Looking For The Best Info About CPA Ethics?Professional organizations offer guidance for certified public accountants (CPA) to receive standards of CPA ethics to govern individual and corporate behavior. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Code of Professional Conduct now includes CPAs who are employed in the private sector. Other professional organizations include the National Association of Accountants' Standards of Ethical Conduct for Management Accountants, which emphasizes high standards of ethical conduct for its members. The American Accounting Association and The National Commission on Fraudulent Financial Reporting have recommended that schools of business and accounting include ethical conduct standards in its curricula. This ensures that CPA ethics become a common practice when graduates enter the business world. New issues surrounding CPA ethics has changed the applicability of the AICPA Code of Professional conduct. Business organizations are faced with more pressure to make accounting practice codes applicable to all company officers and employees. Oftentimes, managers leave ethical discussions open to interpretation, leaving objective resolutions to ethical conflicts. Case studies and rules may not provide guidance for a particular ethical problem related to CPA ethics. A high ethical standard has always been expected of CPAs in public practice. Yet, private accounting professionals remained under the radar, until the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct was expanded to include the private sector. Now, the concerns of companies, employees and society have prompted initiatives dealing with CPA ethics in private practice. CPAs are obligated to uphold high ethical standards in accounting practices. CPA Ethics: A Professional Responsibility By definition, a professional is one who adheres to the technical or ethical standards which govern a particular profession or occupation. CPA ethics govern the behavior of that professional in accounting practices. One may presume that ethical decisions are subjective; however, ethical conduct is exhibited in personal and professional lives. Most likely, a person's patterned behaviors in personal issues are reflected in their behavior towards professional issues as well. Ethical dilemmas arise when personal beliefs conflict with organizational beliefs. This is also true when organization and society differs on standards. CPA ethics practices must take into consideration all company stakeholders, not just stockholders. Corporate scandals brim with examples of how unethical decisions affect a company and its relationship to stakeholders. Too often, professionals lost sight of the importance of long-term goals and focused on short-term gratification. Two critical factors must be addressed if a company wants to incorporate good CPA ethics into its culture: short-term versus long-term, and the ethical implications, not third party criticism, of a decision making process. A mechanism must exist that incorporates ethical behavior into decision making. Violations of ethical behavior have thrust this importance into the forefront over and over again. As a result, three initiatives regarding CPA ethics have emerged. We have already discussed briefly the changes within the professional accounting organizations. This includes the development of six principles and rules governing ethical behavior. A second initiative is for educators to set the tone for ethical behavior through professional accounting education. Students must learn more than knowledge and skills; they must also learn ethical standards and the commitment of a professional, according to the American Accounting Association (AAA). Finally, companies must establish codes of ethics to deal with ethical issues. |