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A couple months back, McKinsey was accused by Alix Partner founder Jay Alix with being less than candid about its potential conflicts of interest in restructuring engagements.

Fast forward and we now hear a different — yet similar — type of situation with Accenture. The details with Accenture center on the behemoth’s Media Management group, which conducts independent media audits. Rivals say the launch of Accenture Interactive’s Programmatic Services — an extension of the company’s Interactive’s work in performance marketing — pivots off the aforementioned audit service and makes a sham of Accenture as watchdog.

Back in a simpler time, many people believed an auditor must be entirely independent. And the confidential information, data, and insights gleaned by the auditor through an audit process should never be used by an auditor to provide non-audit services.

Oh to be naive again.

Clearly auditors and consultants continue to cohabitate in the accounting world. From an organizational standpoint, they may present themselves as one firm. But operationally, the chasm between the two is quite wide and distinct. The solution would be to separate the businesses completely and definitively — ironically, that’s exactly what then-Andersen Consulting and Arthur Andersen did almost two decades ago to create Accenture!

The fact that we’re seeing this same behavior manifest itself in many settings circles back to consultants themselves, and their sometimes misplaced belief regarding self-management. There is a patrician-like “don’t-worry-we-can-handle-this” approach that, from a client’s perspective, can seem downright condescending.

“Trust me” is a phrase we expect from trusted advisors. “Self control” is a phrase we associate with experience and wisdom. Clients should be worried when consulting and advisory firms fail to see the potential conflicts that seem so apparent to others.