AICPA Code Of Conduct Analysis
The last two decades have caused the degradation of public trust in the accounting profession due to many accountants behaving immorally and performing acts that discredited the profession. Nevertheless, business and moral ethics are critical to the Christian accountant for performing their duties, following the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) code of conduct, and God’s laws found in the Holy Bible. The model of trust enhancement has the four characteristics of benevolence, ability, integrity, and professional judgement that guides the ethical decisions to be made and are interwoven into the very fabric of the AICPA code of conduct. The purpose of this paper is to show how the Christian ethics model supports the
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Benevolence is also important when building a business culture and is more than just an act of kindness. For instance, Park, Choi, & Hahn (2016) notes, “Thus the supplier’s trust in a buyer’s benevolence is positively associated with the supplier’s expectations that the buyer has benevolent intentions. A supplier’s trust …related to an estimation of low probability that the buyer will display deceptive behavior” (p. 174). Benevolence is important in every aspect of business ethics, especially in accounting and how it supports the AICPA code of conduct. Benevolence, for an accountant, is performing their duties in serving the public interest (trust). Principle 0.300.030.02 states, “This reliance imposes a public interest responsibility on members. The public interest is defined as the collective well-being of the community of people and institutions that the profession serves” (AICPA, 2014). Although the accountant is employed by an organization, the accountant has a higher duty to perform their duties to ensure the public trust is not subjected to misleading financial statements. Ardelean (2013) posits, “… in their role as experts of numbers, derive their legitimacy from their status as trusted agents of society and so the care and concern for the public interest needs to be central when undertaking an accounting or audit engagement" (p. 223). Benevolence (public trust) is also defined by the accountant’s integrity and is in keeping with the AICPA principles. The AICPA principle on integrity 0.300.040.02 remarks, “Integrity is an element of character fundamental to professional recognition. It is the quality from which the public trust derives and the benchmark against which a member must ultimately test all decisions” (AICPA, 2014). Proverbs 11:3 says, “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity”
Benevolence is also important when building a business culture and is more than just an act of kindness. For instance, Park, Choi, & Hahn (2016) notes, “Thus the supplier’s trust in a buyer’s benevolence is positively associated with the supplier’s expectations that the buyer has benevolent intentions. A supplier’s trust …related to an estimation of low probability that the buyer will display deceptive behavior” (p. 174). Benevolence is important in every aspect of business ethics, especially in accounting and how it supports the AICPA code of conduct. Benevolence, for an accountant, is performing their duties in serving the public interest (trust). Principle 0.300.030.02 states, “This reliance imposes a public interest responsibility on members. The public interest is defined as the collective well-being of the community of people and institutions that the profession serves” (AICPA, 2014). Although the accountant is employed by an organization, the accountant has a higher duty to perform their duties to ensure the public trust is not subjected to misleading financial statements. Ardelean (2013) posits, “… in their role as experts of numbers, derive their legitimacy from their status as trusted agents of society and so the care and concern for the public interest needs to be central when undertaking an accounting or audit engagement" (p. 223). Benevolence (public trust) is also defined by the accountant’s integrity and is in keeping with the AICPA principles. The AICPA principle on integrity 0.300.040.02 remarks, “Integrity is an element of character fundamental to professional recognition. It is the quality from which the public trust derives and the benchmark against which a member must ultimately test all decisions” (AICPA, 2014). Proverbs 11:3 says, “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity”