Running head: ACCOUNTING CODES OF CONDUCT 1
CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT 9
Sabine Berzins
AC4800 X70 Auditing Principles Procedures
Week Two
AICPA Professional Code of Conduct
Abstract
The purpose of the Code of Professional Conduct (Code) is to protect the reputation of the accounting profession and the public. Proper conduct and ethical behavior are important, because auditors are party to confidential information and it is important this trust not be abused. This essay discusses the purpose of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and delves into the definitions of the six principles of the Code. It explores to whom this Code applies and what should be considered its key principle. The next
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The organization sets U.S. auditing and ethical standards for privately held companies, not-for profit organizations, federal, state, and local governments. It represents the CPA profession by serving ?as an advocate before legislative bodies, public interest groups and other professional organizations? (aicpa.org). Its creation established accountancy as a profession and distinguishes itself by demanding scholastic requirements, high professional accountancy principles, a stringent code of professional ethics and an obligation to serving the public …show more content…
If, after applying his knowledge of the basic Code and Ignatian values to his ethical dilemma is unproductive, he may resort to the Code?s strategies to identify and apply safeguards to eliminate or reduce an ethical threat to an acceptable level. Additionally, the Code addresses ethical conflict resolution in situations, where there are obstacles to following an appropriate course of action. If an auditor is ?God-centered?, he will already have the ?gut instinct? to make the morally and ethically correct
Article 8 gives examples on using the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. The article gives the example of you taking over the role of handling the independence and ethical matters involved with auditing for a retiring partner in your firm. You are quickly given the task of determining whether or not your firm can provide auditing services to a client that owns a small, privately owned bank and a used car dealership. To perform work for the client you want to see the rules on how the firms will remain independent from the bank and car dealership, and you have a week to research any questions or concerns that you have with the potential client.
When auditing a publicly held company, auditors need to observe principles. The ethical principles of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Code of
“ In order to prevent fraudulent financial reports and statements, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants(AICPA) has created ethical standards” (Ethical standards in a financial statement, 2011). These standards aim to make financial professionals accountable for their accounting practices. This includes the integrity of financial reporting and ensuring financial reporting is done fairly and factually. Financial accountants and professionals should maintain professional integrity, objectivity, and independence to reduce the risk of resulting legal action, loss of profits, and a poor reputation if improper financial reporting is done (Ethical standards in a financial statement, 2011).
This post will discuss two ethical accounting dilemmas that could occur in the CPA profession. For each dilemma, it will explain how the dilemma could be resolved based on logic and reason. It will then support that proposed resolution through support from the American Institute of Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA) Code of Professional Conduct.
Canada is a multicultural country. Healthcare providers, therefore, face certain challenges associated with this. The CMA Code of Ethics recommends that âphysicians provide patients with whatever information that will, from the patient's perspective, have a bearing on medical care decision-making and communicate that information in a way that is comprehensible to the patient.â [1]. This statement has a very important message, which implies that the truth telling is not a mandatory burden that every patient must endure but rather a stage-like process delivered by a healthcare provider and guided by the patient.
Great post! I like how you applied participants from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In section A of the ACA code of ethics (2014), it focuses on the counseling relationship, that they encourage to actively attempt to understand the diverse culture backgrounds of the clients they serve.
Accountants are held to a higher ethical standards and they must performed their duties in compliance with standards or ethical values of honesty, integrity, objectivity, due care, confidentiality, which must be fully committed to. They must put clients or public interest first before their own. They must have and ethical values and maintain those values way beyond what the society or the company’s code of ethic. It is important that accountants’ behavior or ethical values is in conformity with the
Ethical issues and how to comply ethical standards are always concerned of all tax practitioners when conduct tax practice. They are subject to IRS Circular 230, AICPA’s Statements on Standards for Tax Services and relevant penalty provisions in the Internal Revenue Code.
The Model of Trust Enhancement was established to enhance and maintain the public’s trust in the accounting profession. Over the last two decades, the ethics of the accounting profession has been questioned and public trust destabilized, in particular for auditors, due to the Enron debacle. The fact that an auditing firm would assist their clients with publishing an inadequate set of financial statements shows their willingness to violate laws and regulations (Sims & Brinkmann, 2003). According to the textbook, “Because trust is essential, even the appearance of an accountant’s honesty and integrity is important. The auditor, therefore, must not only be trustworthy, but he or she must also appear trustworthy” (Duska, Duska & Ragatz, 2011, p. 116). The majority of statements filed inadequately have a substantial impact on the credibility of the accounting profession as a whole. Sullivan (n.d.10) states that a CPA must possess a high level of trust, by applying professional judgment and enhancing the three trustworthy characteristics (ability, benevolence, and integrity) when resolving accounting ethics dilemmas (slide 3).
The AICPA is a Code of Professional Conduct that inform individuals what they are mainly accountable for and what their performance on professional services should be comprise of. Throughout these codes, there are many guidelines that range from the most to least authoritative. The principles provide and overview of what the code of conduct is, meanwhile the set of guidelines helps enforces the code to individuals. The code of conduct has four parts including the preface, a part that applies to the individual in the public practice, business members, and the rest of other individuals.
Ethics in any industry is important, but for Accounting professionals and those in need of their services, it is a particularly stressed element. Information provided by accountants is used to make major decisions, including investing, downsizing, expanding, etc, so accountants are expected to be competent, reliable, and have a high degree of professional integrity. Because of these high expectations, the professional accountancy industry, like many other professions, has adopted professional codes of ethics (Woelfel, 1986). These ethical codes go above and beyond the requirements for state or federal laws and regulations. There are several professional organizations within the
The difference between morals and ethics believe it or not are different even though many of us might think they are the same. Morals has to do with a persons character and whether or not their behavior serves as good or bad. Ethics on the other hand has to do with stressing a social system where a persons morals are applied. The purpose of the AIA Code of Ethics is to make sure the professionals that are practicing Architecture are doing so following all the rules in the AIA Code of Ethics while also using good moral characters when it comes to dealing with their professional careers which involve colleagues, clients, contractors, and civilians. In the article “INTO THE CURRENT” is a concern to the AIA Code of Ethics because Frank Gehry is
The code of ethics and conduct is a written set of rules and regulations that provides guidance to employees of an organization on how to conduct themselves and carry out their duties in line with the organization’s principles. The code of ethics and conduct is also be backed up by suitable disciplinary actions. A code of ethics and conducts helps employees deal with ethical issues and other gray areas that they face as they execute their daily activities. An effective code of ethics and conduct is required for an organization to run smoothly and maintain a positive image. Having an ineffective code of ethics and conduct is almost like having none.
With professions having this tremendous knowledge regarding a company’s financial standing and not being able to disclose the information to the public it can create major investment errors. With these restrictions in place by the AICPA the accountants and auditors “… in a position of having to choose between earning a livelihood or making a proper ethical choice” (Synder, 2011).
Code of ethics promotes the ethical culture in an internal audit profession. Principles and rules of conduct