THINGS ONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT EXCEL PIVOT TABLES

Many Excel experts believe that pivot tables are the single most powerful tool in Excel. According to Bill Jelen (a.k.a. Mr. Excel) "No other tool in Excel gives you the flexibility and analytical power of a pivot table". I agree completely. Excel Pivot Tables are fun and powerful. So, in no particular order, here are some things you should know about them.

YOU CAN BUILD A PIVOT TABLE IN ABOUT ONE MINUTE

Many people have the idea that building a pivot table is complicated and time-consuming, but it's simply not true. Compared to the time it would take you to build an equivalent report manually, pivot tables are incredibly fast.  If you have well-organized source data, you can create a pivot table less than a minute. Here's how:

1. Select any cell in the source data

2. On the Insert tab of the ribbon, click the PivotTable button

3. In the Create PivotTable dialog box, check the data and click OK

4. Drag a "label" field into the Row Labels area (e.g. customer)

5. Drag a numeric field into the Values area (e.g. sales)

 Select any cell in the data to start.

A very simple pivot table in about 30 seconds.
















PERFECT YOUR SOURCE DATA
To minimize problems down the road, always use good quality source data, organized in a tabular layout. "Perfect" source data will have no blank rows or columns, and no subtotals. Each column will have a unique name (on one row only), every field will have a value in every row, and columns will not hold repeated groups of data (i.e. month names, location names, region names, etc.).

Perfect data for a pivot table!

COUNT THE DATA FIRST

When you first create a pivot table, use it to generate a simple count first to make sure the pivot table is processing the data as you expect. To do this, simply add any text field as a Value field. You'll see a very small pivot table that displays the total record count, that is, the total number of rows in your data. If this number makes sense to you, you're good to go. If the number doesn't make sense to you, it's possible the pivot table is not reading the data correctly or that the data has not been defined correctly.

300 first names means we have 300 employees. Check.

PLAN BEFORE YOU BUILD
Although it's a lot of fun dragging fields around a pivot table, and watching Excel churn out yet another unusual representation of the data, you can find yourself going down a lot of unproductive rabbit holes very easily. An hour later, it's not so fun anymore. Before you start building, jot down what you are trying to measure or understand, and sketch out a few simple reports on a notepad. These simple notes will help guide you through the huge number of choices you have at your disposal. Keep things simple, and focus on the questions you need to answer.

USE A TABLE FOR YOUR DATA TO CREATE A "DYNAMIC RANGE"
If you use an Excel Table for the source data of your pivot table, you get a very nice benefit: your data range becomes "dynamic". A dynamic range will automatically expand and shrink the table as you add or remove data, so won't have to worry that the pivot table is missing the latest data. When you use a Table for your pivot table, the pivot table will always be in sync with your data.

To use a Table for your pivot table:
1. Select any cell in the data use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-T to create a Table
2. Click the Summarize with PivotTable button (TableTools > Design)
3. Build your pivot table normally
4. Profit: data you add to your Table will automatically appear in your Pivot table on refresh

Creating a simple Table from the data using (Ctrl-T)

Now that we have a table, we can use Summarize with a  Pivot Table

USE A PIVOT TABLE TO COUNT THINGS
By default, a Pivot Table will count any text field. This can be a really handy feature in a lot of general business situations. For example, suppose you have a list of employees and want to get a count by department?

To get a breakdown by department, follow these steps:
1. Create a pivot table normally
2. Add the Department as a Row Label
3. Add the employee Name field as a Value
4. The pivot table will display a count of employee by Department

Employee breakdown by department

SHOW TOTALS AS A PERCENTAGE
In many pivot tables, you'll want to show a percentage rather than a count. For example, perhaps you want to show a breakdown of sales by product. But, rather than show the total sales for each product, you want to show sales as a percentage of the total sales. Assuming you have a field called Sales in your data, just follow these steps:
1. Add Product to the pivot table as a Row Label
2. Add Sales to the pivot table as a Value
3. Right-click the Sales field, and set "Show Values As" to "% of Grand Total"

See the tip below "Add a field more than once to a pivot table" to learn how to show total sales and sales as a percent of total at the same time.

Changing value display to % of total

 Sum of employees displayed as % of total

USE A PIVOT TABLE TO BUILD A LIST OF UNIQUE VALUES
Because pivot tables summarize data, they can be used to find unique values in a field. This is a good way to quickly see all the values that appear in a field and also find typos, and other inconsistencies. For example, suppose you have sales data and you want to see a list of every product that was sold.

