NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Restatements of financial results by public companies nearly doubled in 2005 from the year earlier partly because of the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate-governance act, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The number of restatements by U.S. companies soared to 1,195 last year from 613 in 2004, the newspaper said, citing research firm Glass Lewis & Co., which could mean that financial-reporting changes made in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom scandals are working.

Although restatements are acknowledgments of accounting errors, they also allow investors to have a better understanding of a company's financial performance.

"Over time, as companies continue to improve their internal controls, we expect the number of restatements eventually will decline, perhaps as soon as 2006," San Francisco-based Glass Lewis said in a report, according to the Journal.

Companies will spend about $6 billion to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley in 2006, the newspaper said, citing a survey released by advisory firm AMR Research.

_________________

For complete coverage of the Enron trial, click here.