Professionalism In The Accounting Profession

In my perspective, professionalism, perhaps more than any other trait out there is what best defines an accountant’s career. Irrespective of the certifications one might have, or their education level or even their place of employment, what every single accountant is at least expected to demonstrate is a degree of professionalism in how they conduct themselves and how they utilize their expertise in the field they specialize in. And this is not something that I alone strongly believe in. Just this past semester, my marketing professor told our class that it’s perfectly fine for us students to get a B in any of our classes if it means that we can devote more time to internships/work which in several instances can be more valuable to our career

Rather to me, professionalism is something that you form and develop over time through repetition and learning. It’s a habit. It’s not a distinct skill that is limited to only one facet of your life, like your work or your social life. Once you learn what it’s like to act and behave professionally, it starts to seep through everything else in your life. Everything you do speaks volume to your professional character and your character is what dictates your actions. Hence, if professionalism in accounting carries the meaning of acting with utmost integrity and competence, then to me being a professional means that an individual continues to act upon the same level of integrity and competence outside of workplace as they do inside of it. Choosing to act in a manner befitting of a professional only at workplace because doing so is rewarded with wages/promotions in my opinion is not what professionalism is about. Professionalism involves committing yourself to a habit of for instance, working diligently, smartly, with integrity or honesty and abiding by it in whatever it is that you do. That’s what I have been doing in my bid to develop career professionalism. Understanding that my ‘job’ as a student right now is to learn, I have spent the past 3 years of my life studying as diligently as I can. In a way, I have identified, developed and maintained a commitment to my work as a student. Sure, my job as a student right now will differ vastly from my future job as an accountant. But what will remain the same is my habit of forming and maintaining a commitment to my current work, whatever it may be and that’s what I believe being professional is about. It’s about forming a commitment and adapting it to the standards of the industry you are working in to best fulfill your job in the said