I was finally cleaning my office and I stumbled over a “Code of Ethic” that I printed off the internet. This came from Frank Abagnale’s website. I have heard him speak a couple of times in the past and he mentioned this “Code of Ethics”.
As a firm of CPA’s we have a code of ethics that we are bound by, but the idea of having an specific code included in our employee manual intrigued me, so I downloaded it.
Granted, I have yet to implement it as part of the employee manual. But we are still a small office and we openly discuss all ethical issues as they come up. We have “fired” clients based upon these discussions.
But Frank’s “Code of Ethics” has three sections to it: an Internal Conduct and Practices component, then reviews External Relations and Practices, finally covering Compliance Procedures. As a basic outline or starting point it is not bad.
Internally when we have gotten into some real serious issues or discussions we call in George from the office. He is a current member of the “ICPAS Ethics Committee” and has is a past Chairman of that committee. So he has been dragged in to give a semi-official opinion. Then we fire the client.
We actually look to find common ground with clients when we have issues, sometimes it is a matter of educating them as to why we are taking the position we are. That usually clears up any issues.
How does your company handle ethical issues? What is your process? Do your employees feel comfortable enough to bring issues to your attention? If you need help, call us and we can send in George to assist you.
George is also a frequent speaker on Ethics for the ICPAS and the AICPA.