When discussing and evaluating professional ethics, it is essential to understand the purpose, terminology, and repercussions of professional misconduct. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) code of professional conduct is the gold standard for defining professional conduct in accounting; it is therefore important for business professionals to be familiar with. In this discussion, you will explore one principle in depth and discuss it and others with your peers.

First, select one of the following principles of professional conduct to examine in the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct document:

• Responsibilities
• Public interest
• Integrity
• Objectivity and independence
• Due care
• Scope and nature of services

Then, for your initial post, reflect on what appropriate practice of your selected principle would look like in the field, and also on some potential examples of violations of the principle. Use the following questions to help guide your reflections:

• How would you define and describe your selected principle in your own words?
• What value does the principle bring to practitioners, businesses, and clients?
• What is an example of a difficult situation that a practitioner may face related to your selected principle, and what would an ethical response to the situation be? Why might a practitioner be tempted to, or accidentally, not take an ethical course of action?

In your response to at least two peers, discuss actions and consequences that should be taken in response to a violation of their selected principle. Use the following questions to help guide your responses:

• What actions or strategies could you or others take to remediate the ethical issues?
• What are some repercussions of not abiding by your peer’s selected principle from a legal, business, or general professional perspective?

Here is the first classmate response needed6-2 Discussion: Professional PracticeAaron Krull posted Apr 7, 2021 10:07 PM Class,The principle of professional conduct that I chose for this discussion is the public interest principle. My understanding of this principle is that it is the duty of an accounting professional to always operate in the best interest of the public. It is stated in the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct (2016) that ‘the public’ refers to “clients, credit grantors, governments, employers, investors, the business and financial community, and others who rely on the objectivity and integrity of members to maintain the orderly functioning of commerce” (p. 5). This would mean that an accounting professional would need to try and conduct themselves in the way that would best serve all of those groups mentioned, not simply who the accountant is working for.This principle is an ethical one. By trying to make sure that the public interest is best served, there should be no bias one way or another. By focusing on this principle, it may help prevent an accounting professional from doing something that favors their employer, simply out of loyalty. The AICPA Code of Professional Conduct (2016) clearly lays out that this is the best policy by stating, “when members fulfill their responsibility to the public, clients’ and employers’ interests are best served” (p. 5). This is also valuable for businesses and clients to know. This will ensure them that the interests of others will not be considered over their own.I believe that an example of a situation that might challenge this principle would be for an employer to encourage a practicioner to make some false reports for an upcoming investor presentation. If the future of the business relied on getting a certain investor to invest, this could put a lot of pressure on the practicioner. If the investor walks away from the presentation uninterested, the company might fold, and many people, including the practicioner, could lose their jobs. I feel that in this scenario it would be tempting to make some false reports. In this case, doing things in the best interest of the public would be very difficult, but probably for the best. If false reports were made, and then it was discovered that the investor was lied to at a later date, there may be much larger consequences for many people, and the business could still go under. There may even be a negative image cast on those who worked for that company, making it difficult to find employment in the future.References (2016). AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

second classmate response needed6-2 Discussion: Professional PracticeAlan Yoneda posted Apr 9, 2021 2:09 AM “Responsibilities” is the first principle in the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct for a reason:  it encompasses and defines all of the subsequent principles.  Members have a responsibility to act in the public interest, by conducting business in a trustworthy and professional manner.  Once trust is broken it is difficult to get back.  They have a responsibility to perform their tasks with integrity, by being honest and ethical in their decisions.  Dishonesty can lead to major problems for both the professional and the client.  The responsibility to be objective and not letting outside factors influence their decisions and the independence to follow through  on those decisions is crucial to the well being of clients.  They have a responsibility to manage difficult tasks with due care, maintaining ethical standards and producing quality work. Businesses and clients depend on this.  Lastly, the scope and nature of services dictates the responsibility to perform their jobs with high standards for accuracy and abiding by the law.  Businesses and clients rely on them to give them good advice and offer solutions to problems.  A difficult situation would be if a professional is preparing an income tax return for a close friend.  His friend may want him to “fudge” the numbers because he does not want to pay high taxes as he has done in the past.  The professional may have given him advice on how to lower his tax bill, but his friend did not listen and now wants him to essentially lie for him on his taxes.  The ethical response of course is for the practitioner to abide by the laws and prepare the return using all the verifiable information that he has.  But he may feel that he will lose a good friend by doing so.  If he decides to do what his   friend tells him to do, and prepares an incorrect tax return, he is making a bad judgement which may affect both of them in the future.  He is shirking his responsibility to himself, his friend, and effectively all of his clients who put their trust in him to do the right thing all the time.