Code Of Ethics Summary

INTRODUCTION
Ethics is basically a common thing that the world expects for an individual to possess. This is concerned solely with moral values and principles of individuals. According to an American Judge, Potter Stewart “Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.” This states that every individual differs from perceptions of their minds about what you have a right to do and what is the right thing to do. What you have a right to do indicate the individual’s ability to do what is legal, but this doesn’t necessarily mean it is the right thing to do. Ethics is different from law, sometimes people misinterpret this and do things that they are “required” to do rather than what they are “allowed”

It deals with human conduct and how an individual reacts and decides appropriately. In a profession, there are ethics that should be observed in order to maintain the public interest for the profession. In most companies, these ethics are presented to employees through code of ethics. This code includes detailed guidelines to encourage ethical and responsible behavior to their employees. Accounting profession has a code of ethics containing the required behavior of accountants for the profession. IT represents the ethical requirements needed to observe and comply in order to act responsibly in the public interest. The fundamental principles presented in the code helps accountants avoid any action that could discredit the profession. The code of ethics provides an opportunity for accounting professionals to examine the values and goals of their work, and offer information to others about what can be expected from them. (Catherine Thorpe and John Blake,

(Peter Williams, 2007). These values are needed as they enter into different fields and face different real world dilemma. An accountant should know and exercise the ethics needed for the profession. However, some accountants are still not familiar to these ethics. It is because they emphasize technical knowledge alone as they take the accountancy course. According to Hunt (2000), for many accountants, on-the-job training has been the only ethics education that they been likely to get. Because of this, accountants lack of knowledge regarding ethical behavior and are commonly experiencing ethical dilemma. In order to help accountants perform their work accordingly, ethics must be taught to them. Ethics education will help the students prepare for ethical dilemmas they could face as they become accountants. It will make students become involved in making ethical decisions that could help them acquire the skills needed to effectively deal with dilemmas. According to Stephen E. Loeb (1998), accounting ethics education aims to appreciate and understand the history and composition of all aspects of accounting ethics and their relationship to the general field of ethics. (adapted from a list by Daniel Callahan). It helps accounting students become aware that ethical behavior is essential and part of their