Abstract
What's ethics got to do with accounting? Everything! Believe me,
everything. When
the word ethics is mentioned, what readily comes to mind is the question
of deciding
between doing what is right and doing what is wrong. But doing what is
right versus
doing what is wrong within what context? The idealist will say that
decisions of ethics
should not be conditional. But it is not as simple as it sounds, for
what constitutes "right"
to one person, may be "wrong" to another person. What bridges the gap,
guides, and
clearly distinguishes the line between right and wrong in political,
economic and social
systems are traditions, culture, laws and regulations. Even then, what
is unethical may not
necessarily be illegal, even though there exists a close relationship
between the two.
These dynamics apply to almost every legal profession, accounting not
exempted. This
paper examines the issues of ethics in accounting. It also looks at the
differences and
similarities between financial accounting to managerial accounting.
Introduction
According to Marshall et al, (What the numbers mean, 2003)
accounting involves
"identifying, measuring, and communicating economic information about an
organization
for the purpose of making decisions and informed judgments." This
definition clearly
shows that there are stakeholders in the information generated by
accountants. These
include managers, shareholders, oversight and law enforcement agencies,
and the general
public. Since these entities rely on the reports generated by
accountants ...