Money, funders and conflicts of interest
When someone else's interests could bend your judgement
- BCaBA
- BCBA
What the obligation is
A conflict of interest exists whenever something you stand to gain could sway — or reasonably appear to sway — your professional judgement. In practice most of them are financial and structural rather than personal: service agreements that reward volume, a funder's authorisation limits shaping what gets recommended, referral relationships with businesses you have an interest in, or a third-party contract where the entity paying is not the person receiving services. The code's answer is transparency and priority: identify who the client is, disclose the arrangement, and keep the client's interests ahead of the payer's and your own. Fees and financial terms are agreed up front and in writing.
In plain language
Notice when money or an outside relationship could bend your judgement. Say so openly, agree fees up front, and keep the client's interests first.
What this looks like
- A written service agreement covering scope, fees and how services end.
- Telling a family plainly when a funder limits what can be authorised.
- Declining a referral arrangement that pays you for sending people somewhere.
- Recommending fewer hours when the data support fewer hours.
Where people get caught
- Letting authorisation limits silently become the clinical recommendation.
- Leaving fee arrangements informal until there is a dispute.
- Assuming that because the contract is with a school or agency, the student is not the client.
- Treating disclosure as sufficient when the conflict should simply be avoided.
If you are not sure
Write down who benefits from each option in front of you. If you would be uncomfortable explaining the arrangement to the family, that discomfort is the answer.
In the codes
- Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts Section 1 — Your conduct as a professional
- 1.11 Avoid multiple relationships, and manage the ones you cannot avoid
- 1.12 Keep gifts under ten dollars, and say so up front
- 1.13 Do not coerce or exploit anyone you hold power over
- Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts Section 3 — What you owe clients and stakeholders
- 3.05 Document the money before you begin
- 3.07 Get third-party contracts straight before services begin
- 3.08 Under a third-party contract, the client still comes first
- 3.13 Refer on need, and disclose your interests
On the exam
Terms used here
Situations where this comes up
Related topics
Written from
- bacb-ethics-code-2022 — Client and stakeholder responsibilities
Written from the analyst code's standards on client responsibilities, agreements and conflicts of interest, in our own words.
This entry has not yet been through independent review. Treat it as a draft, and read the official code for anything that matters.