This paper will discuss the public perception of CPAs in today's society, pitfalls that they may encounter, methods to prevent some of these negative behaviors and consequences they may face should they fall short. Most "Who Do You Trust?" surveys rank politicians, lawyers and used car salesmen at the bottom and certified public accountants at the top. That is because the CPA profession has a squeaky clean image--anal-retentive little wimps who wear thick glasses and cannot get a date. CPAs are known and respected for their honesty. The profession that goes out of its way to project that image, and there is a certain amount of truth to it. Not all accountants are anal-retentive little wimps who cannot get a date. Many of them are quite articulate. Some are quite lovely, in some schools, more than half of the accounting majors are women. Also, not all CPAs are squeaky clean and respected for their honesty. Some are quite dishonest and are putting a black mark on the image of the entire profession. There is one area where the CPA profession has fallen short of protecting the public interest. The general duty that accountants owe to their clients and the other persons who are affected by their actions is to "exercise the skill and ca
. . .
: 1988, "Teaching Students Accounting Ethics: Some Crucial Issues', Issues in Accounting Education 3, 316-329. Recent pressure to include more ethics instruction in the accounting classroom has placed an emphasis on individuals who have a sense of moral responsibility. Develop the abilities needed to deal with ethical conflicts or dilemmas. For criminal violations, he may be fined and imprisoned. Instruction in accounting ethics is directed at people whose character-or lack there-of-has largely been formed by the time the instruction occurs. While students must be acquainted with professional codes of conduct as part of their preparation for a career, most researchers on ethics do not consider such material to be sufficient grounding in ethical training (Fulmer and Cargile 1993:Adams et al. A few years ago the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts (AICPA), the largest CPA membership organization in the world, decided that starting in the year 2000, new members would have to have 150 semester hour of college credits (5 Years) instead of the present four years to become a member (McGee). An emphasis on codes of conduct may result in students' failure to "develop discretion and judgment . Most states have statues imposing criminal penalties on accountants who willfully falsify financial statements or other reports in fillings under the state securities laws and who willfully violate the state securities laws or aid and abet criminal violations of these laws by others. Appreciate and understand the history and composition of all aspects of accounting ethics and their relationship to the general field of ethics.
Approximate Word count =
1181
Approximate Pages =
5 (250 words per page double spaced)
Simply subscribe to view this paper, and 100,000 others.
| CREDIT CARD |
ONLINE CHECK |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JOIN BY PHONE
|
|
|
