“Honest people don’t hide their deeds” is a quote attributed to Emily Bronte, the British author of the classics Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.
Honesty and integrity, although different, go pretty much hand in hand and are both key areas in the business world and especially in accountancy, where hiding their deeds is out of the question.
How do we define integrity in business?
Having integrity is contingent upon doing the right thing even when nobody is watching, being honest and consistently adhering to high ethical standards because it’s the right thing to do, not for any perceived benefit you will achieve.
When dealing with the business of clients, a reputation for integrity can mean the difference between success and failure. Integrity enhances your reputation – which can help attract and retain customers and help retain valued staff who buy into that ethos.
Lose the trust of clients and word can quickly spread and your business can haemorrhage clients.
So, accountancy practices should look to excel by:
- Demonstrating honesty
- Acting consistently
- Delivering on obligations
- Acting in Good Faith
In high-integrity organisations, individuals readily accept accountability for their actions instead of attempting to pass the buck or blame others.
Integrity is also essential for building strong accountancy firms and keeping their teams motivated. The best and brightest will take their talent elsewhere if they can’t trust team members to be accountable and act with integrity.
Some may be lost to the profession for good if they believe that culture exists in their workplace.
For clients, they must have the confidence that the advice and guidance they receive is honest, and consistent, which means ensuring interactions with both clients and regulators are aligned with your stated principles and within the law.
The highest standards must be maintained and that’s where outsourcing some of the work can make the difference between achieving those stated aims and falling short. It allows accountants to make sure their clients’ interests are served at all levels.
GI itself also holds those principles dear and deals with all clients with honesty and integrity.
Whether through offering compliance services, technical advice or assisting with automation through the latest apps, our record speaks for itself.
GI Outsourcing is an award-winning accounts outsourcing company with well over 20 years’ experience. We have helped several hundreds of clients both in the UK and Ireland and internationally, improve their profitability and solve their resourcing headaches by outsourcing their finance and accounting work to us.
Contact our UK-based team of account managers today to find out how we can help your firm.