To create a product list:
1. Create a pivot table normally
2. Add the Product as a Row Label
3. Add any other text field (category, customer, etc) as a Value
4. The pivot table will show a list of all products that appear in the sales data

 Every product that appears in the data is listed (including a typo)

CREATE A SELF-CONTAINED PIVOT TABLE
When you've created a pivot table from data in the same worksheet, you can remove the data if you like and the pivot table will continue to operate normally. This is because a pivot table has apivot cache that contains an exact duplicate of the data used to create the pivot table.

1. Refresh the pivot table to ensure cache is up to date (PivotTable Tools > Refresh)
2. Delete the worksheet that contains the data
3. Use your pivot table normally

GROUP A PIVOT TABLE MANUALLY
Although pivot tables automatically group data in many ways, you can also group items manually into your own custom groups. For example, assume you have a pivot table that shows a breakdown of employees by department. Suppose you want to further group the Engineering, Fulfillment, and Support departments into Group 1, and Sales and Marketing into Group 2. Group 1 and Group 2 don't appear in the data, they are your own custom groups. To group the pivot table into the ad hoc groups, Group 1 and Group 2:
1. Control-click to select each item in the first group
2. Right-click one of the items and choose Group from the menu
3. Excel creates a new group, "Group1"
4. Select Marketing and Sales in column B, and group as above
5. Excel creates another group, "Group2"

 Starting to group manually

 Half way through manual grouping - Group 1 is done

 Finished grouping manually

GROUP NUMERIC DATA INTO RANGES
One of the most interesting and powerful features that every pivot table has is the ability to group numeric data into ranges or buckets. For example, assume you have a list of voting results that includes voter age, and you want to summarize the results by age group:
1. Create your pivot table normally
2. Add Age as a Row Label, Vote as a Column Label, and Name as a Value
3. Right-click any value in the Age field and choose Group
4. Enter 10 as the interval in the "By:" input area
5. When you click OK, you'll see the voting data grouped by age into 10-year buckets

 The source data for voting results

 Grouping the age field into 10 year buckets

 Done grouping voting results by age range

RENAME FIELDS FOR BETTER READABILITY
When you add fields to a pivot table, the pivot table will display the name that appears in the source data. Value field names will appear with "Sum of " or "Count of" when they are added to a pivot table. For example, you'll see Sum of Sales, Count of Region, and so on. However, you can simply overwrite this name with your own. Just select the cell that contains the field you want to rename and type a new name.

 Rename a field by typing over the original name

ADD A SPACE TO FIELD NAMES WHEN EXCEL COMPLAINS
When you try to rename fields, you might run into a problem if you try to use exactly the same field name that appears in the data. For example, suppose you have a field called Sales in your source data. As a value field, it appears as Sum of Sales, but (sensibly) you want it to say Sales. However, when you try to use Sales, Excel complains that the field already exists, and throws a "PivotTable field name already exists" error message.

 Excel doesn't like your new field name
As a simple workaround, just add a space to the end of your new field name. You can't see a difference, and Excel won't complain.

 Adding a space to the name avoids the problem

ADD A FIELD MORE THAN ONCE TO A PIVOT TABLE
There are many situations when it makes sense to add the same field to a pivot table more than once. It may seem odd, but you can indeed add the same field to a pivot table more than once. For example suppose you have a pivot table that shows a count of employees by department.
The count works fine, but you also want to show the count as a percentage of total employees. In this case, the simplest solution is to add the same field twice as a Value field:
1. Add a text field to the Value area (e.g. First name, Name, etc.)
2. By default, you'll get a count for text fields
3. Add the same field again to the Value area
4. Right-click the second instance, and change Show Values As to "% of Grand Total"
5. Rename both fields as as you wish

 Setting a field to show percent of total

 The Name field has been added twice.


AUTOMATICALLY FORMAT ALL VALUE FIELDS
Any time you add a numeric field as a Value in a pivot table, you should set the number format directly on the field. You may be tempted to format the values you see in the pivot table directly, but this is not a good idea, because it's not reliable as the pivot table changes. Setting the format directly on the field will ensure that the field is displayed using the format you want, no matter how big or small the pivot table becomes.

