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How to remain professional under fire

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1st Dec 2015
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As the battle for clients hots up, some accountants are starting to play hardball when it comes to hanging on to their clients. But when you’re under attack, is it appropriate to fight back or remain professional? Richard Hattersley investigates a recent conundrum raised in Any Answers.

The message from the ICAEW is clear: “We’ve all got a role in raising standards, rather than lowering our own in response to another,” explains David Stevens  from the institute’s ethics team.

But maintaining professional integrity is difficult when those around you are losing theirs, according to AccountingWEB member Glennzy, who turned to Any Answers when a dispute with a fellow practitioner boiled over recently.

Glennzy had taken on a new client who left their previous accountant of 10 years. But the previous accountant responded by calling his former client to criticise Glennzy.

This attack backfired, and reaffirmed the client’s intentions to move on. Glennzy understandably felt wounded, and considered ways to retaliate. 

He was not alone. Chris Maslin was entangled in a similar dispute because he didn’t sign off his clearance letter listing his accounting qualifications. “The previous accountant then decided to contact the client warning them they were moving to an unqualified firm, big risk, bunch of cowboys,” Maslin said.

The AccountingWEB community encouraged Glennzy to remain professional. SteLacca advised him to shrug off the attacks: “Don't resort to schoolyard tactics of name calling. You be the professional, and let them make fools of themselves.” 

Whinger agreed: “Taking a professional approach will impress the client way more than slagging off back.”

Cathy Grimmer, however, presented another perspective. Her client has appointed a new accountant without telling her and she discovered that they have already set up a limited company for him. “No-one has bothered to let me know so I’ve been doing a monthly RTI return for payments to his wife when his self-employed business may have ceased some months ago,” she said. Grimmer’s request for whether the new accountants are taking over the payroll for end of year submissions were ignored, and the client is financially incompetent.

David Stevens, ICAEW integrity and law manager, responded to AccountingWEB’s request for advice about the correct accountant etiquette when embroiled in such conflicts: “Silence when faced with criticism can be incredibly difficult, especially if you think it is unjustified or even an underhanded competitive ploy. But I think it is probably best to remember such comments often reflect more on the critic than on you.”

Stevens says accountants should conduct themselves with courtesy and consideration with all with whom they come in contact with while performing their work; the staple of professional behaviour. “The principle imposes an obligation to avoid discrediting the profession,” Stevens said. This is outlined in section 150 in the institute’s code of ethics. 

Competitors disparaging other accountants to share their clients can be frustrating, but Stevens reminds accountants to lean on the code of ethics and turn the other cheek. “The code requires truthfulness, honesty, and the avoidance of disparaging references to the work of others.”

This etiquette isn’t just something that should be adhered to in the real world. Now, more than ever, it is important to carry the profession with dignity when using social media.

You certainly shouldn’t say anything disparaging about your competitors and focus on your own strengths. “Your comments are out there, they’re in the public domain. A lot more people could read it and reach an opinion that you are discrediting the profession,” Stevens said.

If the comments made by a rival accountant have been detrimental to your business, you may wish to consider a complaint, he added. But since accountants come from multiple bodies, the procedure will be dictated by the individual bodies.

No matter how tempting it can be to retaliate in kind to accountant critic, the integrity of the profession and your reputation should override these feelings. “A good sniff test is to ask yourself whether you would want a future client to see or hear what you have said or communicated,” Stevens advises.

While expressing a difference of opinion is not necessarily enough to bring discredit, Stevens emphasises that unprofessional comments made in a professional capacity are not viewed favourably. Rather than stoop to the level of a rival, Stevens suggests you focus on your own strengths.

Glennzy’s story arrived at a happy ending. The former accountant is on the cusp of retirement, so they’re trying to broker a sale of his fees. Uncertainty about their situation may have prompted an outburst of aggression. Glennzy, however, took the high road and focused on providing good advice, rather than retribution.

“The new clients are happy though and said they had received more advice from me in an hour than they did in the full 10 years before,” he said.

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