The Importance Of Ethics In Accounting

Ethics play differing level roles in all aspects of our lives and the various decisions we make on a daily basis. Ethics in the accounting professional’s life is particularly important because he or she is keeping records and producing reports that many other people in the business world rely on to make business decisions (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, 2015). Accountants have an obligation and responsibility to report accurately and to make ethical decisions (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, 2015). Ethics and ethical decision making are among the topics taught to some degree in many higher education institutions. But is it enough and does it work? In the next pages I will discuss the level and quality, methods used, and effectiveness of covering accounting

In 1988, the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business added ethics to their accreditation requirements and the American Institute of Certifies Public Accountants followed suite (Frank, Ofobike, & Gradisher, 2009). Later in 1994 the AAA published a book on ethics for use in courses which was not widely adopted due to a lack of interest by professors (Frank, Ofobike, & Gradisher, 2009). Studies were going on around the same time to determine if ethics could be learned. Most studies use a series of case-studies and corresponding responses to evaluate the effect ethics teaching has on the student’s ethical thinking. It was found that ethics teaching, “can impact student awareness of ethical issues, but more effective instruction was required along with methods for assessing outcomes. To successfully teach ethics, professors need an organizing paradigm and Kohlberg’s (1981, 1984) model of moral reasoning seems well suited to this task” (Frank, Ofobike, & Gradisher, 2009, p.133) Then in the late ‘90’s frauds took place that began to change the thinking of how effective and necessary ethics education may be (Frank, Ofobike, & Gradisher, 2009). In 1998, an early study on how effective ethics teaching can be on students’ ethical reasoning was performed. The researchers found that indeed there was an improvement in the students’ ethical reasoning after one semester of ethics learning (Carlson & Burke, 1998). Fast forward a few years and many more studies have been performed on the ability of ethics education to have an effect on students’ ethical behavior. A study in 2009 built on many recorded previous studies again concluded that “business ethics matters” (Lau, 2010, p. 581) and after evaluating findings determined, “business education also matters” (Lau, 2010, p. 581). Lau’s