The IESBA International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, often adopted globally, is structured into three main parts:
Honesty, transparency and accountability are the core pillars of accounting ethics. Along with guiding professional behavior, these ethical standards establish public trust and maintain the credibility of financial institutions.
It establishes five fundamental ethical principles: professional behavior, integrity, objectivity, confidentiality, and professional competence.
The Code of Ethics has three major sections: b. Duties to Clients and Customers¸ Duties to the Public¸ and Duties to REALTORS®.
Part 3 – Professional Accountants in Public Practice, which sets out additional material that applies to professional accountants in public practice when providing professional services.
Ethical codes can be broken down into three types: compliance-based codes, value-based codes, and professional codes. Compliance-based codes ensure that employees follow the legal rules surrounding an industry on behalf of a company. This stops individual employees from causing the company to be fined or penalized.
Fundamental Principles
A professional accountant should be straightforward and honest in all professional and business relationships. A professional accountant should not allow bias, conflict of interest or undue influence of others to override professional or business judgments.
Normative Ethics, Metaethics and Applied Ethics: Three Branches of Ethics – Ethics and Society.
The three legs of the ethics triad are: compliance, culture, and accountability. b. The purpose of each leg is to create a strong ethical foundation within an organization.
The three major sections of a code of ethics are: (1) Core values and principles, which define the company's ethical standards; (2) Behavioral guidelines, which specify expected conduct in various situations; and (3) Reporting and compliance mechanisms, which outline how to handle violations or report concerns.
AICPA Code of Conduct Sections
However, there are some universal ethical principles that apply across all professions, including:
All ICAEW Chartered Accountants are bound by ICAEW's Code of Ethics, which is based on five fundamental principles: integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentially and professional behaviour.
The 3 Cs of business ethics are Compliance, Contribution, and Consequences, forming a framework for ethical operations by focusing on following laws, making positive societal impacts (Corporate Social Responsibility), and understanding the outcomes (both good and bad) of business actions on stakeholders and the environment.
There are different types of codes of ethics, including compliance-based, value-based, and professional codes, each serving specific purposes.
Key Components of the Code of Ethics
The Code of Ethics consists of 17 articles, each addressing different aspects of ethical conduct in real estate transactions. These articles are divided into three main categories: duties to clients and customers, duties to the public, and duties to other realtors.
Deontology, utilitarianism/consequentialism and virtue ethics. I wouldn't call them theories, however, because this classification just describes the formal structure of an ethical theory. A theory following either structure can actually be spelled out in various ways.
Values, explicit and unambiguous rules, and clear internal controls.
These are respect for persons, beneficence and justice.
Three basic principles, among those generally accepted in our cultural tradition, are particularly relevant to the ethics of research involving human subjects: the principles of respect of persons, beneficence and justice.
3. In the case of audits, reviews and other assurance engagements, the Code sets out International Independence Standards, established by the application of the conceptual framework to threats to independence in relation to these engagements.
The professional obligations and ethical requirements imposed on members of the accounting profession are based on the five fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour in the Code.
Accountants must be honest, truthful, and transparent in all their professional dealings. They should adhere to the highest moral and ethical standards, even when faced with difficult situations. By maintaining integrity, accountants build trust with their clients, colleagues, and the public.