Even if you are not an accountant, you have likely heard of at least one recent accounting scandal over the last several years. These ethical scandals are often devastating to stakeholders of the affected company. Impacted stakeholders include creditors, shareholders, employees, and trade partners.
Therefore, ethics is an important topic in financial accounting. Access the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Code of Professional Conduct with the following link: https://pub.aicpa.org/codeofconduct/ethicsresources/et-cod.pdf
Read through the following sections:
• 0.300.020 Responsibilities
• 0.300.030 The Public Interest
• 0.300.040 Integrity
• 0.300.050 Objectivity and Independence
• 0.300.060 Due Care
1. Summarize the most important characteristics of a CPA according to the Code of Professional Conduct from the above sections.
2. How might these actions of a CPA prevent accounting fraud?
3. What is it about accounting that makes ethics important beyond the scope of the profession and in the public interest?
