¶ … deceitful profession, certified public accountants would most certainly not be the first to come to mind. That is because CPAs are known and respected for their honesty. The profession goes out of its way to project that image, and there is a certain amount of truth to it. However, not all CPAs are squeaky clean and respected for their honesty. Some are quite dishonest and are putting a black mark on the image of the entire profession. There is one area where the CPA profession has fallen short of protecting the public interest. There is a general duty that accountants owe to their clients and the other persons who are affected by their actions. Two elements compose the general duty of performance: skill and care. Another element and responsibility is owed to clients and other persons, which is that accountants should observe a standard of ethical or social responsibility.
One set of difficulties concerns ethics education's ability to instill the chosen values and to make them stick after the educational process is completed. Instruction in accounting ethics is directed at people whose character-or lack there-of-has largely been formed by the time the instruction occurs. Even those who are positively influenced by ethics instruction, moreover, may still behave irresponsibly if their careers or their livelihoods require them to act in their client's financial interest (Fulmer, 1987).
Recent pressure to include more ethics instruction in the accounting classroom has placed an emphasis on individuals who have a sense of moral responsibility. In accounting ethics education literature the benefits of teaching ethics have been greatly influenced by the following set of goals presented by Loeb (1988): a) Relate accounting education to moral issues; b) Recognize issues in accounting that have ethical implications; c) Develop "a sense of moral obligation" or responsibility; d) Develop the abilities needed to deal with ethical conflicts or dilemmas; e) Learn to deal with uncertainties of the accounting profession; f) "Set the stage for" a change in ethical behavior and g) Appreciate and understand the history and composition of all aspects of accounting ethics and their relationship to the general field of ethics (Metzger, 1992).
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Another challenge facing the industry today is the important legal issues that surround the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Koehn & Del Vecchio, 2004). One of these is the fact that the process of due diligence practiced by many companies is now taking much longer (Koehn & Del Vecchio, 2004). There is a higher degree of caution than was previously utilized and because of this many companies are discovering information that would have
It also publishes interpretations about certain rules. WHEN AN ACCOUNTANT FAILS The AICPA's Code of Professional Conduct is considered to be a binding agreement for every CPA in America. As with other professions most accountants are ethical and honest in their dealings with their clients, however every so often a problem arises that must be disciplined. This can happen in a purposeful attempt to be deceitful, or it can happen by an
Control environment: (i) Insistent accounting policies or practices. (ii) Demands from senior management to augment revenues and earnings (iii) Absence of involvement by the accounting or finance department in transactions or in the supervision of arrangements with distributors. (Practice Alert 98-3 Revenue Recognition Issues) Matters needing special consideration: (i) an alteration in the revenue recognition policy of the company. (ii) Sales terms do not meet the terms with the usual
Sarbanes-Oxley. The political pressure of the past several years following the dot.com bubble and the collapse of several major companies created a need for new securities legislation, which culminated last year in the Sarbanes-Oxley Investor Protection Act, which establishes new guidelines for the securities industry. Initially a Democratic brainchild, the act became favored by Republicans in the House when it was realized that such adjustments would be of great benefit to
Ethical Violations - South African Audit ScandalIntroductionBrowning, Levin, & Wolod is interested in expanding accounting and auditing services to Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, and south Africa. The introduction of international operations into the organization creates new opportunities that can be leveraged by the organization to generate revenue and new risks that can be mitigated by training the recruits accordingly (Minh Duc et al., 2019). The KPMG case is recognized internationally for
Enron could engage in their derivative trading strategy with no fear of government intervention because derivative trading was specifically exempted from government regulation. Due in part to a ruling by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) chairwoman, Wendy Graham, derivatives remained free of regulatory oversight. Ms. Graham, wife of Texas senator Phil Graham, made this ruling 5 weeks before resigning as chairwoman of the CFTC and joining the Enron Board
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