For example, assume a pivot table that shows a breakdown of sales by Region. When you first add the Sales field to the pivot table, it will be displayed in General number format, since it's a numeric field. To apply the Accounting number format to the field itself:
1. Right-click on the Sales field and select Value Field Settings from the menu
2. Click the Number Format button in the Value field settings dialog that appears
3. Set the format to Accounting and click OK to exit

 Setting format directly on a value field

DRILL DOWN TO SEE (OR EXTRACT) THE DATA BEHIND ANY TOTAL
Whenever you see a total displayed in a pivot table, you can easily see and extract the data that makes up the total by "drilling down". For example, assume you are looking at a pivot table that shows employee count by department. You can see that there are 50 employees in the Engineering department, but you want to see the actual names. To see the 50 people that make up this number, double-click directly on the number 50 and Excel will add a new sheet to your workbook that contains the exact data used to calculate 50 engineers. You can use this same approach to see and extract data behind totals wherever you see them in a pivot table.

 Double click a total to "drill down"

 The 50 Enginners, extracted into a new sheet automatically

CLONE YOUR PIVOT TABLES WHEN YOU NEED ANOTHER VIEW
Once you have one pivot table set up, you might want to see a different view of the same data. You could of course just rearrange your existing pivot table to create the new view. But if you're building a report that you plan to use and update on an on-going basis, the easiest thing to do is clone an existing pivot table, so that both views of the data are always available.

There are two easy ways to clone a pivot table. The first way involved duplicating the worksheet that holds the pivot table. If you have a pivot table set up in worksheet with a title, etc., you can just right click the worksheet tab to copy the worksheet into the same workbook. Another way to clone a pivot table is to copy the pivot table, and paste it somewhere else. Using these approaches, you can make as many copies as you like.

When you clone a pivot table this way, both pivot tables share the same pivot cache. This means that when you refresh any one of the clones (or the original) all of the related pivot tables will be refreshed.

UNCLONE A PIVOT TABLE TO REFRESH INDEPENDENTLY
After you've cloned a pivot table, you might run into a situation where you really don't want the clone to be linked to the same pivot cache as the original. A common example is after you've grouped a date field in one pivot table, refresh, and discover that you've also accidentally grouped the same date field in another pivot table that you didn't intend to change. When pivot tables share the same pivot cache, they also share field grouping as well.

Here's one way to unclone a pivot table, that is, unlink it from the pivot cache it shares with other pivot tables in the same worksheet:
1. Cut the entire pivot table to the clipboard
2. Paste the pivot table into a brand new workbook
3. Refresh the pivot table
4. Copy it again to the clipboard
5. Paste it back into the original workbook
6. Discard the temporary workbook

Your pivot table will now use it's own pivot cache and will not refresh with the other pivot table(s) in the workbook, or share the same field grouping.

GET RID OF USELESS HEADINGS
The default layout for new pivot tables is the Compact layout. This layout will display "Row Labels" and "Column Labels" as headings in the pivot table. These aren't the most intuitive headings, especially for people that don't often use pivot tables. An easy way to get rid of these odd headings is to switch the pivot table layout from Compact to Outline or Tabular layout. This will cause the pivot table to display the actual field names as headings in the pivot table, which is much more sensible. To get rid of these labels altogether, look for a button called Field Headers on the Analyze tab of the Pivot Table Tools ribbon. Clicking this button will disable headings completely.

 Note the useless and confusing field headings

 Switching the layout from Compact to Outline

 Field headings in Outline layout are much more sensible

ADD A LITTLE WHITE SPACE AROUND YOUR PIVOT TABLES
This is just a simple design tip. All good designers know that a pleasing design requires a little white space. White space just means empty space set aside to give the layout breathing room. After you create a pivot table, insert an extra column to the left and an extra row or two at the top. This will give your pivot table some breathing room and create a better looking layout. In most cases, I also recommend that you turn off gridlines on the worksheet. The pivot table itself will present a strong visual grid, so the gridlines outside the pivot table are unnecessary, and will simply create visual noise.

 A little white space makes your pivot tables look more polished

GET RID OF ROW AND COLUMN GRAND TOTALS
By default, pivot tables show totals for both rows and columns, but you can easily disable one or both of these totals if you don't want them. On the Pivot Table tab of the ribbon, just click the Totals button and choose the options you want.

