Making grey lines clear: navigating social media as a CPA

By David R. Peters, CPA

Social media has changed. Facebook and Twitter used to be places for us to post funny photos of our dogs, tell others about our travels or rant about the newest fitness trend. It was a refuge for us in many ways. Aside from the occasional embarrassing photo or pointed comment about something we posted, social media was mostly harmless chatter.

But things are different now. Companies have realized that social media can be used to build business and reach customers in new ways. We google people before we meet them. We look at LinkedIn to evaluate people’s professional credentials. We have even started looking at people’s Facebook pages as a secondary background check before hiring them. The lines that used to separate our work and personal lives have become thinner and thinner. We have realized that Google’s algorithms make no distinction between what we deem to be personal and professional — and neither do clients, vendors or anyone else who searches for us.

This ever-increasing intermingling between the personal and the professional presents some unique challenges for CPAs. Our reputation is everything. The public trusts us because we are unbiased professionals with unwavering ethics. The CPA credential is cherished because of the integrity of those hold it. In this way, engaging in social media of any type seems risky for CPAs. A misstep in our personal lives could bring unwanted scrutiny of our professional lives. What are we as an industry to do? Is social media something we should run from? Is it so wrought with potential problems that we should just stay away?

As a profession, we have a tendency to be risk-adverse. We like it when the lines are clearly drawn for us, because it makes it easier to stay inside them. Embracing social media can be difficult for us because the lines are hard to see. As pointed out in this year’s Virginia CPA required ethics course, the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct only generally tells us to stay away from misleading solicitation, acts that may be seen as discreditable and anything that may tarnish the reputation of the CPA designation. While these sections are helpful in certain instances of dealing with social media, there are many situations that remain unaddressed. In this grey area, we are often left with only our own professional judgment to guide us on how to build our company website, whether to accept endorsements on LinkedIn and how to address client questions on Twitter. The Code of Professional Conduct wants us to maintain the integrity of the profession and the CPA credential. That much is clear. Beyond this though, the lines are not black and white — and this takes us out of our comfort zone.

While some CPAs may be tempted to run from social media in its entirety, for most of us, that simply isn’t a realistic option. There’s an upside to engaging in social media. It gives us a platform for sharing our knowledge, building relationships with existing clients and prospects and promoting why our practices are unique. It is a key to building business. And, if everyone else is using social media, it may be impossible for us to move forward as a profession without utilizing it somehow. Hiding doesn’t really seem like a viable option, so we are left to embrace social media and rely on professional judgment.

So how do we do this? Even though the lines may appear hopelessly grey at times, some best practices seem clear. First, we should always be keenly aware of how we look to the public. Googling ourselves periodically and constantly asking what a client would think of something we post is a good place to start. Second, have a strong review process. Building a network of peers who will provide open and honest feedback that we will accept seems foundational to successfully maintaining the integrity of our online presence. Most importantly though, it is imperative to practice a healthy degree of skepticism when it comes to anything related to social media. Examining how certain items could be misconstrued, misunderstood or misapplied can help us see potential social pitfalls before they happen.

To be clear, these best practices won’t insulate us from every social media misstep we could ever take. After all, the lines are still grey, and may become greyer still as time goes on. However, these concepts do give us a starting point for how to think about social media. It allows us to keep the spirit of the Code of Professional Conduct in mind, while also taking advantage of the opportunities that social media presents.

David Peters, CPA, is the sole proprietor of Peters Tax Preparation & Consulting, as well as an outside representative for Carroll Financial Inc. He is an adjunct professor in accounting, insurance and ethics, and a doctoral student in financial planning. 

The information discussed herein is general in nature and provided for informational purposes only. There is no guarantee as to its accuracy or completeness. Nothing in this article constitutes an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any type of securities.

Registered representative offering securities through Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Member SIPC/FINRA. Advisory services offered through Carroll Financial Associates, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Carroll Financial and Cetera Advisor Networks LLC are not affiliated. Registered Branch Address: 4201 Congress St, Suite 210, Charlotte, NC 28209