Final answer:
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 required external auditors to report on the effectiveness of an organization's internal controls, significantly affecting accountants and auditors' work to ensure greater financial transparency and investor protection.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 dramatically changed the daily work of financial accountants and auditors by implementing several new requirements. One specific change brought by this act is the requirement that external auditors report on the effectiveness of an organization's system of internal control. This created a new level of oversight and assurance beyond the traditional financial audits, directly contributing to increased confidence in the financial information publicly disclosed by corporations. The Act was a response to major accounting scandals and aimed at protecting investors from accounting fraud.