 You can remove grand totals for both rows and columns

FORMAT EMPTY CELLS
If you have a pivot table that has a lot of blank cells, you can control the character that is displayed in each blank cell. By default, empty cells will display nothing at all. To set your own character, right-click inside the pivot table and select Pivot Table options. Then make sure that "Empty cells as:" is checked, and enter the character you want to see. Keep in mind that this setting respects the applied number format. For example. if you are using the accounting number format for a numeric value field, and enter a zero, you'll see a hyphen "-" displayed in the pivot table, since that's how zero values are displayed with the Accounting format.

 Empty cells set to display 0 (zero) and Accounting number format gives you hyphens

TURN OFF AUTOFIT WHEN NECESSARY
By default, when you refresh a pivot table, the columns that contain data are adjusted automatically to best fit the data. Normally, this is a good thing, but it can drive you crazy if you have other things on worksheet along with the pivot table, or if you have carefully adjusted the column widths manually and don't want them changed. To disable this feature, right-click inside the pivot table and choose PivotTable Options. In the first tab of the options (or the layout tab on a Mac), uncheck "AutoFit Column Widths on Update".

Pivot table column autofit option for Windows

SUBTOTAL ROW AND COLUMN FIELDS
1. Select an item of a row or column field in a PivotTable report.
2. On the Options tab, in the Active Field group, click Field Settings.
The Field Settings dialog box is displayed.
3. Do one of the following:

Subtotal an outer row or column label  
a. To subtotal by the default summary function, under Subtotals, click Automatic.
b. Optionally, to use a different function or to display more than one type of subtotal, click Custom, and then select a function.

Functions that you can use as a subtotal

Function	Description
Sum	The sum of the values. This is the default function for numeric data.
Count	The number of data values. The Count summary function works the same as the COUNTA worksheet function. Count is the default function for data other than numbers.
Average	The average of the values.
Max	The largest value.
Min	The smallest value.
Product	The product of the values.
Count Nums	The number of data values that are numbers. The Count Nums summary function works the same as the COUNT worksheet function.
StDev	An estimate of the standard deviation of a population, where the sample is a subset of the entire population.
StDevp	The standard deviation of a population, where the population is all of the data to be summarized.
Var	An estimate of the variance of a population, where the sample is a subset of the entire population.
Varp	The variance of a population, where the population is all of the data to be summarized.

NOTE   You cannot use a custom function with an OLAP data source.

c. For outer row labels in compact or outline form, you can display subtotals above or below their items, or hide the subtotals, by doing the following:

i. On the Design tab, in the Layout group, click Subtotals.
ii. Do one of the following:
 Select Do Not Show Subtotals.
 Select Show all Subtotals at Bottom of Group.
 Select Show all Subtotals at Top of Group.

Subtotal an inner row or column label  
d. To choose a function, under Subtotals, click Custom, if this option is available, and then select a function.

Functions that you can use as a subtotal (SAME AS ABOVE)


Remove subtotals  
e. Click None under Subtotals.

NOTE   If a field contains a calculated item, you can't change the subtotal summary function.

4. Select or clear the Include new items in manual filter check box to include or exclude new items when applying a filter in which you have selected specific items in the Filter menu.

TIP   To quickly display or hide the current subtotal, right-click the item of the field, and then select Subtotal "<Label name>".

DISPLAY OR HIDE GRAND TOTALS FOR THE ENTIRE REPORT

You can display or hide the totals for the current PivotTable report.

Display or hide grand totals  
1. Click the PivotTable report.
2. On the Design tab, in the Layout group, click Grand Totals, and then select one of the following:
o Off for Rows and Columns
o On for Rows and Columns
o Off for Rows Only
o On for Columns Only

Set the default behavior for displaying or hiding grand totals  
1. Click the PivotTable report.
2. On the Options tab, in the PivotTable group, click Options.
The PivotTable Options dialog box is displayed.
3. Click the Totals & Filters tab.
4. Do one of the following:

Display grand totals  
o Select the Show grand totals for columns check box, the Show grand totals for rows check box, or both.
Hide grand totals  
o Clear the Show grand totals for columns check box, the Show grand totals for rows check box, or both.

CALCULATE THE SUBTOTALS AND GRAND TOTALS WITH OR WITHOUT FILTERED ITEMS

1. Click the PivotTable report.
2. On the Options tab, in the PivotTable group, click Options.
The PivotTable Options dialog box is displayed.
3. Click the Total & Filters tab, and then do one of the following:

OLAP source data     Do one of the following:
o Select or clear the Subtotal filtered page items check box to include or exclude report filter items.

