We publish our own rules first
We ask clients to put their policies where people can read them: a code of conduct, a speak-up channel, a conflicts process, sometimes a public Integrity Center. It would be odd to ask that and keep our own rules private.
These are the policies Finance Ethics works under. They are written into every engagement letter and apply to every role on every engagement. When one changes, we update this page and its date. If you see us fall short of any of them, the last section explains how to tell us.
Independence is checked before we start
No audit or attest work, ever
We do not perform audits, reviews, compilations or any other attest engagement, for anyone. We are not a CPA firm or a law firm, and we do not give legal or tax advice.Management decides
We recommend and you decide. We do not approve transactions, act as the owner of a control, hold signing authority on client accounts or take custody of client money.A conflicts check on every engagement
Before accepting work, we check for relationships with the client, its owners, its counterparties and the subject of the work. We disclose anything relevant in writing and decline when a conflict cannot be managed.One side of a transaction
We do not act for both parties to a deal, a dispute or a financing where their interests conflict. When a lender or investor commissions work on a company, the engagement letter states who the client is and who receives the report.Our own designs, flagged
If we are asked to evaluate a control or policy we designed, we say so in the report, and the evaluation is reviewed by someone who had no part in the design.No financial products
We do not sell financial products, manage money or give investment advice, so no recommendation of ours is tied to a product we earn from.
Paid by clients, never by vendors
| Policy | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| No contingent fees | Our fee never depends on what we find, what you save, what is recovered, or whether a deal, financing or audit goes a particular way. |
| No referral fees, either way | We neither pay nor accept referral fees, commissions or vendor incentives. That includes introductions to and from other advisers. |
| Quoted after scoping | Every fee is quoted in a written proposal after a scoping conversation. We publish no prices because scope drives cost. |
| Fixed fees for diagnostics | A diagnostic has a fixed scope and a fixed fee agreed in advance. Any change in scope is agreed in writing before the extra work is done. |
| Vendor relationships disclosed | If we recommend software and have any relationship with its vendor, we say so in the recommendation. We do not resell software. |
| Neutral on systems | We work with QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as a matter of capability. None of them is a partner and none pays us. |
AI assists, a person decides
We use analytics, statistical models and AI tools in our work. These rules govern how.
A person reviews every finding
Every analytic finding, whether it comes from a rule, a statistical model or an AI tool, is reviewed by a person before it appears in a deliverable.
No training on client data
Client data is never used to train external AI models. We do not paste client data into consumer AI services.
Your choice to opt out
The proposal says whether we expect to use AI tools on your data. If you would rather we did not, we scope the work without them.
The signer owns every line
AI may help draft text or code. The person who signs off a deliverable is responsible for every sentence and every number in it.
The policy we would write for you
These rules follow the structure we recommend to clients: an inventory of tools, limits on what each can do, human approval and logging.
Client data has an end date
Least access
We ask for read-only access or for the specific exports the scope needs. Access runs through accounts you create and can revoke. We never ask you to share a password.
Secure transfer
Files reach us through an encrypted transfer link, not as email attachments. We sign your confidentiality agreement, or offer ours, before any data changes hands.
Logged processing
Client data is processed only in access-logged environments, open to the people on the engagement and the second reviewer.
Deletion after 90 days
Client data is deleted 90 days after the engagement closes, unless you ask otherwise in writing. We confirm the deletion to you in writing.
Illustrations are always labeled as such
Our scenarios are composites built from patterns common in this kind of work. Each one says so in its first paragraph, describes people by role rather than name, and does not describe any real client. The same rule applies to examples in articles, training material and proposals: if a figure, an entry or a company is invented to make a point, it is labeled as illustrative.
We do not publish testimonials, client logos or counts of past engagements. A reader cannot check them, and we would rather be judged on what can be checked: the method, these policies and the work itself. Facts about laws, thresholds and dates come from primary sources and carry a date, as in our single audit readiness checklist.
You can raise concerns about us
How do I raise a concern about Finance Ethics?
Write to hello@financeethics.com with "Concern" in the subject line, or call (307) 365-5252. You can raise a concern about our conduct, a deliverable, a fee, our handling of data or a possible conflict of interest. You do not need to be the client who engaged us.
Who looks into it?
Someone who did not work on the engagement in question. If the concern is about the engagement lead, the lead takes no part in the review.
How quickly will I hear back?
We acknowledge every concern within two business days. We then reply in writing with what we found and what we will change, or why we see it differently.
Can an employee of a client raise a concern without being named?
Yes. Tell us you want your name withheld and we will not share it with the client unless the law requires us to. Raising a concern will not change how we treat you.
What if I am not satisfied with the answer?
Say so in writing and the matter is reviewed again by someone not yet involved. Nothing in this process limits the rights you have under your engagement letter or the law.
Tell us what you are seeing
A first conversation is a scoping call: what worries you, what you need to show, and to whom. You leave it with a view on where to start, whether or not you hire us.