New York State Accounting Code of Ethics
The accounting system is constantly changing. During these changes, it is important for accountants to adhere to the high ethical standards that they have always lived by. Adhering to the high ethical standards is an accountant's obligation to the public, the profession, and themselves. An accountant's ethical conduct usually lies within four different areas. This includes competence, confidentiality, integrity, and objectivity. NYSSCPA.ORG states, "Members also have a continuing responsibility to cooperate with each other to improve the art of accounting, maintain the public's confidence, and carry out the professions special responsibilities for self-governance," (Article 1). New
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Accountants should refuse gifts and favors that would appear to influence their actions and should refrain from any activities that would prejudice their ability to perform their duties ethically. NYSSCPA.ORG states, "Integrity requires a member to be, among other things, honest and candid within the constraints of client confidentiality," (Article 3). Accountants must be willing to recognize and communicate professional limitations that would preclude successful performance of their activities. They are expected to communicate unfavorable as well as favorable information.
Client Confidentiality Client confidentiality is very important in the accounting profession. New York State requires that accountants do not share any client information without the specific consent of the client. However, under certain circumstances, the State finds it necessary that an accountant might have to share client information. Examples of these circumstances include an accountant?s receipt of a subpoena or summons or an accountants participation in actual or threatened legal proceedings or alternative dispute resolution proceedings (NYSSCPA.ORG, ET section 301).
Accounting Work Product New York State requires its accountants to adequately maintain its work papers in accordance with specific requirements. Work papers include the accountant?s records of the procedures applied, tests performed, supporting information, and the material
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
The five fundamental ethical principles of the Australian Accounting Profession as listed in APES 110 Code of Ethics of the Australian Accounting Profession are integrity, objectivity, and professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour.
I. A CPA leaving a firm may take copies of information contained in client files to assist another firm in serving that client.
Accountants are relied upon to be trustworthy and maintain high ethical standards. It is because of the nature of the profession that puts them in a position of trust with people who rely on their professional judgment and guidance in making decisions. These decisions are extremely important in accounting and more so that companies that have high ethical standard or main good ethical culture spend enormous time to train the staffs about the conduct that is expected of them.
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).
Ethics are crucial to the accounting profession and the business world, so choosing an ethics system to base your moral decisions on is extremely important. Accountants and all business professionals will be confronted with moral dilemmas on a daily basis. Being strong in your faith and knowing what you believe in will help you to always make the right decision. Based on this reasoning, this essay will explain why deontology is the best ethics system for the accounting profession.
The AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct was first implemented for the accounting profession in 1988 and has since seen many revisions as the profession has changed. In 2014-2015, the AICPA codified a newer version that includes a “Conceptual Framework for Members in Business” and a “Conceptual Framework for Members in Public Practice.” (page 6, section .01) AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct is written for Certified Public Accountants who are practicing in the United States and does not apply to accountants practicing elsewhere. Integrity is one of the most important principles for any professional and the AICPA recognizes the need to establish guidelines for how integrity should be implemented
The objectives an audit team hopes to accomplish by preparing a proper set of audit workpapers is to facilitate the planning, performance, supervision of the engagement, and provide evidence supporting significant conclusions by the auditor in accordance with the PCAOB. A record of the evidence, samples tested and the conclusions are presented to supervisors and partners for review
The practitioner is required to return all records acquired during representation, at the client’s request. Clients often request for records when they are changing from one practitioners to the other. Section10.28(b) defines client’s records as all documents or written or electronic obtained from client or practitioner prepared or third
Businesses, investors, creditors rely on accounting ethics. The accounting profession requires honesty, consistency with industry standards, and compliance with laws and regulations. The ethics increase the responsibility and integrity of accounting professionals, and public trust. The ethical requirements influence the management behavior and decision-making. The financial scandal of Enron and Arthur Anderson demonstrates the failure of fundamental ethical framework, such as off-balance sheet transactions, misrepresentation of financial statements, inaccurate disclosure, manipulations with earnings, etc. The confronted accounting profession and concern for ethics in businesses forced regulators to revise the conceptual framework of accounting processes.
Imagine trusting your hard-earned money like your retirement savings to a financial adviser or Certified Public Accountants (CPA) only to lose it all in a fraudulent Ponzi scheme. In today’s world of business many organizations, financial planners and accountants are in the news due to the financial ethical breaches that have affected their customers, employees, and the general public. A CPA has to be responsible for their audits and take any punishments as a result of their mistakes, incompetence or illegal actions. CPAs are expected to have integrity in their work,
The Bible and accounting have numerous similarities when it comes to ethics. First, let us take a look at the definition of ethics; “ethics are the beliefs that distinguish right from wrong. They are accepted standards of good and bad behavior” (Wild, p.8). Therefore when comparing the two we are able to distinguish certain verses in the bible, with the code of ethics in accounting that are recognized in the accounting industry or any industry at that.
Integrity – Accountants should always ensure that they are honest and straightforward in their activities with every instance that they have clients. They should always maintain the lines of duty and maintain business relationships during all official duties (Nobes, 2015).
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).
witnesses also are included in the case. The primary issue in this case (drawn from actual