One missed conflict of interest can cost a firm millions through lawsuits, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage. The stakes have never been higher — and regulators are watching closely.
In just the first six months of 2025, the PCAOB issued 14 sanctions for professional services firms that will affect organizations like yours every day. In today’s highly scrutinized and regulated environment, accounting and consulting firms must go beyond manual or legacy conflict-checking processes. A modern compliance solution is no longer optional — it’s a strategic imperative.
Why do conflicts of interest demand a proactive approach?
Conflicts of interest, especially when undiscovered or mishandled, can have sweeping consequences:
- Fines and legal costs: Missed conflicts can lead to significant regulatory penalties and often require engaging external counsel to manage legal exposure and defend the firm.
- Escalating insurance premiums: A single lapse can signal systemic risk to insurers, resulting in higher liability premiums not just for the firm involved, but industrywide.
- Reputational fallout: A failed conflicts check can lead to public scrutiny, client loss, and long-term brand damage. This may also result in loss of current and future talent to competing firms.
- Regulatory sanctions: Violations of independence standards and conflicts requirements can trigger investigations, fines, and enforced oversight by regulators and standard setters like the SEC, PCAOB, or AICPA. These events often lead to heightened scrutiny, accelerated inspections, and increased demands on both practitioners and the national office.
- Operational disruption: Resolving conflict-related failures often requires redoing client work, legal intervention, and major management attention. This not only disrupts day-to-day operations but also pulls focus from strategic initiatives.
What is the real financial impact of conflicts of interest?
Although fines related to conflict oversight can vary widely, enforcement activity has surged in recent years. Since 2022, the PCAOB has increased its monetary penalties significantly, imposing nearly seven times more in total fines annually compared to prior years. In 2024, the average firm penalty was around $720,000, with fines reaching as high as $25 million for serious violations.
The consequences of a missed conflict can be both immediate and long-lasting. In the short term, firms face steep fines and operational disruption. Over the long term, consequences include reputational harm, heightened regulatory scrutiny, and increased insurance premiums.
Insurers price risk based on claims history. Firms with a track record of conflict issues or without clear, auditable processes face increased premiums. In contrast, firms that implement and document strong risk controls can reduce costs. One global accounting firm reported 20% savings on insurance by showcasing their compliance framework powered by Intapp.
What are best practices for addressing conflicts of interest?
Leading firms are moving to integrated compliance platforms that help them achieve the following:
- Standardize and automate intake processes: Ensure consistent, risk-aware intake processes with automated workflows that reduce manual effort and human error.
- Centralize risk evaluation: Establish a “one-stop risk shop” that brings together client and matter data for efficient conflict checking, know-your-client (KYC) processes, anti-money laundering (AML), and sanctions screening.
- Perform early conflict pre-checks: Surface potential conflicts before full assessments to avoid pursuing engagements you can’t accept.
- Use data-driven conflict analysis: Leverage complete datasets, including proprietary and third-party sources, with automation and decision-tree logic for accurate, scalable conflict resolution.
- Enable real-time risk alerts: Proactively flag conflicts and independence risks before work begins to protect the firm and maintain compliance.
- Maintain complete audit trails: Track every action and decision throughout the intake and approval process to support internal controls and regulatory reviews.
- Continuously monitor for changing risk: Perform ongoing monitoring of clients and matters to ensure risks are reassessed as circumstances evolve.
- Ensure configurable, integrated systems: Use low- or no-code platforms to easily adjust workflows and forms while integrating with key firm systems and third-party data sources.
Why choose Intapp?
Purpose-built for professional services firms, Intapp solutions have been successfully adopted by 16 of the top 20 accounting firms and dozens of the top consulting firms, demonstrating industry trust and scalability. Intapp is continuously selected based on the following offerings:
- Accelerated conflict reviews: Automated workflows and AI-assisted clearance reduce conflict processing times from weeks to days, speeding up client onboarding without sacrificing control.
- Robust risk workflows: Technology-enabled workflows cut administrative delays, with one multinational firm reporting a 38% improvement in client and engagement acceptance efficiency.
- AI-driven risk management: AI and risk scoring streamline decision-making, minimize human error, and surface relevant conflicts automatically. The chief revenue officer at a top 25 accounting firm reported that she was able to repurpose 50% of her time from manual work to higher-value strategic work.
- Integrated, intelligent workflows: Configurable questionnaires that connect with proprietary and third-party data sources ensure accurate, complete risk assessments from intake onward. This capability allowed one firm to eliminate manual routing and reduce staff needs by 1.5 full-time equivalents (FTEs).
- Seamless system integration: Solutions that work with your existing technology stack and tools result in no disruption to current operations, making new acquisitions easy to onboard.
- Mobile access for real-time action: Staff can perform risk checks and approvals from anywhere, with support for iOS and Android.
- Comprehensive audit trails: Full end-to-end visibility into every risk decision and action supports regulatory compliance and internal accountability.
- Passive monitoring and alerts: New conflicts are automatically tracked and surfaced as client circumstances change or continuance checks become due.
The bottom line
Protecting your firm from conflict-related risk isn’t just about compliance — it’s about business continuity, client trust, and strategic advantage. With modern compliance solutions, firms can confidently manage risk, meet regulatory standards, and reduce operational and financial exposure.
Intapp’s ongoing commitment to a growth AI framework is deeply rooted in the current functionality and overall roadmap of our compliance solutions. Our technology scales with your firm, allowing you to confidently grow your business and continuously satisfy changing demands in the industry.
Start protecting your firm today. Learn more about Intapp compliance solutions for accounting and consulting.