NOTE   The OLAP data source must support the MDX expression subselect syntax.

o Select or clear the Mark totals with * check box to display or hide an asterisk next to totals. The asterisk indicates that the visible values that are displayed and that are used when Excel calculates the total are not the only values that are used in the calculation.

NOTE   This option is only available if the OLAP data source does not support the MDX expression subselect syntax.

References: 

1.       Dave Bruns | July 30, 2014

2.      https://support.office.com

Broad classification of Audit opinion

The nature and type of reports issued by the practitioner depends on the type of assurance engagement. However we will be speaking strictly in context of audit engagement as the question is about the types auditreports.

We can classify audit reports in number of ways but usually audit reports are classified n TWO broad categories which are then further classified as follows:

Unmodified audit report

• Unmodified report with unmodified opinion

Modified audit report

• Unmodified opinion
  • Modified report with unqualified opinion AND emphasis of matter paragraph and/or other matter paragraph
• Modified opinion
  • Qualified opinion (qualified report)
  • Adverse opinion (adverse report)
  • Disclaimer of opinion (disclaimer report)

In short there are in total FIVE different types of audit reports that auditor can issue depending on the circumstances of the audit engagement.

Lets understand each type of audit report in detail

1 Unmodified audit report

When auditor on the basis of examination and the evidence obtained expresses his opinion that financial statements of the entity are prepared in all material respects in accordance with applicable financial reporting framework or financial statements give true and fair view than such audit report or auditor’s report is called unmodified or unqualified report. ISA 700 describes the contents and format of the unmodified report in detail.

2 Modified audit report

Auditor’s report is said to be modified if the contents of the unmodified report as stated under ISA 700 are changed:

• either because of the addition of emphasis of matter paragraph or other matters paragraph where opinion is still unmodified (modified report with unmodified opinion)
• or because of the modified opinion i.e. (modified report with modified opinion):
  • Qualified opinion
  • Adverse opinion
  • Disclaimer of opinion

It is important to understand that audit report is not always modified because of the modified opinion. In simple words audit reports with modified opinion are always modified audit reports but modified audit reports are not always with modified opinion.

2.1 Modified report with unmodified opinion

This is called modified report because the contents of the unmodified report are modified as additional paragraph(s) is (are) added. Additional paragraphs can be either or both of the following:

• Emphasis of matter paragraph
• Other matter paragraph

2.1.1 Emphasis of Matter Paragraph

Auditor includes an emphasis of matter paragraph (EMP) when auditor considers that it is necessary to draw the attention of users of financial statements to the matter that is already disclosed or reported in the financial statements and understanding of the specified matter is important in understanding of the financial statements. EMP is included after the opinion paragraph in the audit report. However students must be clear that inclusion of EMP DOES NOT mean that auditor’s opinion is modified.

2.1.2 Other Matter Paragraph

Auditor includes an other matter paragraph (OMP) when auditor considers that it is necessary to communicate a matter other than those that are presented or disclosed in the financial statements and in auditor’s judgment understanding that matter is vital for users’ understanding of the audit, the auditor’s responsibilities or the auditor’s report and this is not prohibited by law or regulation. OMP is included after opinion paragraph and any EMP in the auditor’s report or somewhere else in the auditor’s report if the content of the Other Matter paragraph is relevant to the Other Reporting Responsibilities section.

2.2 Modified report with modified opinion

Auditor modify his opinion when he concludes that it will not be appropriate to express an unmodified/unqualified opinion. Auditor reaches such conclusion when:

• The auditor concludes that, based on the audit evidence obtained, the financial statements as a whole are not free from material misstatement; or
• The auditor is unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to conclude that the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement.

The modification to the audit opinion is determined by the auditor by applying his professional judgment on the circumstances at hand. He may modify his opinion to express a qualified opinion, an adverse opinion or a disclaimer.

2.2.1 Qualified opinion

Audit report containing a qualified opinion is also called qualified report.

Auditor expresses a qualified opinion when:

• The auditor, having obtained sufficient appropriate audit evidence, concludes that misstatements, individually or in the aggregate, are material, but not pervasive, to the financial statements; or
• The auditor is unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence on which to base the opinion, but the auditor concludes that the possible effects on the financial statements of undetected misstatements, if any, could be material but not pervasive.

2.2.2 Adverse opinion

Audit report containing an adverse opinion is also called adverse report.

The auditor shall express an adverse opinion when the auditor, having obtained sufficient appropriate audit evidence, concludes that misstatements, individually or in the aggregate, are both material and pervasiveto the financial statements.

