This course has positively impacted my understanding of accounting
ethics. I have learned to evaluate ethical dilemmas from different
perspectives. For example, before this course, when reading about
fraud or ethical dilemmas committed by accountants, I was so
disappointed in the accountant’s unethical act that I did not focus on
examining why these acts happened and what we can do to reduce
them.
However, the different models and ethical theories learned through
this course have interested me in analyzing and understanding why
people commit these acts and what can be done to reduce these
unethical actions. While greed might be one of the main reasons
people commit fraud, that is not always the case for some people,
which is why I enjoyed learning about Kohlberg's theory of moral
development; it validates how an individual’s moral character is
developed.
The course's case studies were the most challenging part of this
course; analyzing ethical dilemmas using various theories was very
challenging because it required extensive research on the different
approaches and sufficient knowledge to complete the case studies.
Having to put me in the shoes of the accountants involved in the case
study was very relevant to me. As an accountant, I have faced similar
ethical dilemmas. For example, in the first case study, an auditor was
met with the moral dilemma of taking work home or committing
ghost-ticking to complete the audits in the projected time. In
previous jobs as a tax preparer, I have been pressured to complete
the work in the projected time, and I struggled to find ways to be
more efficient without affecting the quality of my work or my
personal time.
