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川大锦城学院本科论文（中英译文）

会计职业道德

Accounting ethics

Barron's

Kathleen Elliott

Abstract

Accounting

ethics

is

primarily

a

field

of

applied

ethics,

the

study

of

moral

values

and

judgments

as

they

apply

to

accountancy.

It

is

an

example

of

professional

ethics.

Accounting

ethics

were

first

introduced

by

Luca

Pacioli,

and

later

expanded

by

government

groups,

professional organizations, and independent companies. Ethics are taught in accounting courses

at higher education institutions as well as by companies training accountants and auditors.

Key words

：

Accounting

Ethics

Education

Contents

1 Importance of ethics

2 History

3 Teaching ethics

4 Accounting scandals

ance of ethics

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.

Knowledge

of

ethics

can

help

accountants

and

auditors

to

overcome

ethical

dilemmas,

allowing

for

the

right

choice

that,

although

it

may

not

benefit

the

company,

will

benefit the public who relies on the accountant/auditor's reporting.

Most

countries

have

differing

focuses

on

enforcing

accounting

laws.

In

Germany,

accounting

legislation

is

governed

by

law

in

Sweden,

by

law

and

in

the

United

Kingdom,

by

the

law

In

addition,

countries

have

their

own

organizations

which regulate accounting. For example, Sweden has the Bokf?

ringsn?

mden (BFN - Accounting

Standards Board), Spain the Instituto de Comtabilidad y Auditoria de Cuentas (ICAC), and the

United States the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

y

Luca

Pacioli,

the

of

Accounting

wrote

on

accounting

ethics

in

his

first

book

Summa

de

arithmetica,

geometria,

proportioni,

et

proportionalita,

published

in

1494.

Ethical

standards

have

since

then

been

developed

through

government

groups,

professional

organizations, and independent companies. These various groups have led accountants to follow

several codes of ethics to perform their duties in a professional work environment. Accountants

must

follow

the

code

of

ethics

set

out

by

the

professional

body

of

which

they

are

a

member.

United States accounting societies such as the Association of Government Accountants, Institute

of Internal Auditors, and the National Association of Accountants all have codes of ethics, and

川大锦城学院本科论文（中英译文）

会计职业道德

many accountants are members of one or more of these societies.

In 1887, the American Association of Public Accountants (AAPA) was created; it was the

first step in developing professionalism in the United States accounting industry. By 1905, the

AAPA's

first

ethical

codes

were

formulated

to

educate

its

members.

During

its

twentieth

anniversary

meeting

in

October

1907,

ethics

was

a

major

topic

of

the

conference

among

its

members.

As

a

result

of

discussions,

a

list

of

professional

ethics

was

incorporated

into

the

organization's

bylaws.

However,

because

membership

to

the

organization

was

voluntary,

the

association

could

not

require

individuals

to

conform

to

the

suggested

behaviors.

Other

accounting organizations, such as the Illinois

Institute of Accountants, also pursued discussion

on the importance of ethics for the field. The AAPA was renamed several times throughout its

history, before becoming the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) as its

named today. The AICPA developed five divisions of ethical principles that its members should

follow:

integrity,

and

objectivity

and

technical

standards

practices

of

these

divisions

provided

guidelines

on

how

a

Certified

Public

Accountant

(CPA) should act as a professional. Failure to comply with the guidelines could have caused an

accountant to be barred from practicing. When developing the ethical principles, the AICPA also

considered how the profession would be viewed by those outside of the accounting industry.

ng ethics

Universities

began

teaching

business

ethics

in

the

1980s.

Courses

on

this

subject

have

grown significantly in the last couple of decades. Teaching accountants about ethics can involve

role

playing,

lectures,

case

studies,

guest

lectures,

as

well

as

other

mediums.

Recent

studies

indicate

that

nearly

all

accounting

textbooks

touch

on

ethics

in

some

way.

In

1993,

the

first

United States center that focused on the study of ethics in the accounting profession opened at

State

University

of

New

York

at

Binghamton.

