As finance and accounting professionals, we often ask:
"Was the proper approval obtained?"
But an ethical finance professional should also ask:
"Was the decision actually appropriate?"
A payment can have the right signature.
A reconciliation can be completed.
Documentation can be in place.
And yet, the underlying decision may still deserve inspection.
Compliance tells us a process was followed. Ethics asks us whether it was followed with the right judgment.
What questions do you ask beyond the numbers?
Example:
A $250,000 equipment purchase was split into two $125,000 invoices by a manager to bypass required CFO approval, representing a scenario where technical compliance masks a lack of ethical judgment!
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Nour Fayad
Lebanon
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