Barry Melancon, Kayla Gillan visit Silicon Valley.

• Position: Events

What does AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon think about the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board? "It was born with a full set of adult teeth," he said at the recent Fourth Annual Silicon Valley Financial Management Institute in San Jose.

This board and its staff will have an incredibly tough job," Melancon said. "A lot of what they're attempting to focus on, we have a history in. I believe they'll approach it from a well-meaning perspective."

But Melancon did express his concern that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may inhibit the entrepreneurial spirit of American business.

"A lot of good, small public companies may not have the resources to keep up with SOX," he said, citing recent surveys concerning the preparedness of public companies for SOX compliance. "The rising price of...