Starting

in

1999,

several

U.S.

states

began

requiring ethics classes prior to taking the CPA exam.

In 1988, Stephen E. Loeb proposed that accounting ethics education should include seven

goals

(adapted

from

a list

by Daniel

Callahan).

To implement

these goals, he pointed out

that

accounting

ethics

could

be

taught

throughout

accounting

curriculum

or

in

an

individual

class

tailored

to

the

subject.

Requiring

it

be

taught

throughout

the

curriculum

would

necessitate

all

accounting

teachers

to

have

knowledge

on

the

subject

(which

may

require

training).

A

single

course has issues as to where to include the course in a student's education (for example, before

preliminary accounting classes or near the end of a student's degree requirements), whether there

is enough material to cover in a semester class, and whether most universities have room in a

four-year curriculum for a single class on the subject.

There

has

been

debate

on

whether

ethics

should

be

taught

in

a

university

setting.

Supporters

point out that ethics are important to the profession, and should be taught to accountants entering

the field. In addition, the education would help to reinforce students' ethical values and inspire

them

to

prevent

others

from

making

unethical

decisions.

Critics

argue

that

an

individual

is

ethical

or not,

and that teaching an

ethics course would serve no purpose. Despite opposition,

instruction

on

accounting

ethics

by

universities

and

conferences,

has

been

encouraged

by

professional

organizations

and

accounting

firms.

The

Accounting

Education

Change

Commission

(AECC)

has

called

for

students

to

and

understand

the

ethics

of

the

川大锦城学院本科论文（中英译文）

会计职业道德

profession and be able to make value-based judgments.

Phillip G

. Cottel argued that in order to uphold strong ethics, an accountant

strong sense of values, the ability to reflect on a situation to determine the ethical implications,

and

a

commitment

to

the

well-being

of

others.

Iris

Stuart

recommends

an

ethics

model

consisting

of

four

steps:

the

accountant

must

recognize

that

an

ethical

dilemma

is

occurring;

identify

the

parties

that

would

be

interested

in

the

outcome

of

the

dilemma;

determine

alternatives and evaluate its effect on each alternative on the interested parties; and then select

the best alternative.

ting scandals

Accounting ethics has been deemed difficult to control as accountants and auditors must

consider

the

interest

of

the

public

(which

relies

on

the

information

gathered

in

audits)

while

ensuring

that

they

remained

employed

by

the

company

they

are

auditing.

They

must

consider

how to best apply accounting standards even when faced with issues that could cause a company

to face a significant loss or even be discontinued. Due to several accounting scandals within the

profession, critics of accountants have stated that when asked by a client

two

equal?

the

accountant

would

be

likely

to

respond

would

you

like

it

to

be?

This

thought

process

along

with

other

criticisms

of

the

profession's

issues

with

conflict

of

interest,

have

led

to

various

increased

standards

of

professionalism

while

stressing

ethics

in

the

work

environment.

From

the

1980s

to

the

present

there

have

been

multiple

accounting

scandals

that

were

widely reported on by the media and resulted in fraud charges, bankruptcy protection requests,

and

the

closure

of

companies

and

accounting

firms.

The

scandals

were

the

result

of

creative

accounting, misleading financial analysis, as well as bribery. Various companies had issues with

fraudulent accounting practices, including

Nugan Hand Bank, Phar-Mor, WorldCom, and AIG

.

One of the most widely-reported violation of accounting ethics involved Enron, a multinational

company, that for several years had not shown a true or fair view of their financial statements.

Their auditor Arthur Andersen, an accounting firm considered one of the

on

the

validity

of

the

accounts

despite

the

inaccuracies

in

the

financial

statements.

When

the

unethical activities were reported, not only did Enron dissolve but Arthur Andersen also went out

of

business.

Enron's

shareholders

lost

$$25 billion

as

a

result

of

the

company's

bankruptcy.

Although only a fraction of Arthur Anderson's employees were involved with the scandal, the

closure of the firm resulted in the loss of 85,000 jobs.

