Every professional faces situations and scenarios where they feel their independence and objectivity related to an work issue is impaired. They may feel pressured by management to minimize their observations, or in some cases, look the other way. When these situations occur professionals are faced with the dilemma of What do I do?" or "How do I handle this situation?".
These are the types of scenarios for which our university programs and business schools do not adequately prepare us. Experience can often be a good teacher. However, all individuals should be armed with some basic concepts that will prepare them to choose the right path when such difficult situations occur.
Publication Date: February 2020
Designed For
Accounting, Finance, Treasury professionals, Internal auditors, Professionals considering the role of internal audit, Executive management, Board members and Audit Committee members, and
Legal and Compliance professionals
Topics Covered
- Executing the role of objectivity and independence
- Challenges in execution
- Professional skepticism
- Reality of independence and objectivity
- Legality versus ethics
- Techniques to enable independence
- Techniques to assist with objectivity
- Actions to take when management challenges objectivity and professional skepticism
Learning Objectives
- Identify the requirements of professional skepticism
- Describe the rules defining independent roles
- Differentiate between legality and ethics
- Identify the top five techniques to execute independence
- Describe the top five techniques to assist when employing objectivity
- Recognize what to do when management challenges you
- Recognize undue influence and how it applies
Level
Basic
Instructional Method
Self-Study
NASBA Field of Study
Regulatory Ethics (2 hours)
Program Prerequisites
None
Advance Preparation
None
Instructor
Lynn Fountain
Lynn Fountain has over 38 years of experience spanning public accounting, corporate accounting and consulting. 20 years of her experience has been working in the areas of internal and external auditing and risk management. She is a subject matter expert in multiple fields including internal audit, ethics, fraud evaluations, Sarbanes-Oxley, enterprise risk management, governance, financial management and compliance. Lynn has held two Chief Audit Executive (CAE) positions for international companies. In one of her roles as CAE, she assisted in the investigation of a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme perpetrated by a vendor that spanned 7 years and implicated 20 employees. The fraud was formally investigation by the FBI and resulted in 5 indictments estimating a $13M fraud loss.
Ms. Fountain is currently engaged in her own consulting and training practice. She is a highly sought-after trainer and international speaker. In addition, Ms. Fountain has assisted numerous companies with enterprise risk management frameworks, internal audit processes and financial accounting. She also serves as a discussion leader for the AICPA for numerous classes finance, accounting and risk management topics.
Ms. Fountain is the author of three separate technical books. Her first book released in 2015 by the Institute of Internal Auditors Foundation is entitled “Raise the Red Flag – The Internal Auditors Guide to Fraud Evaluations”. Her second book “Leading the Internal Audit Function” was released in October 2015 by Taylor & Francis Publications. This book serves as the initial launch for a series of leading practice internal audit and information technology publications. Her third book “Ethics and the Internal Auditor’s Dilemma” was released in December 2016.
Ms. Fountain obtained her BSBA from Pittsburg State University and her MBA from Washburn University in Kansas. She has her CPA, CGMA, CRMA credentials.