What Is the COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission)?

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) is dedicated to providing thought leadership through the development of frameworks and guidance on enterprise risk management, internal control and fraud deterrence.

COSO is sponsored jointly by five major professional associations in the United States: The American Accounting Association (AAA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Financial Executives International (FEI), The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and the National Association of Accountants (now the Institute of Management Accountants [IMA]).

Wholly independent of each of the sponsoring organizations, the commission included representatives from industry, public accounting, investment firms and the New York Stock Exchange. Its mission is “to provide thought leadership through the development of comprehensive frameworks and guidance on enterprise risk management, internal control and fraud deterrence designed to improve organizational performance and governance and to reduce the extent of fraud in organizations.”