Introduction Organizational culture, management philosophy and ethics in business each have an impact on all areas of the organization; from operations, marketing, and, accounting. No matter the size, industry or level of profitability of an organization, business ethics are one of the most important aspects of long-term success. According to Webster’s dictionary, ethics can be defined as the “rules of behavior based on ideas about what is morally good and bad” these rules influence every aspect of our society (Investopedia, N.D.) (Webster’s, N.D.). While sometimes overlooked, accounting plays a large role in many organizations. Its importance cannot be overstated. “Accountants handle a wide range of privileged and sensitive data in their daily tasks. And because they work with numbers that can have repercussions on bonuses and stock prices, taxes, to name a few areas of influence; they may face ethical dilemmas more often than, other people in the organization” such as, marketing, and operations(McDonald,2014). An analysis of the multifaceted role of accountants is not complete without discussing the duty that it owes to the general public. As a profession that has been granted a privileged position in society, accountants as a whole routinely engage, in a wide range of issues which often require that interest of the public be protected. As a result, it is critical that accountants adhere to the highest level of ethical standards. Unfortunately, that hasn’t always been
Financial reporting practices and ethics have manifested an ocean of literature. This has mainly come from organization theorists that address accounting practices. These theorists and professionals have given fresh accountability measures. Their ideals give this industry the tools needed to survive, grow and prosper. The way an organization prepares and reports its financial information and handles its daily operations is in essence financial practices, and in the way it accomplishes this reveals their ethical standards to which they adhere to. This paper will discuss the financial practices, ethical standards, and
“ 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.
Every business develops a set of ethical principles that they abide by. The business ethical principles intentions: it construct the business certainty in the community , maintain the employees liveried in what the business attempt to have as structural conducts and aid the employees consume principles to make ethical choices that guards the business. In a culture with a diverse assessment structure and augmented judgment visibly by companies with changeable ethics and interests, there appears to be further difficulties on business individuals to make tougher ethical assessments. In our day-to-day performances, we depend on on our ethical principles to monitor us in the correct path and do the correct things. The substance of any efficacious and perpetual business is they segment a mutual ethical matter concentrating on presenting and generating value along with allocating their business values with the citizens they network with on a day-to-day basis.
Business practices, in addition to guidelines on the matter of probable controversial impediments are a component of organizational ethics. This type of ethics is frequently motivated by the law; a copious amount of organizations practice ethics in order to be accepted by the community, not to mention in order to ensure a successful business. Ethical values can have a focal point on organizational concerns which assist the company in adhere to respectable practices within their establishment or corporation.
II. Main Point #2. Contrary to popular belief, Accountants, and the tasks that they perform, are an important part of most people’s everyday life.
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.
Business ethics refers to the consideration of moral decisions and responsibilities in the process of operating a business. Business ethics, practiced throughout the deepest layers of a company, become the heart and soul of the company 's culture and can mean the difference between success and failure. Values drive behavior and therefore need to be consciously stated, but they also need to be affirmed by actions. Ethical business environments are created with foundations of integrity, accountability and commitment.
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
This study aims to understand what effect has an ethical framework in accounting. In particular, we examine the influence of ethics on earnings management, financial reporting, and external accounting. Today, the commercial environment reveals the unethical behavior of management and accountants through the manipulation of accounting records to boost the company’s stock price, falsified financial statements to mislead investors, failure of auditors to correct errors and omissions due to client’s pressure and personal material interests.
Ethical and legal obligations apply to all members of society. As one in society, the obligation to act in an ethical, law abiding manner on a daily basis is vital to the integrity of daily life. Many professions have their own code of ethics. Financial reporting is not exempt from such ethical and legal standards. One’s lively hood depends on decisions made in the business world. Business transactions are done daily and can impact one’s economic stability. Trust is placed in the hands of corporate America and an obligation of financial reporting to reveal a complete honest and legal picture of an entity’s accounting practices is important in attaining trust. This paper will discuss the obligations of
When determining and defending the use of a particular ethical system within the confines of a profession, it is important to evaluate the system in terms of the professional culture as well as the expected professional conduct laid out within the vocation itself. The accounting profession has been evolving for thousands of years. Early accounting records date business transactions back as far as third century B.C. (Schroeder, Clark, & Cathey, 2009). Early record keeping was for internal purposes and as societies and economies expanded, it became important to maintain records for external purposes as well. According to Schroeder, Clark & Cathey (2009), by the ninetheeth centruy, bookkeeing expanded into accounting (p. 3). From this time, it has been the duty of the accountant to serve the public interest and the profession has been culitvated into an organizational culture with professional norms and standards constantly taking shape in an effort to complete an all-inclusive conceptual framework.
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).
Business ethics, social, and environmental guidelines frame the expectations of an organization's stakeholders including customers, employees, and regulatory bodies. An organization's ethical guidelines encompass how the organization and its employees embody ethical principles in their dealings, with each other, and other stakeholders. Therefore, Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Farrell (2008) have defined Business ethics as "The principles and standards that guide behavior in the world of business" (p.6). In many situations, individuals must incorporate their personal ethics to match those of the organization's ethical culture. For this reason, business ethics theory indicates that an organization's ethics are evident in its organizational mission and vision (Hummels & Timmer, 2004). This is because the mission and vision determine organizational structure and culture, and thereby organizational and individual behavior.
witnesses also are included in the case. The primary issue in this case (drawn from actual