As part of our ongoing effort to improve and upgrade our infrastructure I’m pleased to announce that the new Q4 data center is now fully redundant and SAS 70 TYPE II certified.

SAS 70 is an internationally recognized auditing standard developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Our data center’s SAS 70 certification enables us to further our expansion into the enterprise market by delivering certification of the controls needed for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.

This certification deals with the controls related to service delivery, operations, infrastructure maintenance, change management, backup of programs and data files and logical and physical data center access.

Over the next couple of months we’ll be transitioning all clients over to the new data centre. Q4 has always provided a highly secure service delivery but now our customers will feel even more confident that our services are safe, secure, reliable and compliant with regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley.

Technorati Tags: Q4 Web Systems, Q4, Disclosure, Disclosure controls, Compliance, SAS 70, Sarbanes Oxley, Investor Relations, IR Web Sites

Last week BFI Income Fund (TSX: BFC.UN) went live on Q4 WEB. We’re thrilled to add BFI to our growing list of clients looking to increase the efficiency of managing their corporate web site disclosure.

“We are very excited to be using Q4’s content and disclosure management system to easily manage and control changes to our corporate website,” stated Chaya Cooperberg, Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications for BFI Canada Income Fund.  “In today’s regulatory environment, it is very advantageous and reassuring that the system automatically tracks and logs all changes and approvals, ensuring greater protection and compliance. We were extremely impressed with Q4’s ability to smoothly implement their solution in conjunction with our site re-design, and we are pleased to be at the forefront of using this technology.”  

BFI’s web site can be found at: http://www.bfi.ca/

Full Press Release

Technorati Tags: Q4 Web Systems, Q4, Investor Relations, IR Web Sites, Disclosure, Compliance

Earlier this week we announced the closing of latest round of funding. Here’s the full press release:

Financing to fund ongoing development of innovative workflow compliance and disclosure solutions and expanded sales and marketing efforts

Q4 Web Systems Inc. (“Q4 Web Systems” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has closed $1.8M CDN in private placement financing from investors including a Schedule A Canadian bank.  The proceeds of the financing will be used by the Company to expand sales and marketing activities and accelerate the development of Q4 Web System’s innovative suite of workflow and collaboration solutions for managing capital markets disclosure and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
“We’ve grown rapidly over the past year and are pleased with our investors’ confidence in our company, our products and our plans for expansion across North America,” says Darrell Heaps, President and CEO of Q4 Web Systems.  “Increased regulation has strained the resources of issuers who are challenged to balance Sarbanes-Oxley compliance with corporate disclosure and the expectations of real-time transparency “  said Mr. Heaps.  “Our suite of innovative solutions addresses the management, tracking and distribution of disclosure and automates many tasks, saving time and money while speeding the delivery of material information to the market. “

Q4 Web Systems’ products aid in the certification of disclosure controls and procedures as specified in Sarbanes-Oxley Act section 302 and Canadian Securities Administrators’ Multilateral Instrument 52-109 and streamline compliance with CEO/CFO certification and Bill 198.  They do so by automatically routing information upward and generating time-stamped, auditable records of all viewers, versions, comments, edits and approvals.

About Q4 Web Systems
Q4 Web Systems is a leading provider of end-to-end disclosure management software. help publicly-traded companies increase efficiency, reduce compliance risk and gain complete in-house control over their disclosure. Q4’s innovative solutions automate many of the manual tasks related to disclosure, saving issuers time and money while speeding the delivery of their material information to the market. Companies across North America rely on Q4Web Systems to manage their disclosure more efficiently, more effectively and with less risk.

For further information: please visit http://www.q4websystems.com/ or contact: Darrell Heaps, President and CEO, Q4 Web Systems Inc., darrellh@q4websystems.com, Tel: 1-877-426-7829, or (416) 626-7829 ext. 222

Technorati Tags: Q4 Web Systems, Q4, Venture Capital, Disclosure, Investor Relations, financing, software

A great post by Hitachi XBRL (one of the leading xbrl groups out there). 

Another example of expanding XBRL beyond financial statements is the work being done by a nonprofit group called the Enhanced Business Reporting Consortium.  The EBRC is attempting to organize a market-based initiative involving the collaboration of companies, investors, and a wide range of intermediaries like sell-side analysts, rating agencies, and accounting firms.  Recently members of this group met with SEC Chairman Christopher Cox to talk about how XBRL could be extended into broader narrative reporting, such as for the MD&A and 10K, and for industry-specific key performance indicators.  

A very rough draft XBRL taxonomy for the Enhanced Business Reporting Framework Version 2.0 has been developed. 

Here at Q4 we’ve been extending and building out our systems and in the coming months we will release the next version of Q4 Web and another exciting Enterprise 2.0 type product. From these you’ll begin to see how we are working to bring the value of structured data like XBRL and now EBR to the world of corporate reporting and disclosure in general.

Technorati Tags: Disclosure, SOX, XBRL, Corporate reporting, Q4 Web Systems, Q4

A study commissioned by Symantec Corp. revealed today that only 10 per cent of executives believe Canadian businesses are fully prepared to conform to Bill 198 and MI 52-109 compliance legislation.

The press release goes on to say that senior compliance professionals from Symantec advise executives to consider the benefits offered by software-based automation tools intended to make financial disclosure less labour intensive and less expensive to prove compliance to auditors and regulators. 

