Ethical competence and moral grasp of the right business practice Essay

Ethical competence and moral grasp of the right business practice - Essay Example Ethical competence and moral grasp of the right business practice During the past decade there have been numerous accounting scandals that have caused corporate collapses which have shaken the financial arena and created huge losses for investors, the present financial crisis of the latter part of 2008 revealed the greatest challenges yet. The majority of these collapses were caused directly by the unethical behavior of CEO’s, directors, officers and employees who misrepresented the financial condition of the corporation by providing misleading financial information (Ashe & Nealy, 2010, pg. 1). Public accounting firms as being a â€Å"part of the contemporary ‘enterprise culture’ that persuades many to believe that ‘bending the rules’ for personal gain is a sign of business acumen.† This stands in stark contrast to the differentiating public interest perspective of a profession, and we suggest that cultural change in the profession is necessary for real and lasting change to occur (Stuebs & Wilkinson, 2010, p g. 30). Such, this paper is prepared by the undersigned to show ethical competence and moral grasp of the right business practice as he prepares himself to enter the corporate world and before taking the CPA board exam as a certification of competence on the field of Accountancy. The ethical dilemma comes in especially when the Accountant is being asked by a superior whether explicitly or implicitly to be â€Å"creative† with the books to serve the end of the company. ... There are several reasons why an accountant does this. First, it may have been under the prodding and order of a superior to â€Å"skew or massage the numbers† to the company’s favor. Second, to make the company look good as it reports to the public with regard to its performance or to potential investors who would like to put their money in the business. Or, to pad the expenses so that the net earnings would appear to be low compared to actual earning and thus, requiring the company to pay only minimal taxes. The ethical dilemma comes in especially when the Accountant is being asked by a superior whether explicitly or implicitly to be â€Å"creative† with the books to serve the end of the company. This can be quite difficult for an accountant as he/she may be admonished for insubordination which may result from losing one’s job especially in today’s difficult times. Also the Accountant may become sympathetic to the company. It being the source of h is/her employment, the Accountant may be tempted to â€Å"window dress† the company’s financial statements to preserve it and his/her job to the detriment of the interest of the general and investing public. III. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountant Code of Conduct Instituting ethical practice among Financial Professionals is critical not only for the sake of being ethical in the practice of a profession but also to prevent the dire consequences if such unethical behavior becomes pervasive. For this malpractice has singlehandedly caused the recent financial disaster that â€Å"no other single issue is of greater concern to accountants in industry and public accounting than ethics. If the public cannot place