ACC696 Week 10 Discussion Post 1

The understanding of accounting ethics is a very important topic in the coursework as it

provides study and knowledge of judgments and moral values as they apply to accountancy.

Accounting ethics is part of human ethics and business ethics, as well as the field of applied

ethics. At the beginning of learning accounting ethics, I was only having some basic

knowledge of the topic. But after the completion of the coursework, I have come to know

different concepts related to accounting ethics that can help me in my future. This course

taught me about the five fundamental principles of ethics such as integrity, confidentiality,

objectivity, professional behavior, and professional competence and due care. It is considered

to be a conceptual framework for all professional accounts to make sure compliance with the

fundamental principles of accounting ethics that do not allow me to share any kind of crucial

information with clients. After that, I decided not to share information and told him that he

did not have the authority to access the data of the patient. My course of learning about

accounting ethics has changed my life as I was able to save myself and the organization by

maintaining the confidentiality of the data. However, it was quite challenging for me as he

kept on telling me about the benefits of the healthcare program that could benefit our

organization's patients, but I was unable to stop him. He took hours to convince me to share

data. Here, the understanding of confidentiality of accounting ethics is most relevant as it

made me realize that going against the rules and regulations can be problematic for the

organization and me.

Looking back, I did not really consider ethics in accounting. I knew that there was right things

and wrong things, but I never stopped to consider how much there was to learn on it. I really

enjoyed comparing it and digging deeper into how it applies to my job. There is much to dig

into as an auditor, and much of what I have learned on the job helped me to understand all of

this so much more. Which is why corporate governance was probably my favorite part of the

class. I liked learning of deontology and studying obligations and duties. I also enjoyed

applying the ethical side of things like internal controls and figuring out what ethical

principles apply. Much of this is like studying philosophy, and I bring this up because I feel

like you can analyze a person based on their behaviour (just like a psychoanalysis).

employees." The most challenging aspects of this course was incorporating the concepts and

ideas into the final project case as the articles were limited in specific information involving

numerous influential people, which they kept secret. My case involved a company violating

legal, ethical, and professional values all over the world with senior executives, government

and foreign officials, board of directors, businessmen, and many more. The settlement cost

the company $3.9 billion. Now that I have a better understanding of ethics, I can use this to

better understand and handle situations that come up. the ethical responsibility of an

accountant. Accountants must ensure that all their actions and decisions they make are in

accordance with AICPA ethics when providing services for their clients. I had some

challenges in course, one of which was reading a lot of articles about the case I chose for my

final project and writing about it.

Ethics and how important it is for accounting professionals but after I know see it from many

ways. My mind works very matter of fact, what is right and what is wrong, but I have now

been introduced to many different methods of coming to a decision on an ethical matter. I

found it so fascinating to read the cases and see how often and what high dollar amounts of

fraud go on. Does it start of small and then snowballs out of control? Or do people really think

is right. This makes it easier for our department to also follow suit. I do know that after

reading cases, and fellow classmates discussions, that I will have a better eye to notice

accounting misstatements and manipulations, even though I hope to never be put in that

situation. d

This course has helped me to learn accounting ethics more thoroughly. It has made me more

aware that accounting ethics constitute the foundation of legal and regulatory requirements,

including issues related to maintaining public trust. When someone strays too far from

ethical standards, their credibility is called into question. Also, ethical accounting makes

reasonable practical sense, as an accurate set of accounts will give us the useful and effective

information. Certainly, using ethical guidelines in accounting and financial decision making

is the right thing to do (Gartenstein). The application of theoretical models to ethics is what

impressed me a lot. It is interesting to note that some parts of a theoretical model could be

perfectly appropriate for a case, but other parts may not. Thus, the application of theoretical

This has been one of the most interesting classes I have taken. I am still not a big fan behind

the psychology of ethics (the building blocks), but I now have a better understanding of them.

