A daily characteristic of professional accountants’ life is ethics; a commitment demanded every single day to the professional at the service of public interest. However, ethics is a permanent challenge, not only in times of crisis and scandals, but also when there is relative calm.
The word “ethics” comes from the Greek word “???? ethos” that means “habit, custom, practice”. In the introduction of the book “Ethos, destiny of man”, Juliana González explains that the Greek word “ethos” can be spelled in a different way and therefore accepts more than one meaning (González, 1986). And she continues if we write the word ethos with its first letter “? eta” instead of the letter “? epsilon”, according to González it would mean something like “dwell”, which can be read whether external – like the house in which you live – or internal – as a way of being, in essence the “character”. And it is, like a way of being how profession accountants live ethics: as a lair that gives us security, prestige, and also a way to service the public interest.
The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) was created in 1977; its mission is “to develop and promote the accounting profession with harmonized standards, capable of offering high quality services appropriate for public interest” (IFAC, 2010). Therefore, by establishing a code of ethics, the accounting profession declares its intention to comply with society, to serve it with loyalty and diligence and to respect itself.
One of the crucial points in preparing a code is to get a balance between the standards and the appropriate principles. The IFAC code is a set of principles and values (The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, IESBA, 2010) that guides the profession all over the world towards the same path and recognizes the cultural diversity of its members, thus, the IFAC code promotes commitment to the following five items:
Integrity. Accountants should behave rightfully and honestly in all their professional relationships.
Objectivity. Accountants should not allow conflicts of interest; they have to be impartial in all of their professional judgment.
Commitment with competence and professional care. Accountants have to maintain the professional knowledge and skills required by their clients.
Confidentiality. Accountants should respect the confidentiality of the information obtained in their professional work.
Professional behavior. Accountants should comply with the law and must avoid all practices that discredit the profession.
The Instituto Mexicano de Contadores Públicos (Mexican Institute of Public Accountants or IMCP as per initials in Spanish) is the collegiate body that gathers and identifies professional accountants in Mexico.This organization is member of IFAC and it issues its own professional code of ethics which establish professional performance standards thatconverge and are aligned to the Code of Ethics of IFAC and furthermore offers more moral solvency guarantees.
The scope of this Professional Code of Ethics of the Public Accountants of Mexico is encompassed in 12 principles (IMCP, 2010) that are:
Responsibility to society is stated in Principles from I to V, which refer to the accountants’ freedom of criteria, the quality of the job; the professional education, and also the personal responsibility.
Responsibility towards the person that sponsors the services is stated in Principles VI to IX which imply the professional secret, the obligation to reject immoral work, loyalty to the sponsor’ services and economic compensation.
Responsibility to the profession is stated in Principles from X to XII, that involve the respect for the profession’s colleagues, the dignity of the professional image based on the quality and dissemination and teaching of technical knowledge.
Codes have become one of the most visible traits of ethics in business, besides being a promise of the profession to society, codes entail more than the conventional morale and law. A code may serve as orientation but it could hardly be enough, therefore through the International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) IFAC issues education standards as well, which are the fundamental pillars to endorse professional accountants.
Regarding the ethics, IAESB issued the International Education Standard 4 (IES 4): “Values, Ethics and Professional Attitude”, which its fundamental objective is to set the values, ethics and attitude that public accountants should acquire during their education program (International Accounting Education Standards Board, 2010) in order of being recognized as “professional accountant”.
The IES 4 establishes that values should lead accountants towards a commitment with public interest and social responsibility, continuous improvement, responsibility and respect, and also to laws and regulations.The board has also provided a guide that recommends a flexible framework based on four teaching objectives:
Increase knowledge on ethics,
Develop ethical sensibility
Improve ethical knowledge and
Maintain an ethical behavior commitment. These objectives have a linear progression, and therefore can be considered as stages so as research areas at the same time.
The standard recommends that the first three stages shall be studied along the undergraduate program within the syllabus of the accounting courses but the fourth stage should be addressed in the professional development program practice. There may be two ways to achieve first two objectives: One way is by including ethical topics in curricula syllabus and another way is include a specific course in the program curricula. The third objective is seen as the link between the first two stages and the fourth, it could be an integrating subject, or rather through professional practice with a mentor; and the fourth one could be achieved rather in professional practice or training.
Although the learning of ethics can be measured, the IES gives a warning, the fact is nor the learning of ethics neither the development of codes can certificate an ethical behavior, since it constitutes a personal decision, which is based on the integration the person has of all of its personal resources and the awareness of being in community.
The accounting profession in all its areas is one of the most regulated professions nonetheless; in the ethical area there will always be members that do not honor the professional standards. As stated before a code per se cannot stop anyone from breaking it; the responsibility to follow the code and apply its principles is individual. Sartre affirms (Murguerza, 1997) that moral acts are decided in the deep solitude, above and beyond Sartre states “when a man chooses to be moral, he chooses on behalf humanity”; likewise when accountants choose, they represent the entire profession. As a result, there will be some failures that will lead to a situation of “scandals” and the profession will have to face its consequences.
At present Ethics is the most important issue in the accounting profession and it exists because society has given the profession a license to exist. Ethics is the dwelling of all professional accountants since all over the world in recent years the credibility of the accounting profession is measured more on its ethical performance than in its technical competence.
In closing, there is not a better phrase than “An ethics professional code is only a guideline to moral action; through it, the profession declares its intention to comply with society, with the sponsor of its services and to serve them with loyalty and diligence and, to respect itself” (IMCP, 2010)..?
References:
González, J. (1986). Ethos, destino del hombre. México: FCE, FFyL, UNAM.
