The Netherlands’ biggest companies are asking their accountants not to apply US accounting rules too stringently, in order to reduce their bills, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Tuesday. The paper says telecom firm KPN and five other AEX companies have already met the big accountantcy firms asking for a ‘Dutch interpretation’ of the rules of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

They want the accountants to harmonise their approach to the US rules, which are currently open to different interpretations.
KPN says the most ‘optimal’ application of Sarbanes-Oxley would cut its accountancy bill by 30%. In 2005 the company spent €14.6m on accountants fees, the FD reports.