2.2.3 Disclaimer

Audit report containing a disclaimer of opinion is also called disclaimer report

The auditor shall disclaim an opinion when the auditor is unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence on which to base the opinion, and the auditor concludes that the possible effects on the financial statements of undetected misstatements, if any, could be both material and pervasive.

WHISTLE BLOWING - AN INSIDE BARK

 Introduction

We lives in a complex world, the evidence is that our world is full of humans. Every day, decisions are made that can affect our health, safety, economic and human rights. Some of these decisions are made for the worst reasons. They are made by the corrupt, the incompetent or the lazy. Accidents happen or corruption flourishes because employees who know about wrongdoing are afraid to say anything in fear of losing their jobs.

The Objectives:

The objective of the paper in your hands is to consider how far we have advanced towards the consciousness of a significant ethos of revelation. The consciousness of a significant ethos of revelation requires an empowering whistleblowing legal framework, meaningful implementation and enforcement within all organisations especially in the Public Sector Entities, bringing up the practices and protections provided in terms of the laws essentially and as well as the social culture which yield respect to the whistleblower.

Before getting in depth in it let us clear in our mind that what actually is Whistle Blowing?

·         US academics – Marcia P.

Act of disclosure of illegal activities.

·         UK academics –Guy Dehn

Act of disclosure to reduce and remove risks.

·         Australian academics–– Peter Jubb

Act of disclosure to rectify a wrongdoing.

·         Oxford English Dictionary

Bringing an activity to a sharp conclusion as if by the blast of a whistle.

·         UK Committee on Standards in Public Life

Raising a concern about malpractice within an organisation or through an independent structure associated with it.

·         Chambers Dictionary

Giving information (usually to the authorities) about illegal or underhand practices.

·         US, Brewers Dictionary

Exposing to the press a malpractice or cover-up in a business or government

(origins) Police officer summoning public help to apprehend a criminal; referee stopping play after a foul in football.

Here actually we are talking about an effective system in place that allows ways of disclosure by any person of any information about misconduct, corruption, misuse of powers, misappropriations or illegal activity etc. which may leads towards some sort of protection as well as some kind on incentives to the whistle blower in order to promote accountability.

There are few countries in the world which have adopted Whistle Blowing National Laws a few are as under:

·         US - Whistleblower Protection Act

·         UK - Public Interest Disclosure Act

·         Canada -  Public Servants Disclosure Act

·         Japan - Whistleblower Disclosure Act

·         New Zealand - Protected Disclosures Act

·         Romania - Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers

We also have following United Nations International Instrument on Whistle Blowing:

·         Convention against corruption in 2003

·         Convention against corruption in 2005

·         140 countries have signed for as of 2011

Whistleblowing is relevant to all organisations and all people, not just those few who are corrupt or criminal.  This is because every business and every public body faces the risk of things going wrong or of unknowingly harboring a corrupt individual.  Where such a risk arises, usually the first people to realize or suspect the wrongdoing will be those who work in or with the organisation.  Yet these people, who are best placed to sound the alarm or blow the whistle, also have most to lose if they do.

"There are obvious tensions, public and private, between the legitimate interest in the confidentiality of the employer's affairs and in the exposure of wrong. The enactment, implementation and application of the "whistleblowing" measures and the need for properly thought out policies in the workplace, have over the last three years, received considerable publicity from various quarters, including the valuable activities of an independent charity, Public Concern at Work, established in 1993 and experienced in providing assistance to both  employers and employees."

Lord Justice Mummery - giving the judgment of the Court of Appeal - in its first consideration of the Public Interest Disclosure Act.  (ALM Medical Service v Bladon (2002) IRLR 807)

The dilemma

In practical terms, if someone is concerned about corruption or serious wrongdoing in or by an organisation, they have three options.  These are

• To stay silent.

• To blow the whistle internally or with the responsible person.

• To blow the whistle outside to the authorities or the media.

Silence

Silence is the option of least risk both for the individual worker and for a responsible firm which comes across corruption.  It will be attractive for many reasons.  The whistleblower will realise that his or her facts could be mistaken or that there may be an innocent explanation. Where colleagues or competitors are also aware of the suspect conduct but stay silent, the whistleblower will wonder why he or she should speak out.  In organisations where labour relations are adversarial and in cultures where corruption is common, the whistleblower is likely to assume that he or she will be expected to prove that the corrupt practice is occurring, rather than see those in authority investigate and deal with the matter.  Even though he or she has no control over it, the whistleblower may feel responsibility for any action that may be taken against the wrongdoer.  Finally, unless the whistleblower believes there is a good chance that something will be done to address the wrongdoing, it is almost inevitable that he or she will stay silent.

