Why is it considered as the foundation of ethical reasoning in accounting?
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has outlined the expected Code of Conduct for accounting professionals. It is indeed considered to be the backbone of ethical reasoning in the field of accounting. Needless to say, there are several reasons why AICPA is the foundation of ethics for all accountants.
For example, rules and principles of operations are contained in the professional code of conduct. The frameworks that are used to administer the rules are provided by the AICPA’s principles. Hence, the professional services offered by accountants are governed by the set rules. In addition, technical standards for professional code of conduct can be promulgated by designated agencies that have been authorized by AICPA.
These rules and principles are the cornerstone of ethical standards applied by accountants. Besides, ethical reasoning in accounting has only been made possible by strict adherence to rules and principles. This implies that AICPA has played a significant role in maintaining sanity among accounting professionals.
What are the three most important purposes of AICPA? Why are they most important?
AICPA plays several roles in the field of professional accounting. In particular, it offers clear guidelines in regards to the anticipated Code of Professional Conduct. There is always the desire to boost the confidence of the public in this profession. In addition, members of the public who are served by accountants in various disciplines are supposed to be protected.
For instance, there are specific rules and regulations that accountants must adhere to in order to safeguard the privacy of clients. In addition, the confidentiality of employers should be protected. As a matter of fact, the information shared by members of AICPA should be in strict adherence to the stated Professional Codes of Conduct.
To begin with, AICPA plays the role of protecting members of the public who are served by accountants. As the institute safeguards the interest of the public, it also serves the purpose of improving the confidence level of the public in the field of accounting. The first section of the professional code of conduct expounds that members of AICPA are supposed to act in the most honorable manner.
Professional accountants are expected to give priority to the needs of clients even if they may not gain anything in the process (AICPA, 2014). Raising the trust level of the public towards the profession is a core ethical requirement under the Rules and Articles described in the AICPA’s Professional Code of Conduct.
Furthermore, client protection is the second most important purpose of AICPA. In other words, professional accountants are supposed to bridge the gap between client’s rules of confidentiality and protection of the public. All the guidelines on how to achieve the latter have been provided by AICPA. In order to achieve this purpose, the responsibilities of Certified Public Accountants have been clearly specified in the document containing the professional code of conduct (Jakubowski, Chao, Huh & Maheshwari, 2002).
Finally, AICPA aims at protecting the accounting profession. There are myriads of ways through which the profession can be protected. For instance, accountants are highly encouraged to share their knowledge, skills and competences while serving in the profession.
The acquired experiences of individual accountants can yield the required outcomes. Moreover, the upcoming accountants can also acquire a lot of experience from the experts in the field. As much as clients are protected by AICPA, accountants are also safeguarded by the same body from being abused by unethical clients.
The above discussed purposes are very important because they define the close relationship among four major parties namely the accountants, clients, employers and members of the public.
References
AICPA (2014). AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. Web.
Jakubowski, S. T., Chao, P., Huh, S. K.. & Maheshwari, S. (2002). A cross-country comparison of the codes of professional conduct of certified/chartered accountants. Journal of Business Ethics, 35(2), 111-129.