Integrity in Accounting: A Reflection on Ethics and Self-Satisfaction

This essay provides a personal reflection on ethics in accounting, focusing on the fundamental principle of integrity. The author emphasizes the importance of honesty and straightforwardness in financial matters, highlighting how adhering to ethical values leads to personal satisfaction and confidence. The reflection is inspired by a picture representing a professional prioritizing their inner happiness. The essay also addresses the exploitation of talented individuals in corporate settings, urging individuals to take ownership of their work and avoid unethical practices. It concludes with recommendations to be truthful and avoid stealing ideas, reinforcing the importance of integrity in maintaining self-respect and professional value. Desklib provides similar essays and study tools for students.

Running head: ETHICS IN ACCOUNTING
ETHICS IN ACCOUNTING
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

The aspects of accounting involve primarily financial matters that could be for an
individual or any company. Accounting is the process of keeping the financial matters under
control and within the knowledge (Kennedy, Welch and Monshipouri 2017). This essay is the
reflection of the picture that I have captured with my camera. The essay will describe my
perspective on the picture regarding my own personal values and beliefs regarding the ethics of
accounting.
Ethics refers to the principles that govern of any act that is considered right or wrong.
There are five fundamental principles of accounting. The five fundamental principles are
integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional
behavior (). To me, integrity is one of the significant value that one needs most in accounting due
to the fact that it deals with the monetary factors. According to the principle of integrity, it is
essential to be straightforward and honest to your job. It is important to be able to deal with the
financial matter with honesty with all the professional and business relationship.
The picture here represents a professional who has placed his one hand on his heart.
Since ethics is the firm adherence to a code of moral values, it has a part to play in having a
personal satisfaction. People associated with accounting and finance are expected to work

complying with the fundamental principles like any other professional. However, as per my
experiences, I strongly believe that people should be able to work with integrity without any
external force or institution’s implementation of any rules. Being able to work with integrity and
honesty gives the confidence of asking what you deserve as per your hard work. The person in
the picture is showing that it is his heart that needs to be happy at the end of the day. Dealing
with truthfulness and judging situations with a fair perspective helps feeling better within since
there is no misleading decision or unethical values (Patelli 2015).
Often people and many companies take advantages of hard-working, smart and talented
people who try hard to contribute to the company’s goals. They are found exploited in various
way within the corporate culture that they are pressurized to adopt the unethical path. However,
people have obligation to take ownership of the work they deliver which means they should
avoid choosing any unethical move. Apart from the fact that it can lead to disastrous
consequences, one will never be at peace when he or she makes a profit using unethical methods.
There is two recommendation that I would like to write on behalf of integrity. One, be
flawless with your own word and two, stop the act of stealing. According to my first
recommendation, people should tell nothing but the truth. This will fetch respect and add more
value to you and your team. The next recommendation is not regarding stealing materialistic
object but stealing people’s ideas and thoughts.
Therefore, in the end, I can conclude what integrity looks like in the field of accounting.
The integrity is when we are able to be impeccable with our words regardless of the
consequences. Like the picture, it is all about self-satisfaction and being able to respect oneself at
the end of the day.

References:
Dellaportas, S., Thomsen, S. and Conyon, M., 2012. Principles of ethics and corporate
governance in financial services. McGraw-Hill Education Australia. Chapter 1 and Chapter 5.
Kennedy, E.T., Welch, C.E. and Monshipouri, M., 2017. Multinational corporations and the
ethics of global responsibility: Problems and possibilities. In Human Rights and
Corporations (pp. 123-147). Routledge.
Patelli, L., 2015. Ethics and Accounting. In Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public
Policy-5 Volume Set (pp. 1-7). Routledge.