked about it is that it saves time. You can do work in between board sessions, and we never had that ability before. Volunteers dont have much time to have a meeting on everything that comes up.


Lienhard also serves as chairman of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Spokane. He says the benefits for nonprofits from the Directors Desk system are similar to those for publicly held companies.


Even though were nonprofit, I can see the benefits for a profit company, he says. A data base that has to be set up at an arms length costs a lot of money to set up and maintain. I cant see why a public company would do that when the service is being offered for a lot less.


Directors Desk can be customized to individual clients size and needs and access to it within a company can be controlled.


The product also contains a calendar that notifies board members of upcoming meeting times or important alerts by e-mail, fax, or phone.


Directors Desk partners with Interlink Advantage, of Spokane, an Internet service provider, to maintain backup systems and help with technology assistance, including server management. Interlink also acts as a resell agent for Directors Desk here.


Directors Desk also recently entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), an international provider of proxy voting and corporate governance services, says Beresford-Wood.


First, we made it easier for directors to access ISS services by linking them directly into ISSs systems, so they keep one location to do all their work, he says. Then, as companies create, discuss, amend, and vote on their corporate-governance polices, we provide a secure place to manage all of this activity as well as provide document repositories.