Accounting Ethics: Some Research Note

摘要

Paper focuses on the particular case of professional ethics in the context of the accounting profession. After briefly discussing recent events that made us reconsider our understanding of corporate governance, accountancy and ethics, we try to delimit the state of the art by looking at ethics from the accounting professions' perspective. Teaching ethics to accounting students should no longer try to convince them that they should act in an ethical manner, but raise their awareness with regard to ethical issues in accounting practice. Codes of ethics are therefore useful by considering common issues being dealt with within the business environment. It is here that we try to bring our contribution by developing a conceptual approach that would enhance ethical behavior. When aiming to clarify professional ethics, we closely analyze integrity based on the latest developments undertaken by European professional bodies. Findings are used in identifying ways to contribute to the endeavor of aligning the profession's performance with society's reasonable expectations.