“Meeting first-year Bill 198 deadlines was only half the battle, and, unfortunately, a high level of both inaction and resistance to Bill 198 has forced many Canadian companies into a risky game of procrastination,” said Ed Daugavietis, senior analyst, Info-Tech Research Group. “Rather than wait any longer, Canadian companies would benefit from process automation before manual ones reach the breaking point. We expect to see growing numbers of companies playing ‘catch-up’ as they embrace software automation to bring themselves up to the regulatory benchmark and adjust their processes for greater clarity, transparency and control.”

We are really pleased to see the increasing awareness of both the risk related to C-SOX and the benefits of using our software to automate disclosure. We’re seeing more and more companies realize how software can help them and we’re really pleased to be one of the solutions out there that helps companies improve compliance with Bill 198 and CEO and CFO certification of disclosure controls (MI 52-109)

Technorati Tags: Bill 198, Sarbanes Oxley, MI 52-109, CEO and CFO Certification, SOX 302, SOX 404, Risk Management, Compliance

It’s an exciting time here as we continue to bring on new clients. Recently Newport Partners Income Fund (TSX: NPF.UN) went live with our content management and disclosure automation solutions. Using our solutions will help them to improve compliance with Bill 198 and their CEO and CFO certification of disclosure controls and procedures.

Newport invests in the private business asset class. Newport’s objective is to make long-term equity investments in leading private businesses that have a track record of strong earnings and potential for future growth. Newport’s portfolio currently consists of 17 high-quality businesses representing a diverse cross-section of the Canadian economy. www.newportpartners.ca

Technorati Tags: Bill 198, Q4 Web Systems, Newport Partners, CEO/CFO Certification, Regulation

Yesterday we had a chance to visit with a couple of our new and prospective clients at the PDAC show in Toronto yesterday. PDAC is the largest mining show in the world and brings people from all around the world. It’s a massive event with roughly 18,000 delegates and virtually every mining company you can think of.  No wonder the event goes for 3 ½  days, you’d need that just to be able to walk the floor!

Technorati Tags: PDAC, Investor Relations, Q4 Web Systems, Q4

Congratulations to all of the IR Magazine Canada Awards winners! The awards were held last Thursday. We were pleased to present the Lifetime Achievement award to Ron Blunn’s two sons. It was a privledge to present such a special award.

Best investor relations by a TSX Venture Exchange company
Shift Networks Inc

Best investor relations for an IPO
Tim Hortons

Best investor relations web site – small to large cap
ATI Technologies Inc

Best use of conferencing – small to large cap
Canadian Tire Corporation Limited
Gildan Activewear Inc

Best investment community meetings – small to large cap
ATI Technologies Inc

Best senior management communications – small to mid-cap
Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund

Best senior management communications – large cap
Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited

Best use of technology
RBC

Best annual report
PotashCorp

Best communications with the retail market
TELUS Corporation

Best disclosure policy
Inmet Mining Corporation
TD Bank Financial Group

Lifetime achievement in investor relations
Ron Blunn

Best M&A investor relations
Inco Limited

Best corporate governance
RBC

Best investor relations in the US market
CN

Most improved investor relations
Angiotech

Best investor relations officer – small to mid-cap
Isabelle Adjahi – Axcan Pharma Inc
Pat Marshall – Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund

Best investor relations officer – large cap
Janet Craig – Angiotech

Best investor relations officer – mega-cap
Bruce Mann – Rogers Communications

Best investor relations by a CEO
Hunter Harrison – CN

The CIRI grand prix for best overall investor relations – small cap
Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund

The CIRI grand prix for best overall investor relations – mid-cap
Axcan Pharma Inc

The CIRI grand prix for best overall investor relations – large cap
Canadian Tire Corporation Limited

The CIRI grand prix for best overall investor relations – mega-cap
CN

Technorati Tags: Investor Relations, IR Magazine, IR Magazine Awards, Q4 Web Systems

Here are the final categories for the IR Magazine Canada Awards. The awards are tomorrow night and we look forward to seeing many of you there. Congratulations again to all the companies and people nominated. Job well done!

Best disclosure policy
CN
Inmet Mining Corporation
TD Bank Financial Group

Most improved investor relations
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals
Canadian Pacific Railway
Nexen

Best M&A investor relations
ATI Technologies
Falconbridge 06
Inco

Best investor relations for an IPO*
Canada Cartage Diversified Income Fund
Teranet Income Fund
Tim Hortons
* New listings on TSX

Best investor relations by a TSX Venture Exchange company
Active Control Technology
Shift Networks
Sterling Resources
Titanium Corporation

Best investor relations in the US market
Canadian Natural Resources
CN
Nova Chemicals
Research in Motion

Best retail investor communications
RBC Financial Group
Rogers Communications
TD Bank Financial Group
Telus

Technorati Tags: Investor Relations, IR Magazine, IR Magazine Awards, Q4 Web Systems

Here are the IR Magazine Canada Awards nominees for Best Annual Report, Best Investment Community Meeting and The Best Use of Technology. Congratulations to these great companies!

Best Annual Report
CN
PotashCorp
Telus

Best Investment Community Meetings
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals
ATI Technologies
Cognos

Best Use of Technology
ATI Technologies
EnCana
RBC Financial Group

Technorati Tags: Investor Relations, IR Magazine, IR Magazine Awards, Q4 Web Systems