In the 1990s, financial scandals led to the implementation of the Sarbanes Oxley 2002 Act (SOX), which requires top management to attest to the accuracy of the financial reporting by publicly held corporations. There is lack of research regarding success of SOX Act in preventing earnings management, practices that portray a company as more successful financially than it is in reality. The purpose of this research is to determine if change has occurred in the earnings management practices in publicly traded corporations after implementing the SOX Act. The research questions explored concerned (a) how corporations measure up to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) standards since implementation of SOX and (b) how financial ratios and other cash flow measures can determine accuracy of reported earnings before and after SOX Act. The theoretical foundation framework for this study was derived from Bedford and Grove on ratios and cash flow analysis as predictors of earnings management. In this quantitative study, financial data for 35 publicly held corporations were extracted from accounting and auditing enforcement releases, Edgar online, and Schedule 10-K annual reports; average financial ratios and cash flow measures were compared for before and after implementation of the SOX Act using the t test. Findings indicated cash/total assets and net credit sales/average accounts receivable improved after the implementation of the Act, implying some success of the Act in preventing corporate earnings management practices. Implications for positive social change include information that can help regulatory authorities preempt manipulation of financial statements reporting, preventing substantial losses to the investors and other stakeholders of publicly traded companies, and maintaining a sound and reliable capital market.