American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
The Principles of Professional Conduct section of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Code of Professional Conduct is comprised of a preamble and six articles. These six sub sections are entitled: Responsibilities, the Public Interest, Integrity, Objectivity and Independence, Due Care, and Scope and Nature of Services. Membership in the AICPA is voluntary and expresses a certified public accountant's dedication to self-discipline and the regulations put forth by the organization. Member CPAs "express the profession's recognition of its responsibilities to the public, to clients, and to colleagues... (through the AICPA's Code of Conduct, with) an unswerving commitment to honorable behavior, even at the sacrifice of personal advantage" ("ET Section 51", 2006). Responsibilities is the first article of the Code of Professional Conducts. The scope of member CPAs' responsibilities goes far beyond those involving their clients. Certainly there is a professional and moral responsibility to those individuals and organizations that they provide services to, but there is a greater responsibility, as professionals, to society in general. CPAs provide a critical ser
And requires that CPA adequately plan and supervise any professional activity that they are responsible for. A conflict of interest may occur if a member performs a professional service for a client or employer and the member or his or her firm has a relationship with another person, entity, product, or service that could, in the member's professional judgment, be viewed by the client, employer, or other appropriate parties as impairing the member's objectivity. Article II - The Public Interest further elaborates on the profession's responsibility specifically to the public. When there are no rules or guidelines to follow, integrity is a guiding beacon for decision making. The fourth article of the Code of Conduct details objectivity and independence in the accounting profession. Members must turn to their ethics and understand their responsibility to the public equates to serving the best interests of their clients and employers, in the end. For this reason, in order to protect their objectivity, independence must preclude any relationships that could negatively affect a member while providing attestation services ("ET Services 55", 2006). These include:Authorizing, executing or consummating a transaction, or otherwise exercising authority on behalf of a client or having the authority to do soPreparing source documents, in electronic or other form, evidencing the occurrence of a transactionHaving custody of client assetsSupervising client employees in the performance of their normal recurring activitiesDetermining which recommendations of the member should be implementedReporting to the board of directors on behalf of managementServing as a client's stock transfer or escrow agent, registrar, general counsel or its equivalent ("ET Section 101", 2006). When making the disclosure, the member should consider Rule 301, Confidential Client Information ("ET Section 102", 2006). With a commitment to integrity, there is no room for deceit or subordination of principles. Nonattest services can be impaired as well. This independence is considered to be impaired when the member has direct or indirect financial interest in a client, their family has a greater than 5 percent interest, or serves in a variety of positions within the organization, including managerial positions. It is only through integrity that CPAs can hope to accommodate an inadvertent error and handle differences of opinion. In addition, there are several other general activities that would impair a member's independence, according to the AICPA. Misrepresentation also occurs when a member signs or permits or directs another to sign a document that contains materially false or misleading information ("ET Section 102", 2006).
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