Loyalty – Independence Issue Choosing

I hope to take steps in overcoming this issue. We are always told as auditors to have professional skepticism, but that is a quality that will degenerate as I know a person for a long period of time. One way to keep professional skepticism always intact is to come with a mindset that the clients, although may has told the truth previously, may not be true today. I have to look at the facts of the account and numbers rather than rely on something the client has told me.

Yes, it is good to be loyal and trusting in front of the client, because as an auditor, relationship building is an important skill to have. However, that does mean I completely disregard looking for supporting evidence. It may seem weird to compare the steps that auditors take to verify an account with the scientific method, but that’s what I have to do. I have to start by asking the question, do research, hypothesis, test hypothesis, analyze data, and draw a conclusion. This aspect of my personality can prove to be an issue in my career as an auditor specifically complying with the independence principle in AICPA Code of Professional Conduct.

Auditors are to remain independent in fact and appearance in relation to a client they are auditing. However, as I develop a relationship with my client and get to know them I may go above and beyond to try to help them. My sense of loyalty to the client may impair my judgment and my ability to stay independent. I may knowingly or unknowingly approve, even overlook an account during an audit to prevent from harming them. Loyalty for me goes hand in hand with trust, if I built trust with them, I usually extrapolate that they are always going to tell me the truth, which may not always be the case. I am a very loyal person which leads me to be too trusting.

Although, this is a great characteristic to have at times this can also be my downfall. I remain faithful to a person and choose to see the best in them even when it appears that they are doing something wrong. I will always choose to defend them because I am very biased as an individual when it comes to my friends and family. This is truer for the people I have had a long-term relationship with. I am so easily trusting to the point where I have been called gullible.         

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