Why is corruption and fraud so normalized in public accounting?
Intense workplace competition creates peer pressure to ignore unethical behavior and go along with manipulated reports. This forces professionals to choose between compromising their ethics for a paycheck or leaving their jobs.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
Why is corruption and fraud so normalized in public accounting?
- 1Deleting emails where executives suggest creative adjustmentsDid this help you?
- 2Considering disclosing the pressure to auditors during risk interviewsDid this help you?
- 3Resigning from the positionDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I quit a position because the executive director was expensing her family's brand new iPhones against a Los Angeles County contract meant to assist low income families.”source ↗
“Fighting this right now with my execs. They want something to look better so they’re telling me “we’re going to start doing this”…”source ↗
“Anyone want to talk about how blatant and pervasive corruption is in public accounting?”source ↗
“Enough of the favors, the “relationships,” fraud being normalized, peer pressure to do bad things, all because everyone is stepping on each other for a check.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5Why do I want to work in public accounting when I know it's miserable?
- 12How to escape high-stress corporate accounting and public tax roles
- 5Why can't I get an interview at a public accounting firm?
- 8How to survive difficult undergraduate accounting classes
- 4Why do I have to confess my mistakes at work?
- 28Does starting in private accounting ruin your career?