Managing the Conflict of Interest, an Effort for Improving the Ethical Performance in the Independent Auditing Profession

The unethical behavior of independent auditors is rooted in the conflict of interest which they experience in given situations. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to provide a model for managing the conflict of interest in independent auditors) to prevent the conflict of interest and unethical behaviors, if it occurs).                 

This study is exploratory research in which the grounded theory method has been used. The statistical population of the study is partners, managers and supervisors of auditing firms, members of the Iranian Association of Certified Public Accountants, and 14 of them were selected using the theoretical sampling method. After obtaining the opinion of experts through semi-structured interviews, the data were coded in three steps.

Based on the results obtained from the open coding of the interviews, 111 open codes were identified, which were categorized in the axial coding in 34 categories and subcategories.

The results showed that independent auditors shall experience conflict of interest due to the auditing firms’ inadequate revenue, independent auditors’ professional incompetence and ethical incompetence. Therefore, independent auditors will face conflict of interest and the ethical dilemmas arising from that in the following situations: disagreements with the clients and the fear of losing them for these disagreements, getting ethically inappropriate work opportunities, during the auditing process and getting involved in their duty’s challenges. Managing the conflict of interest of independent auditors requires collective efforts of clients, Iranian Association of Certified Public Accountants and independent auditors at the individual and auditing firm level. These efforts will bring valuable benefits to the clients and their beneficiaries, auditing firm, independent auditors, independent auditing profession and the society.