The principle of professional conduct that I selected is Public Interest. I would define
and describe this principle as the members’ duty to serve the public responsibly and
with integrity. Members should be committed to professionalism during conflict
resolution for the public, clients, and employers. The commitment to this principle
would result in increased public trust, improvement in the functioning of commerce,
and improved service by members which in turn will positively impact the community
and institutions. This principle brings a significant value to practitioners, businesses,
and clients because it will improve the conduct of accounting members that are serving
them and will ensure that they are provided with quality services and arrangements. !
An example of a difficult situation that a practitioner may face that is related to the
principle of Public Interest is the challenge of meeting clients’ expectations; “Today,
clients want their CPAs to perform multiple functions for them like inventory
management services, payroll processing services, tax preparation services, valuable
financial advice, and customers support services” (CapActix, n.d.). An ethical response
to being challenged is to adhere to AICPA Code of Professional Conduct in order to
ensure that clients’ expectations are met without violating changes in rules and
regulations. In addition it will also be critical to observe the market, improve
cybersecurity, and adopt new technologies to improve the service provided to their
clients. A practitioner may be tempted to or accidentally not take an ethical course of
action due to increases in business expenses regarding infrastructure, staff members,
and high costs of automating workflow. !
References!
CapActix. (n.d.). 7 Common Problems Faced by CPA Firms in Today's Accounting
Business. CapActix. https://www.capactix.com/7-common-problems-faced-by-
cpa-firms-in-todays-accounting-business/. !
2 Peer Responses!
Integrity is definitely a critical professional responsibility that will improve decision
making and communication within organizations. It important to ensure that
integrity is upheld in order to prevent conflict and difficult situations. Separation
of responsibilities is also a good way to prevent employees from stealing from
the company. Another way is to improve cybersecurity, ensure that AICPA
principles are followed effectively, and that rules and regulations are not
violated.!
I chose the public interest principle and I agree that it is interlinked with other principles
such as integrity and objectivity. It’s interesting how the scope of nature and
services principle involved critical thinking for situations with gray areas in order
to determine possible code violations. I agree that transparency is critical for
organizations as well as the public interest. !