Even if he or she thinks the alarm should be sounded, the whistleblower will want to consider his or her private interests before taking action.  Without reassurance to the contrary, the whistleblower will fear reprisals be it harassment or dismissal.  The whistleblower may also suspect (rightly or wrongly) that the corruption involves, implicates or is condoned by more senior people in or outside the organisation, in which case he or she will fear the matter will be covered up.  Even where these obstacles are overcome or reduced, the whistleblower will fear that he or she will be labelled as disloyal by the generality of colleagues whose respect and trust the whistleblower may want or need in future.

The results of this culture of silence are that:

·         responsible employers are denied the opportunity to protect their interests;

·         unscrupulous competitors, managers or workers are given reason to believe that ‘anything goes’;

·         society focuses more on compensation and punishment than on prevention and deterrence.

Problems in whistleblowing

Whistleblowing always involves two parties with opposing rights and interests; on the one hand there is the whistleblower who has a right to equality, freedom of expression and fair labour practices; and on the other hand there is the organisation against which an allegation is made which has rights to a reputation and to loyalty from staff.

Wind of Change

There is growing acceptance to whistleblowing.  With the changing nature of employment, globalisation and the increased flow of information, there is also a recognition that the traditional approach of trust and confidentiality in the workplace cannot be relied upon to operate as it did through much of the 20^th century.  While trust and confidence is of critical importance in any community or organisation, to be effective it cannot be blind or unquestioning.  Whistleblowing cultures which emphasise internal reporting are a means by which the abuse of trust and confidence can be checked and by which asymmetrical accountabilities of those within the workplace can be understood and developed. If the organisation is prepared to promote and implement such a culture, any risk of it being hijacked by petty campaigns will be minimised, if not removed.

Whistleblowing as a means to deter wrongdoing, promote transparency and good governance, underpin self-regulation and maintain public confidence.  It is the approach which has been put on a legislative footing in the UK and in South Africa in recent years.

ESSENTIALS

Essential 1 - Create an Anti-Fraud Policy

·         Outline an anti-fraud culture

·         Outline the need for accountability

·         Outline reporting mechanisms

·         Outline the owners of the process

·         Outline the authority of these owners

Essential 2 - Create Case Management Framework

·         Outline incidents criteria

·         Outline incidents level

·         Outline incident response teams

·         Outline investigative process

·         Outline evidence retention timeline

Essential 3 - Create a dedicated department

·         Legal experience

·         Forensics Accounting experience

·         IT Forensics experience

·         Fraud experience

Essential 4 - Get endorsements from the top

Essential 5 - Get endorsements from Clients

Essential 6 - Awareness, Awareness, Awareness!

·         The policy

·         Anti-fraud culture

·         The department

Essential 7 - Investigate and Take Action

·         Investigate incidents reported

·         Take action on the incidents reported

Essential 8 - Protect the Whistle Blower

Essential 9 - Reward the Whistle Blower

Essential 10 - Encourage anonymity

Essential 11 - Assess and evaluate the system

·         Is it working

·         Is it yielding the intended results

·         Are employees comfortable using it

·         Are employees using it

Five Factors to Success

1.      Protection

2.      Reward

3.      Taking Action

4.      Showing Action

5.      Confidentiality

Let’s Agree

·         That Fraud is here to stay

·         That we need whistleblowers

·         That we need whistle blowing system

Recommendations

1.      There is a need to develop a consolidated and consistent whistleblowing framework that provides equal protection to all whistleblowers and which imposes the same effective duties on organisations, in both the public and private domains, to promote a culture of disclosure that protects whistleblowers.

2.      The law must be made comprehensive in the provision of an expanded scope of protection.

3.      It must draw all potential whistleblowers into its protective field and allow disclosures to any person or agency that is able to do something about the allegation concerned.

4.      Organisations may be via Audit Committees must be compelled and/or encouraged to proactively promote a culture of disclosure, adopt more appropriate and expansive interpretations of the whistle blowing related guidelines, and to be more pro-active and attentive to effective implementation of obligations and protections provided by the guidelines at least until it got legislative cover/security.