IFAC. (2010). International Federation of Accountants Leading the Development of the Global Profession. Recuperado el 30 de junio de 2010, de www.ifac.org
IMCP. (2010). Instituto Mexicano de Contadores Públicos. Obtenido de http://www.imcp.org.mx/spip.php?article529
International Accounting Education Standards Board. (2010). IFAC. Obtenido de IAESB Pronouncements: http://www.ifac.org/Education/
Murguerza, J. (1997). “El ethos, destino del hombre”. Revista Vuelta, 39-42.
The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, IESBA. (2010). IFAC Publications and Resources. Obtenido de The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, IESBA: http://web.ifac.org/publications/international-ethics-standards-board-for-accountants/code-of-ethics
Ethics: Standards and Dwell
By: Yanira Petrides
A daily characteristic of professional accountants’ life is ethics; a commitment demanded every single day to the professional at the service of public interest. However, ethics is a permanent challenge, not only in times of crisis and scandals, but also when there is relative calm.
The word “ethics” comes from the Greek word “???? ethos” that means “habit, custom, practice”. In the introduction of the book “Ethos, destiny of man”, Juliana González explains that the Greek word “ethos” can be spelled in a different way and therefore accepts more than one meaning (González, 1986). And she continues if we write the word ethos with its first letter “? eta” instead of the letter “? epsilon”, according to González it would mean something like “dwell”, which can be read whether external – like the house in which you live – or internal – as a way of being, in essence the “character”. And it is, like a way of being how profession accountants live ethics: as a lair that gives us security, prestige, and also a way to service the public interest.
The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) was created in 1977; its mission is “to develop and promote the accounting profession with harmonized standards, capable of offering high quality services appropriate for public interest” (IFAC, 2010). Therefore, by establishing a code of ethics, the accounting profession declares its intention to comply with society, to serve it with loyalty and diligence and to respect itself.
One of the crucial points in preparing a code is to get a balance between the standards and the appropriate principles. The IFAC code is a set of principles and values (The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, IESBA, 2010) that guides the profession all over the world towards the same path and recognizes the cultural diversity of its members, thus, the IFAC code promotes commitment to the following five items:
The Instituto Mexicano de Contadores Públicos (Mexican Institute of Public Accountants or IMCP as per initials in Spanish) is the collegiate body that gathers and identifies professional accountants in Mexico.This organization is member of IFAC and it issues its own professional code of ethics which establish professional performance standards thatconverge and are aligned to the Code of Ethics of IFAC and furthermore offers more moral solvency guarantees.
The scope of this Professional Code of Ethics of the Public Accountants of Mexico is encompassed in 12 principles (IMCP, 2010) that are:
Codes have become one of the most visible traits of ethics in business, besides being a promise of the profession to society, codes entail more than the conventional morale and law. A code may serve as orientation but it could hardly be enough, therefore through the International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) IFAC issues education standards as well, which are the fundamental pillars to endorse professional accountants.
Regarding the ethics, IAESB issued the International Education Standard 4 (IES 4): “Values, Ethics and Professional Attitude”, which its fundamental objective is to set the values, ethics and attitude that public accountants should acquire during their education program (International Accounting Education Standards Board, 2010) in order of being recognized as “professional accountant”.
The IES 4 establishes that values should lead accountants towards a commitment with public interest and social responsibility, continuous improvement, responsibility and respect, and also to laws and regulations.The board has also provided a guide that recommends a flexible framework based on four teaching objectives:
The standard recommends that the first three stages shall be studied along the undergraduate program within the syllabus of the accounting courses but the fourth stage should be addressed in the professional development program practice. There may be two ways to achieve first two objectives: One way is by including ethical topics in curricula syllabus and another way is include a specific course in the program curricula. The third objective is seen as the link between the first two stages and the fourth, it could be an integrating subject, or rather through professional practice with a mentor; and the fourth one could be achieved rather in professional practice or training.
Although the learning of ethics can be measured, the IES gives a warning, the fact is nor the learning of ethics neither the development of codes can certificate an ethical behavior, since it constitutes a personal decision, which is based on the integration the person has of all of its personal resources and the awareness of being in community.
The accounting profession in all its areas is one of the most regulated professions nonetheless; in the ethical area there will always be members that do not honor the professional standards. As stated before a code per se cannot stop anyone from breaking it; the responsibility to follow the code and apply its principles is individual. Sartre affirms (Murguerza, 1997) that moral acts are decided in the deep solitude, above and beyond Sartre states “when a man chooses to be moral, he chooses on behalf humanity”; likewise when accountants choose, they represent the entire profession. As a result, there will be some failures that will lead to a situation of “scandals” and the profession will have to face its consequences.
At present Ethics is the most important issue in the accounting profession and it exists because society has given the profession a license to exist. Ethics is the dwelling of all professional accountants since all over the world in recent years the credibility of the accounting profession is measured more on its ethical performance than in its technical competence.
In closing, there is not a better phrase than “An ethics professional code is only a guideline to moral action; through it, the profession declares its intention to comply with society, with the sponsor of its services and to serve them with loyalty and diligence and, to respect itself” (IMCP, 2010)..?
References:
González, J. (1986). Ethos, destino del hombre. México: FCE, FFyL, UNAM.
IFAC. (2010). International Federation of Accountants Leading the Development of the Global Profession. Recuperado el 30 de junio de 2010, de www.ifac.org
IMCP. (2010). Instituto Mexicano de Contadores Públicos. Obtenido de http://www.imcp.org.mx/spip.php?article529
International Accounting Education Standards Board. (2010). IFAC. Obtenido de IAESB Pronouncements: http://www.ifac.org/Education/
Murguerza, J. (1997). “El ethos, destino del hombre”. Revista Vuelta, 39-42.
The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, IESBA. (2010). IFAC Publications and Resources. Obtenido de The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, IESBA: http://web.ifac.org/publications/international-ethics-standards-board-for-accountants/code-of-ethics