A Series of Fraud-Related Articles Focusing on the Balance of Trust.
Each article will examine the areas in which we place our trust, and will suggest safeguards that we can implement easily. Topics will include the concept of "tone from the top," segregation of duties, elder abuse, compensation, and the expectation gap between management and auditors. Each topic is different, but all will answer the same question: what is the ideal balance of trust?
When you toss and turn at night, your mind is actively reviewing and analyzing the issues, problems and events from your day. However, do you ever consider that all of the seemingly mundane activities in your day require you to rely and depend on someone, some organization or authority?
Trust is defined as reliance on another person or entity. It is not something that is foremost in our thoughts as we go through our daily routine, run our businesses, etc. But it is embedded in our daily activities. We are trusting when we go to the ATM, when we leave our car with a mechanic, when we delegate a task, when we hire employees, or when we arrange for caretakers to help with the care of family members, to mention only a few. With each of these acts we trust someone else with our assets, our prized possessions, our livelihood and our loved ones. But when does trust become a problem? When does it complicate our lives or put us and our loved ones in danger? Is trust granted or taken for granted?
We sleep at night, comfortable in the knowledge that our information and our money is in the good hands of systems and people. But what if we are wrong? What if something is amiss and our banking systems, advisors, employers, employees, company management, friends and family are not conducting themselves in a manner conducive to our best interests? What do we do? Where can we go? If we become paranoid, not trusting, doing everything ourselves, and questioning all acts and activities, how will we sleep at night?
As the world continues to evolve with nanosecond technological advances, the personal touch is being replaced by technology. Business is being conducted 24/7, and people in general are busier. In order to get through our day, to run our lives and our businesses, we cannot survive without relying on others - without trusting others. We therefore need to find a comfort zone between paranoia and complete trust that will allow us to get through our day, to safeguard all that is close to us and allow us to sleep at night.
Tune in for the next article in the series covering the topic "tone from the top".
About the authors
Tyna Jallet is a Partner with Collins Barrow's Montreal Office and has been with the firm since 1989. She specializes in the areas of audit and business advisory as well as forensic accounting.
Randy Greenstone is a Manager with Collins Barrow's Montreal Office and has been with the firm since 2004. She specializes in the areas of audit and business advisory as well as forensic accounting.