The application methods I learned will be very useful in my career. This class helped me put

ethics at the forefront and emphasized the importance of small ethical decisions, if made

example the Eating Time case study, and grew to larger issues such as Monsanto. Perfect

examples of how small ethical choices in a person's career can set the stage for how ethical

situations will be handled in the future. I wish there would have been a discussion on ESG,

since the topic is gaining in popularity among publicly traded companies, but I realize time is

limited in these classes. There is so much material to cover in such a short period of time.

My understanding is even deeper than it was before. I thought my understanding of ethics was

more than what it was. You always hear people talking about what a company did wrong in

ethical issues with accounting. There was not much that I found challenging with these

aspects of accounting ethics. The hardest part was seeing all the way that companies will

screw people if they can. They will choose wrong over right if it means that they will make

more money.

assistant in my distribution centre, I do all the payroll and invoicing. If it makes a mistake,

intentional or accidental, it could screw things up. It could make our books look skewed. We

could be under budget because something was not accounted for or over budget because I

The understanding of accounting ethics has changed since the beginning of the course. I never

realized how many different ethical frameworks can be used to understand the decision-

making process and that the decision-making models are built on principles of ethical

behavior. I experience some difficulties in gaining comprehension of some of the moral

philosophies such as teleology and deontology and applying these models to our case studies

and milestones. Deontology is an approach to ethics which adheres to the theory that an end

that the end always justifies the means. The case studies were challenging in a way that I had

to do a lot more critical thinking to apply the ethical models to everyday usage.

The usage of Rest’s four-component decision-making process was very relevant to me since

the model reflects how I should be thinking critically about how I make my decisions every

day to be an ethical person today. I like the fact that Rest concluded that ethical action is the

product of psychological processes of moral sensitivity, moral judgement, moral motivation,

and moral character. Moral sensitivity is the recognition that an ethical problem exists. The

recognition requires being aware of how our behaviour impacts others, identifying possible

courses of action, and determining the consequences of each potential strategy. Moral

sensitivity is key to transformational ethics. We cannot solve a moral dilemma unless we

know that one is present.

instances of deception and unethical behaviour and seeing how easily ethics and morality may

be undermined by money, egotism, and the basic urge to achieve, I feel less susceptible and

naïve. I had no idea that a simple occurrence like eating time, from our discussion 2 post,

could raise such difficult moral questions. Professionally, I have developed the ability to spot

effect, one would feel compelled to cover things up and tell lies about their actions.

The use of theoretical models in ethical contexts was, in my opinion, slightly challenging.

Making ethical decisions entails more clarity in values than other types of decisions. Contrary

to some financial or manufacturing activities that may be structured because of their norms,

the analysis and use of ethical decisions may differ depending on the circumstances. While

some components of a model could work flawlessly in each circumstance, others won't. Using

theoretical models towards ethical dilemmas therefore calls for review and rational reasoning.

My understanding of ethics before this course was in some ways limited. I took an ethics

course in undergrad as it relates to accounting but the context and level of information was of

a much smaller scope than this course. One of the most drastic changes for me after taking

this course is a much better understanding of how deep ethics runs in accounting. From

corporate policies, PCAOB oversight, accounting standards, SEC regulations and so on,

The aspect of this course I struggled with the most was corporate governance. Corporate

governance seems to me to be more of a philosophy of ethical behaviour as opposed to a set

of rules, which is how I would like to see the world run. I greatly prefer a right and a wrong

answer and I have learned that I struggle in gray areas. Corporate governance to me is all

The most relevant information in this course for me was difficult to decide as I think there

were two of equal importance. First was learning about all the accountant codes of ethics.

auditor understanding the ethical guidelines in which I am bound is crucial to maintaining

objectivity and independence. Second are the ethical decision-making models. Specifically, I

believe the integrated decision-making model is most relevant for me. I enjoy the simplicity

of the model and it will be something I will continually come back to as my career progresses.

Mintz, S. M., & Miller, W. F. (2023). Ethical Obligations and Decision Making in