When I think of Ethics, I think of trying to distinguish right from wrong, good from bad, and morally doing the right thing when it comes to making decisions. Ethics occurs throughout all different parts of our everyday lives. We begin to learn ethics at a young age and continue to learn it as we get older, according to our jobs, or our places in life. For instance, we learned that it is wrong to take someone’s toy away, or to hurt someone when we were younger. However, once we became older, we learned it is bad to distort information to make oneself look good. For example, in concept analysis 4-3, Brown wants to raise the depreciation expense of the company’s machines so when they are sold at a loss the company does not look bad (Kieso, …show more content…
Those are things we do not do. People also tend to think of virtues such as honesty and loyalty as good ethical standards (What is Ethics). Although there is a slight distinction between what is ethical and what is not, there is a not a written rule book on ethics. Ethics is important in the Accounting Profession just as much as it is important in any other profession. When in the accounting profession, we will be faced with decisions on a daily basis that we will have to decide if they are ethical or not. For instance, one CEO, Kenseth, is nervous about large stockholders who have been vocal about her lately and she considers buying them out by purchasing their shares, so she can eliminate the competition and maintain her leadership as CEO (Kieso, Weygandt, Warfield, Pg. 871). She has to decide if she should buy them out or not. If she bought them out, that would be unethical because she is using inside information and her authority to benefit herself. She should keep in mind what is good for the company as a whole, and not just what is good for herself. Additionally, depending on the company, the more particular they are, the harder it is on the Accountants to make ethical decisions. They are constantly worrying about “Am I presenting this information in a good or bad way”, or “Is this right or wrong” (Kieso, Weygandt, Warfield, Pg. 21). For instance, in the case where Weller wants to implement a rule that will present the financial conditions in a
First, it is important to define ethics and how its components play an extensive role in our society. The term ethics is defined as “Moral principles that govern a person 's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.” (Oxford); ethical decisions are the ones that per se determine whether or not murder is wrong. Likewise, ethics consists of different ramifications and perspectives from many philosophers. Moreover,
Ethics are defined as rules of behavior based on ideas about what is morally good and bad. Ethics is also an area of study that involves ideas about what is good and bad behavior and what is morally right or wrong. Ethics can vary from person to person. Ethics deals with making moral judgments about what is right or wrong, good or bad. Right and wrong are qualities or moral judgments we give to actions and conduct. Ethics provides us with a way to make moral choices when we are uncertain about what to do in a situation involving moral issues. In everyday life we make moral choices and judgements.
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.
Ethics are principles of behaviour that distinguish between right and wrong. Resnik (2011) defines ethics as” a method, procedure, or perspective for deciding how to act and for analysing complex problems and issues” (p.1). People face ethical decisions; however, People working in business frequently face ethical decisions. Business ethics is the evaluation of business activities and behaviour as right or wrong (Society for Business Ethics, 1991).
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).
As children, we were taught by our parents that it is wrong to lie, cheat and steal. As we grow up and enter into the real world with some knowledge of right and wrong we see, first hand the importance of ethics as well as its complexity, good ethics make us honest, law abiding citizens, we contribute to the good of society. Their are five
Ethics refers to a system of moral standards that guide the decision for human conduct of what is right and wrong based on everyday life situations, usually in terms rights, obligations, benefits, fairness, or virtue. Ethics is used as a formal guideline for conducting business in order to minimize pain to the greater number of people as a whole. The principles of ethics come from the knowledge and understanding of the word of God, the Bible. It tells us how we ought to think and behave toward one another considering first, how we want to be treated. For instance, we have the right to freedom of speech as long as we don’t insult the integrity of others. In addition, God gives us examples for how make right decisions and
Ethics are basic choices in our lives. Choices of how we spend our money, the food that we eat and how we treat others are all applied ethics that we challenge everyday.
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
Ethics has a long history, and many ethical theories have been around since the Ancient Greeks. When I first entered this course I didn’t know exactly what to think. I knew what was right and wrong and good and bad but I never really stopped and thought about it as ethics. I just looked at it as the way I was raised and what society expected. As I become aware of the various ethical theories, I discovered a number of contradictions in some of my own beliefs. I learn what we were taught as children may be challenged by our adult experiences.
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.
Does my behavior show that my decisions are based on a greater good? Since I understand the fact that doing good is far better than doing something bad, ethical thinking allows me to make decisions that will be right. Hopefully, this behavior will present or leave a positive impression. For example, by displaying a positive attitude, showing a willingness to help out, making sure my work is completed accurately and in a timely manner, rather than producing work that is inaccurate and late, will let others know that they can trust me, and count on me to be there to help out, on both a personal and professional level.
So what is ethics? George W. Reynolds states that “ethics is a set of beliefs about right and wrong behaviour within a society” and that “ethical behaviour conforms to generally accepted norms” with almost all of them being universal. As we all know, certain behaviours such as cheating and lying are
Ethical issues have greatly transformed in our lives since the great Enron, Xerox and other huge corporations proposed big profits showing earnings of billions of dollars and yet in reality facing bankruptcy. These corporations faced great trouble with the federals and state for manipulating financial statements. But not only corporations can be blamed on this, accounting firms were involved in this as much as the corporations were. With the business stand point, ethics comprises of principles and standards that guide behavior. Investors, traders, customers, and legal system determine whether a specific action is ethical or unethical. Ethical issue is a vast subject, but we will look at the niche
Ethics are moral principles or values that govern the conduct of an individual or a group.It is not a burden to bear, but a prudent and effective guide which furthers life and success. Ethics are important not only in business but in academics and society as well because it is an essential part of the foundation on which a civilized society is built.