Question of Ethics

Tina Shake

If in fact, one of the members of the company's audit team (employed by an auditing company) who recently spent one week at your company auditing and then was pulled from the audit after the one week due to the person applied for an open position with your company in the accounting department as an accountant.....how comfortable would you be interviewing this candidate? Apparently, I have been told this person is just not a good fit working for an audit company, but would be better working at one location. I am uncomfortable with this situation ethically. Our CFO is very interested in interviewing this person. Has anyone came across this? Thanks for any feedback!

SMace

Help me. What is the unethical part?


1. Sounds like everything is on the up and up- she was pulled after she applied so there were no secrets.
2. I think it is a good thing that she wants to work for you. I guess you are not hiding anything.
3. You've been told a good reason why she wants to change.
4. CFO wants to interview.


I would interview her.

Paul in Cannon Beach

I am guessing the individual was part of the audit, liked what she saw in your organization, heard about the opening and applied?

The only issue I can see is whether the company you have hired to audit will feel you have "poached" an employee.

All this said, it doesn't mean you should hire her but I dont see why you couldn't interview her.

Balloonman1

Most people who do auditing and consulting with the big accounting firms eventually tire of getting on a plane every Sunday and being gone a week at a time. Most of the time they are offered a position with a client. To me I always saw this as the nature of the beast......

Interview her.........if she knocks your socks off hire her.

Balloonman

marc

Many of you know I have a finance and accounting background, which includes working in a (then) Big 8 audit accounting firm as an auditor.

When I left public accounting, my first job out of the ivory tower was as a controller of one of my audit clients. I only share this story to let you know it is quite common for accounting types to leave their various and sundry professional firms to go to work for the client.

It's a win/win. Both the company and the auditor know each other better than a raw recruit - which theoretically cuts down on training and turnover.

No issue.

WT

The ethical question that could arise is whether this person received a promise of employment in order to overlook some sort of problem in the audit. Since she was pulled off the audit, I assume somebody else finished and signed the audit. If the person in question did not have sole control over the conduct and conclusions of the audit, it seems to me that any accusation of wrong doing would be pretty far fetched. However, if you are in the public sector or anywhere strongly influenced by politics, take care not to give your critics ammunition to make groundless accusations against you.