Accounting profession question?
A variety of different career paths are available to accountants. Accounting professionals work in public accounting in audit, consulting, tax and financial planning, providing services to a wide range of organizations. Accountants also enjoy financial reporting, tax, and managerial accounting careers with companies in all industries, in all levels of government, and in educational institutions as professionals and as educators. As businesses, governments, and individuals generate and utilize information at accelerating rates in an increasingly global environment, public trust in the value of the information and the financial reporting of firms depends on the highest integrity, dedication, and expertise of the accountants in each of these career paths.
What is the accounting profession?
Many ways: 1) Write books, reviews, journals and research papers on accounting and related topics 2) Make recommendations for the accounting reforms by providing feedback to exposure drafts 3) Give speeches on accounting and related topics. 4) Become a lecturer of accounting. 5) Do not do things that are immoral, unethical and illegal in work or in personal life. 6) Whistle-blow internally first then externally to the accounting regulator if ethical and legal issues not resolved amicably. 7) Be well groomed. 8) Actively involved in discussion with peers. 9) Actively involved in accounting research and studies.
Ethics and the accounting profession?
The accounting profession has a strong code of ethics, and most accountants comply with the code scrupulously. In any profession, industry, or endeavor, you can find some rotten apples. The AICPA publishes the names of accountants who are admonished or ejected from membership because they violated the ethical standards or committed crimes. State licensing boards cancel licenses of accountants who violate the rules. But the numbers that violate ethical standards are small compared to the thousands who serve the public or their employers with integrity. There is a good reason why the accounting profession ranks higher in public respect than the legal and medical professions. CPAs have shows over time that they are ethical, objective, and honest professionals.
Accounting as a Profession?
What a coincidence. I am an accountant and I have always had a strong interest in anthropology. At any rate, one thing I have learned is that students of accounting either really hate it or they really love it. There is no in-between. You might try taking a few accounting and business related courses before changing your major. You will learn very quickly whether it is something that interests you or whether you are going to hate it. I would recommend that you take Principles of Accounting I, Economics and Business Law. If you ultimately decide to change your major to Accounting you will have to take additional Economics and Business Law courses but after taking Principles of Accounting I, Economics and Business Law you will have a pretty good idea as to whether you should change your major. As to the rest of your question...I wouldn't recommend minoring in Accounting. If you want to be an Accountant it is very much in your best interests to pursue it as a major field of study. If you want to become a CPA you may want to obtain an MBA. Most states now require 5 years of study at the college level in order to become certified as a CPA (in addition to passing the CPA exam and completing the necessary work experience requirement). However it is not necessary to become a CPA to achieve success in this field, although it certainly helps. Good luck.
What are the governing bodies for the accounting profession?
I am happy to get you started on your path. You'll want to become familiar with the following: The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) The above are the more well known and somewhat more important governing bodies. Other governing bodies include: Insititue of Internal Auditors (IIA) Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Independence Standards Board (ISB) Below are links to some of the websites. You can also use Wikipedia for a good summary as well. Good luck.
Accounting Ethics Problem?
This would be okay if the business was on a cash basis; but on an accrual system the sale is posted when it happens. GAAP does not dictate which system to use. It more depends on the size of the business. If it is a one-time exception it might be immaterial (which technically does not translate to an ethical move, but .... obey the boss, and keep your job). Given normal assumptions, one would probably say the accountant would not be following GAAP.
Accountimg and auditing calls for high levels of integrity and honesty but if these professionals have to act at times by the instructions and whims of the owners of family run cos or business controlled by unprofessional practices against law then these two professionals cannot act observing ethics and as per their conscience but shareholders depend on them to disclose true and correct financial position which calls for ethical practices .Sathyam Computers owners threw ethics and fabricated figures and showed highly boosted sales values and share prices were manipulated and public were cheated and they landed in prison .So accounting people have to flow ethics and boldly put their viwes and maintain accounts in accurate and diligent manner
There can be a specific definition of professional ethics. Dcitionary definition of Professional Ethics is:Professional ethics is defined as the personal and corporate rules that govern behavior within the context of a particular profession.An example of professional ethics is the American Bar Association's set of ethical rules that govern an attorney's moral obligations.Read more at professional ethicsQuite a few professions and professionals have a direct bearing on the lives of general people, for example, Medical Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, who actually work for their clients but their work has a bearing on the lives of people associated with their clients.In all such cases, the clients are primary stakeholders and the people associated with them are secondary stakeholders and since the work of these professionals have an impact not only on their clients but public as well, that’s why, these professionals have to follow a code of ethics, whereas other professions, like clerical jobs, factory workers in a production setup or general workers at the lowest tier of organizational hierarchy , they have to follow certain code of conduct as prescribed by their organization.
Accounting - GAAP and ethics?
M4L, A. The scheme reduces current period expenditures by capitalizing current costs over the future 10 years. (Look-up Worldcom for an example of how people go to jail for doing this.) Also, this practice violates the matching principal.
How do you see ethics apllied accounting?
Sometimes, management uses accounting to hide problems. They change consignment sales to normal sales, use inter-company transactions to boost sales, under estimate royalty exposure, capitalize expenses which should be expensed or classify personal expenses as company expenses. This approach not only violate accounting standards but also hides the true problem from scrutiny. It does not solve the root cause of the problem. It allows the problem to grow, often times to a point where the survival of the company is threatened. That said, the persons that normally have to face the consequences of misleading financial reports are the investors.