Ethics in the accounting sector

Ethics in the accounting sector

Ethics is almost the most important parameter controlling and maintaining the highest standards in the accounting profession. It is one of the most delicate department in all organizations, institutions and also government ministries because it deals with money matters and important records that need utmost confidentiality. The accounting sector offers a wide range of services, and there have been a lot of corrupt cases and trust issues with handling money in and across transaction, with a lot of money getting lost in the hands of careless and greedy individuals. Every worker in this sector is put on check most of the time as anyone would expect, both by the management and the public. The status of the accounting profession has been defaced with this, with anyone working here under watchful eyes, and as a result certain rules have been put in place to curb and reduce these and improve the ethics in this department (Kolb 2008; Hoffman 1996).

Education on the importance of ethics has been on the spotlight, with various informing institutions coming up from the lowest level to teach on the significance of good behaviour, way before the job application level. This has been very successful because people get used to working in corrupt-free environments by sticking to the rule’s guidelines. It tames people to learn about the benefits of knowing what is wrong and right, and how to make the correct choice to benefit, not only the individual, but the company they work with. Teaching on the correct rules of behaviour creates a learning situation to those coming up the ladder in the accounting field as they emulate the conduct of their seniors in the office. It is never a good idea to let any misconduct or mishap in business before something is done, so it is best to make sure the rules are put into practice at all costs.

Accountants are treated as very significant professionals in the society and they should therefore be fully trained, with only the certified ones allowed to work at the high class and complex offices. This is more importantly because people put their trust and confidence in them, and in some cases they go to the extent of sharing the most confidential information about their property just so they work more appropriately. Money circulates continuously and touches almost every daily activity, and millions of people involved in transactions, and this means that accountants interact with people on a daily basis. This calls for their maximum support in transparency in the finance quarter, and in handling private matters of their clients. The better service they offer, the better the relationship and trust built between them.

Different countries around the world have their own ways of implementing accounting laws, with a number of organizations attending to the accounting laws. In Germany for example, the accounting legislation is controlled by the tax law, while in the United Kingdom by the Company law (Needles & Powers 2005). They also have different means of how to approach the issue, depending on how urgent the accounting sector comes in the states. The rising number of scandals involving this sector has even propped up the need for higher education on the magnitude of good discipline, and making one’s own value-based judgement. International relationships due to business transactions and partnership across the world have brought countries together to form agreements and worldwide regulation laws to combat unethical conducts. This counts as successful the enforcing of these ethical codes of behaviour, and has greatly contributed to the maintenance of high integrity in industries and firms.

The public relates to accountancy of most companies in so many ways, so these virtues helps a great deal on how the public view a corporation or office, if they trust to invest and do business with or not. The public comes in especially in relation to funds and projects that touch them as a community, for example money to be spent on the development of a district or province. Accountability of these funds is very delicate and of high significance because people know that the money is somewhere in the hands of others, and should be used on them and the population. From the accountants’ point of view, people expect a lot from them, from the delivery and application of the funds, to the acquisition for more money, and all these should come with the papers showing how it was spent. This shows that the community influences directly the behaviour of people in the accounting profession and the finance sector. The expected high quality ethical standards of accountants do not come easy because of the tough choices they have to follow, and which come up numerously around the office. Then one has to put all they can to maintain the standards required to give trustworthy services and quality customer attendance (Gill 2010).

Without certain rules guiding people’s conduct, in this case accountants, there would be unstoppable fraud cases because it is by nature that at one point one would want to get something free, cheap or easy. Many organizations have fallen victim of scandals involving money and illegal business within the companies, ending up in court cases, or even their closure. Countless jobs are lost, with some people left begging for leniency after they are found guilty of corruption. Therefore, the need to have rules and regulation to control future complications within the accounting fraternity is of high essence. On top of this, the laws should not just be written on paper, they should be implemented at all times, strictly adhered to and those found involved in any crafty practices should be severely punished. Accountants should realize this and help curb bad practices from within the working place, and new graduates in the field should find the laws enforced before it is too late. Due to different behaviour change in accounting institutions, ethical guidelines act as guiding principle for the highest standards of behaviour, with quality service as the result.

Reference:

Kolb, R W 2008, ‘Encyclopedia of business ethics and society’, Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society, vol 2, Sage Publications.

Loeb, S E 2010, ‘Ethics in the accounting profession’, Wiley/Hamilton series in accounting and information systems, Accounting, Management and Information Systems Series, Wiley Self-Teaching Guides, Wiley.

Hoffman, W M 1996, ‘The ethics of accounting and finance: trust, responsibility, and control’, NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS ETHICS//PROCEEDINGS, Greenwood Publishing Group.

Needles, B E & Powers, M 2005, ‘Principles of financial accounting’, Houghton Mifflin Co.

Gill, M 2010, ‘Accountants’ truth: knowledge and ethics in the financial world’, Original from Indiana University, Oxford University Press.