AICPA Code of Professional Conduct Certified public accountants (CPAs) perform a role that is essential to society. Because of the importance of that role, CPAs have responsibilities to anyone who employs their professional services. CPAs also have a responsibility to assist one another in enhancing the accounting profession, maintaining the public's confidence, and consistently fulfilling the profession's exclusive responsibilities. The voluntary association of CPAs, better known as the AICPA, has proposed a code of conduct that CPAs have chosen to adhere to. Now it is time to discuss the purpose for AICPA’s code, why it is considered the foundation of ethical reasoning, and its most important purposes.
AICPA Code of Professional Conduct ETH/376 November 26, 2012 AICPA Code of Professional Conduct The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is a professional, but voluntary, association that provides memberships to Certified Public Accountants. It outlines a CPA’s ethical and professional responsibilities through its Code of Conduct (Vitez, 2012). It is considered the foundation of ethical reasoning in accounting because of the principles that it outlines and it links professional conduct to moral judgment. The AICPA outlines six principles of conduct that accountants and CPAs can follow to remain professional in their dealings with their own clients or companies that they work for. These principles include Responsibilities, Public Interest, Integrity, Objectivity and Independence, Due Care, and Scope and Nature of Services.
As a member there are certain criteria and professional standards that we must uphold. CPAs have auditing and assurance standards that must be followed to ensure valid and accurate information from company to company. Pronouncements are often issued to keep all CPAs informed on industry changes. Compilation and review standards provide the same value as auditing standards, to ensure services are provided in a similar fashion by all CPAs. Other attestation standards include specific guidance on other attestation services, again to ensure each CPA practices applicable accounting procedures.
Internal auditors guarantee that the internal controls are sufficient and calculate the company’s financial and information systems for accurateness. A series of audits such as financial statements, fraud, compliance, and operational can be made with the hiring of an internal auditor. The most beneficial audit for Whitfields Company would be an operational audit. Operational Audits can be done if upper-level management thinks that there is a need for operational improvements. It is a review of management and how operating procedures work.
Those statements are income statement, retained earnings statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. All of which are reviewed as well to provide a complete understanding of accounting in today’s society. Accounting consists of identifying, recording, and communicating the economic events of an organization to interested users (Jerry J. Weygandt, 2008, p. 4). The purpose of accounting is to keep track of all financial events in the company for the internal users or management to make sound decisions regarding the business and also for external users such as investors
Ethics and Compliance FIN/370 Ethics and Compliance Ethics and compliance play an immense role in many organizations. The ethics and compliance within an organization depict the standards of legal, ethical, and professional behavior of the organizational culture. It also outlines a set of fundamental principles, which is used as a basis for operational requirements and prohibitions. Therefore, most organizations define their most important guiding values and formulate behavioral standards for employees to enforce those values to the roles and responsibilities that they hold within the organization. Starbucks is one of the companies that highly upholds business ethics and compliance.
It also demands the employees to abide by the laws and regulation set forth by the state and federal governments. The code of ethics is based on the company’s core values. The values of Microsoft includes having strong integrity, being compliant with regulations, maintaining the trust of customers and shareholders, responsible management of the way the organization is ran. Most importunately having respect for the environment and the people
Accounting Principles & General Financial Ethical Standards Mark Bullock Acc/291 11-18-2013 John H Olarte Accounting Principles & General Financial Ethical Standards [pic] “Accounting and financial professionals must abide by ethical standards that regulate what kind of business they conduct, who they serve and how they use their skills. Ethical standards are determined largely by professional accounting and finance organizations and the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Small-business owners who plan to perform their own accounting services or hire accountants should be aware of accounting principles and general financial ethical standards so they can maintain a positive reputation for their businesses.” Ethics should always play a role in the businesses everyday life. Without ethics you really should think about closing your doors because it will eventually catch up with your company. Most companies live by the standards that G.A.A.P.
2. Reliability: With moral principles clients are able to rely more on the Accountants. The nature of the work carried out by accountants and auditors requires a high level of ethics. Shareholders, potential shareholders, and other users of the financial statements rely heavily on the yearly financial statements of a company as they can use this information to make an informed decision about investment. They rely on the opinion of the accountants who prepared the statements, as well as the auditors that verified it, to present a true and fair view of the company.
PROFESSIONAL INTERVIEW GUIDELINES I. THE PROFESSIONAL INTERVIEW 1. Definition The Professional Interview is a peer review process comprising an examination on the professional competency of the candidate by Corporate Members of IEM with respect to: a) Grasp and application of engineering fundamentals b) Ability to communicate clearly both orally and in writing c) Demonstration of ethical judgement in the conduct of all works d) Ability to accept professional responsibility e) Awareness of engineering sustainability, health and safety issues A successful candidate in the Professional Interview would have demonstrated his professional competence attained in all the following areas: Training and Experience Report; Technical Report; Oral Examination; Essay Writing - Section A, and Essay Writing - Section B 2. Glossary and Interpretation Glossary Applicant means an engineer who has made an application to attend the Professional Interview set by IEM. Bill of Quantities means the list of work items, raw materials, etc.