Financial integrity should be visible
Finance Ethics is a consulting, research and technology company. We work on financial transparency, responsible business practices, corporate governance and financial education.
Our mission is to make integrity something an organization can show rather than assert. A code of conduct in a shared drive proves little on its own. A control that runs every month, leaves evidence and has been tested against real transactions proves a great deal, to a board, a funder, a lender or a buyer.
So we work from the ledger outward. We look at who can start, approve and change each transaction, test that against the full record, report what we find in plain language and train the people who keep the fix running.
We advise and never attest
Independence is the reason we can sit beside the people who audit you, lend to you and govern you.
| We do | We do not |
|---|---|
| Test controls and conduct against your ledger, bank and system access data | Perform audits, reviews, compilations or any other attest engagement |
| Work alongside your auditors and give them documentation they can follow | Issue an opinion or any form of assurance on your financial statements |
| Support your counsel on the financial facts of a matter, under counsel's direction | Give legal or tax advice. We are not a law firm and not a CPA firm. |
| Recommend controls, policies and tools that fit how your team works | Make management decisions, approve transactions or hold signing authority on your accounts |
| Disclose any relationship with a software vendor whose product we recommend | Pay or accept referral fees, commissions or vendor incentives |
| Explain financial risk to boards, managers and staff in plain language | Sell financial products or give investment advice |
Roles matched to each engagement
Every engagement has one accountable lead. Specialists join as the scope requires, and the proposal lists each role.
Engagement lead
Owns the scope, the timetable and the relationship. Your single point of contact, and accountable for every deliverable that carries our name.Controls specialist
Maps money flows, designs approval limits and segregation of duties, and writes control descriptions in terms your team can run.Forensic data analyst
Builds and runs the full-population tests over ledger, vendor, payroll and access data, and records every parameter so a result can be rerun and checked.Ethics and governance advisor
Works on codes of conduct, speak-up channels, conflicts processes, board reporting and the culture questions that numbers alone cannot answer.Research editor
Frames research questions, checks sources and methodology, and edits reports so a busy reader can follow the argument and test it.Software engineer
Builds data pipelines, monitoring tests, dashboards and Integrity Center pages, designed from the start to be owned and run by you.Learning designer
Turns findings, policies and anonymized examples from your own data into training sessions your people will recognize as their own work.
No deliverable leaves without review
A second reviewer who did no fieldwork reads every deliverable before it reaches you.
Fieldwork and analysis
The engagement team traces the process, runs the tests and drafts findings. Every analytic flag is reviewed by a person before it can become a finding.
Evidence check
Each finding is tied back to the transactions, reports or walkthrough notes that support it. A finding without evidence is removed or recorded as an open question.
Second review
A reviewer who took no part in the fieldwork reads the draft cold and challenges the evidence, the ranking and the wording. Their questions are answered before release.
Lead sign-off and your review
The engagement lead confirms the deliverable matches the agreed scope and signs it off. You then check a draft for factual accuracy before the final version is issued.
Based in Cheyenne, working nationwide
Our only office is at 7124 Commons Dr, Cheyenne, WY 82009. We work with clients across the United States, remotely for most analysis and on site when a walkthrough, a training session or a board meeting is better done in the room.
Office hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00 Mountain Time, and we answer inquiries within two business days. For a concrete sense of the work, read the scope of a Controls Health Check, the policies we publish on our principles page, or try the free controls self-check before you write.
Bring us the hard question
If a lender, funder, auditor or board has asked for evidence you cannot yet produce, tell us what they asked for.