Causes

Fraudulent accounting can arise from a variety of issues. These problems usually come to light

eventually

and

could

ruin

not

only

the

company

but

also

the

auditors

for

not

discovering

or

revealing the misstatements. Several studies have proposed that a firm's corporate culture as well

as the values it stresses may negatively alter an accountant's behavior. This environment could

contribute to the degradation of ethical values that were learned from universities.

Until 1977, ethics rules prevented accounting and auditing firms from advertising to clients.

When the rules were lifted, spending by the largest CPA firms on advertisements rose from US$$4

million in the 1980s to more than $$100 million in the 2000s. Critics claimed that, by allowing the

firms to advertise, the business side overstepped the professional side of the profession, which

led to a conflict of interest. This focus allowed for occurrences of fraud, and caused the firms,

according to Arthur Bowman,

川大锦城学院本科论文（中英译文）

会计职业道德

advisers

than

auditors.

As

accounting

firms

became

less

interested

in

the

lower-paying

audits

due

to

more

focus

on

higher

earning

services

such

as

consulting,

problems

arose.

This

disregard for the lack of time spent on audits resulted in a lack of attention to catching creative

and fraudulent accounting.

A

2007

article

in

Managerial

Auditing

Journal

determined

the

top

nine

factors

that

contributed

to

ethical

failures

for

accountants

based

on

a

survey

of

66

members

of

the

International Federation of Accountants. The factors include (in order of most significant):

interest, failure to maintain objectivity and independence, inappropriate professional judgment,

lack

of

ethical

sensitivity,

improper

leadership

and

ill-culture,

failure

to

withstand

advocacy

threats,

lack

of

competence,

lack

of

organizational

and

peer

support,

and

lack

of

professional

body support.

best interest or when facing a conflict of interest. For example, if an auditor has an issue with an

account he/she is auditing, but is receiving financial incentives to ignore these issues, the auditor

may act unethically.

Principles- vs. rules- based

The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are standards and interpretations

developed by the International Accounting Standards Board, which are principle-based. IFRS are

used

by

over

115

countries

including

the

European

Union,

Australia,

and

Hong

Kong.

The

United

States

Generally

Accepted

Accounting

Principles

(GAAP),

the

standard

framework

of

guidelines for financial accounting, is largely rule-based. Critics have stated that the rules-based

GAAP is partly responsible for the number of scandals that the United States has suffered. The

principles-based

approach

to

monitoring

requires

more

professional

judgment

than

the

rules- based approach.

IFRS

is

based

on

relevance,

materiality,

reliability,

and

comparability

international standards viable in the world domain.

In particular, the United States has not

yet

conformed and still uses GAAP which makes comparing principles and rules difficult. In August

2008,

the

Securities

and

Exchange

Commission

(SEC)

proposed

that

the

United

States

switch

from GAAP to IFRS, starting in 2014.

Responses to scandals

Since

the

major

accounting

scandals,

new

reforms,

regulations,

and

calls

for

increased

higher

education

have

been

introduced

to

combat

the

dangers

of

unethical

behavior.

By

educating accountants on ethics before entering the workforce, such as through higher education

or

initial

training

at

companies,

it

is

believed

it

will

help

to

improve

the

credibility

of

the

accounting profession. Companies and accounting organizations have expanded their assistance

with educators by providing education materials to assist professors in educating students.

New regulations in response to the scandals include the Corporate Law Economic Reform

Program

Act

2004

in

Australia

as

well

as

the

Sarbanes-Oxley

Act

of

2002,

developed

by

the

United States. Sarbanes-Oxley limits the level of work which can be carried out by accounting

firms. In addition, the Act put a limit on the fee which a firm can receive from one client as a

percentage of their total fees. This ensures that companies are not wholly reliant on one firm for

its income, in the hope that they do not need to act unethically to keep a steady income. The act

also protects whistleblowers and requires senior management in public companies to sign off on

the

accuracy

of

its

company's

accounting

records.

In

2002,

the

five

members

of

the

Public