Role of Ethics in Accounting Profession

Running Head: Role of Ethics in Accounting Profession
Accounting Ethics

Role of Ethics in Accounting Profession 1
Do accountant need to be ethical?
Ethics are the codes that provides a criteria to a person to evaluate what is morally right
and what is wrong. Code of ethics for the accounting profession are its fundamental
principles which accountants must abide in order to respect their profession and to gain and
maintain the trust of public and also to promote honesty and fairness in their professional
engagement. To act in the best public and professional interest an accountant must follow
ethical accounting practices so as to make value based judgements as far as possible.
As accountants are responsible for preparation of financial statements of the entities and
to review the financial reporting practices undertaken by their clients, they must maintain the
transparency in their professional services to serve the basic purpose of professional
engagement. The users of financial reports, i.e. the stakeholders of the company are generally
not involved in the internal operations of entity’s operations and hence they require reliable
information to understand the company’s performance so as to take various decisions
regarding the reporting entity. Therefore, they rely on the accountants to carter their
information needs in the most transparent manner. Though the knowledge and skills of
accounting are the key aspects of this profession, but the degree of self-discipline possessed
by an accountant marks his true identity as professional accountant. This helps the
accountants to make the ethical decisions and in exercising the moral judgements while
performing their professional duties (Duska, Duska & Ragatz, 2011). In the daily practice
practise of professional engagement, an accountant has to deal with several issues where
there are conflicts of interest between the employing entity and the public in general. These
situations puts accountants in the ethical dilemma where he has to choose the course of action
that is ethically right and allows him to balance the consequences of actions against the