GFOA CPFO Exam - Topic 8 Question 119 Discussion

Actual exam question for GFOA's CPFO exam

Question #: 119
Topic #: 8

According to the AGA Code of Ethics, a government agency contract manager using a vendor as a personal reference would constitute:

Afraud.

Bprofessional incompetence.

Ca conflict of interest.

Dnepotism.

Show Suggested Answer

Suggested Answer: C

by Nieves at Nov 21, 2025, 08:41 PM

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Dong

5 months ago

D) nepotism is a stretch, but still a concern.

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Patria

5 months ago

B) professional incompetence could fit too. Poor judgment!

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Thaddeus

5 months ago

I agree with C. It undermines fairness in contracts.

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Goldie

6 months ago

Definitely! Using a vendor like that feels biased.

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Maryrose

6 months ago

I think it's C) a conflict of interest.

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Leonor

6 months ago

Seems like a gray area to me, not sure about this one.

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Thomasena

6 months ago

Totally agree, C is the right answer!

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Dulce

6 months ago

I thought it was more about professional incompetence.

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Willard

7 months ago

I thought the correct answer was "all of the above" - that's the safest bet when you're not sure!

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Soledad

7 months ago

I'd use my dog as a personal reference - at least he's loyal and won't rat me out!

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Fatima

7 months ago

D) nepotism. Nepotism is the correct answer here, as using a vendor as a personal reference is essentially showing favoritism.

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Enola

7 months ago

A) fraud. This is a clear case of fraud, trying to misrepresent a personal relationship as a professional one.

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Hannah

8 months ago

B) professional incompetence. Using a vendor as a personal reference shows a lack of professional judgment and competence.

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Refugia

8 months ago

C) a conflict of interest. Using a vendor as a personal reference is clearly a conflict of interest and a violation of the AGA Code of Ethics.

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Kenneth

8 months ago

I thought we covered this in our ethics module, and I lean towards it being a conflict of interest, but I could be wrong.

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Corinne

8 months ago

I feel like using a vendor as a personal reference could definitely be seen as professional incompetence.

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Mauricio

8 months ago

I remember something about nepotism being related to personal connections, but I’m not confident it applies here.

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Tom

9 months ago

I think this might be a conflict of interest, but I’m not entirely sure. We discussed similar scenarios in class.

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Bernardine

9 months ago

This seems straightforward to me. Using a vendor as a personal reference is clearly a conflict of interest that goes against the AGA Code of Ethics. I'll mark C for this one.

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Anjelica

9 months ago

I'm a little confused on the difference between professional incompetence and a conflict of interest here. I'll need to think through the details of each option.

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