Model of Trust and the AICPA Professional Code of Conduct
According to Xie and Peng (2009), ability, benevolence and integrity are the core elements that help to build interpersonal trust within organizations. These same core elements are also essential within the accounting profession and are the cornerstone of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Professional Code of Conduct (the Code). The Code is the primary source of guidance for accountants. The Code is designed to serve multiple purposes which include conveys the message that accounting professionals have a responsibility to protect the public interest, confirms legitimacy upon the accounting profession, and restricts the profession to only those who are …show more content…
al, 2011, p. 100). Exercising due care requires accounting professionals to be competent, which was discussed earlier, and to be diligent. The Code describes diligence as performing services in a prompt, careful, and thorough manner which includes adequately planning and supervising professional services (AICPA, 2014). “By maintaining due care, the accounting profession exemplifies a necessary quality for maintaining the public’s trust” (Brown et. al, 2007, p. …show more content…
According to the AICPA (2014), integrity “is the quality from which the public trust derives” (p. 5). The integrity principle was developed to provide a frame of reference for the type of character traits accounting professionals are to possess. The Code specifically states, “To maintain and broaden public confidence, members should perform all professional responsibilities with the highest sense of integrity” (AICPA, 2014, p. 5). The Code requires professionals to act with honesty and to be open and straightforward with its clients and the public. Acting with integrity also means that accounting professionals are performing their duties with the public trust and interests in mind and not for their own personal gain. The principle also provides that to act with integrity is to act with objectivity, independence, and due care (AICPA, 2014). “Integrity is the fundamental character trait…that...requires accountability…Having integrity means acting out of moral principle and doing what is right, even if there are negative consequences” (Metzger, 2011, p.
According to Xie and Peng (2009), ability, benevolence and integrity are the core elements that help to build interpersonal trust within organizations. These same core elements are also essential within the accounting profession and are the cornerstone of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Professional Code of Conduct (the Code). The Code is the primary source of guidance for accountants. The Code is designed to serve multiple purposes which include conveys the message that accounting professionals have a responsibility to protect the public interest, confirms legitimacy upon the accounting profession, and restricts the profession to only those who are …show more content…
al, 2011, p. 100). Exercising due care requires accounting professionals to be competent, which was discussed earlier, and to be diligent. The Code describes diligence as performing services in a prompt, careful, and thorough manner which includes adequately planning and supervising professional services (AICPA, 2014). “By maintaining due care, the accounting profession exemplifies a necessary quality for maintaining the public’s trust” (Brown et. al, 2007, p. …show more content…
According to the AICPA (2014), integrity “is the quality from which the public trust derives” (p. 5). The integrity principle was developed to provide a frame of reference for the type of character traits accounting professionals are to possess. The Code specifically states, “To maintain and broaden public confidence, members should perform all professional responsibilities with the highest sense of integrity” (AICPA, 2014, p. 5). The Code requires professionals to act with honesty and to be open and straightforward with its clients and the public. Acting with integrity also means that accounting professionals are performing their duties with the public trust and interests in mind and not for their own personal gain. The principle also provides that to act with integrity is to act with objectivity, independence, and due care (AICPA, 2014). “Integrity is the fundamental character trait…that...requires accountability…Having integrity means acting out of moral principle and doing what is right, even if there are negative consequences” (Metzger, 2011, p.