Consulting Integrity
By Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA, CITP

Its simple, we feel taking the higher ground is important to our profession.  The attributes of honesty, integrity and independence that made CPAs the most "trusted business advisor" are the very attributes that will assure the continued success of our profession in the future.  It is up to each of us to adhere to the highest standards when dealing with our clients, business associates and personnel. This is especially important in consulting, where our clients are paying for our knowledge and experience and expect us to give the best recommendations possible on their behalf and not because of undisclosed arrangements with vendors that result in the payment and/or receipt of referral fees. 

CPAs have long struggled with the issue of independence when dealing with referral fees.  In general, we feel that as long as the client is aware of all referral transactions, who is receiving them, and that the fee is market rate, we can accept or pay them (as long as other independence issues of auditing/accounting services are not compromised).

There are many opportunities for individuals to take advantage of this situation and InfoTech Partners North America, Inc. feels that CPA firms should consciously choose the higher ground when the situation occurs.  We feel that consultants must act solely on behalf of the clients that are paying them a fee to do so.  This entails making clients aware of any referral transactions (whether gifts or financial) that may compromise the consultant’s independence in the client’s eyes. 

In the past, we have been offered referral fees for referring work to consultants or network integrators, which we felt were the best qualified to assist those clients that hired us.  We have not accepted any such fees, and have instead asked the offering party to reduce the amount of the client’s proposal accordingly, so the client gets the benefit.  In addition, we do not feel it is appropriate to accept any larger than “token“ gifts from vendors or associates, to ensure that independence is truly maintained.

We realize that some referral sources request consultants pay a referral fee if they would like to continue to do business with the referring party.  We realize that these referral sources have reduced our time for marketing and selling services, and InfoTech Partners has paid these fees in the past; but always with the complete awareness of the client, to which the services were provided.  In this way, the client will view you as their partner and can be ensured that you are working completely on their behalf.

InfoTech Partners once again implores you to bring the best attributes of our profession with you as you provide accounting and consulting services.  We recommend you put in place a firmwide Declaration of Integrity and provide annual training to all of your personnel on ethics and integrity.  It is up to us to decide where we will stand on this important issue and set the standards for those around us.

For a sample declaration, please visit our Declaration of Integrity page.

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