Ethics for CPAs: Meeting Expectations in Challenging Times
Accountants are under attack. Recent investigations of Enron, Global Crossing, WorldCom, and Adelphia, just to name a few, along with the remarkable collapse of Arthur Andersen, have focused the nation’s attention on the accounting profession and the need for reforms. All parties agree that accounting firms must change their priorities and attitudes to put more emphasis on ethics, quality of audits, and on investor and public interests. But recent significant revisions to guidance from the AICPA, SEC, GAO, and IFAC make it difficult to keep up with the latest requirements. Without a clear and up-to-date knowledge of these changes, CPAs enter a minefield that could lead to a variety of sanctions. Ethics for CPAs helps accounting professionals navigate this minefield, providing a reader-friendly, timely resource on the latest ethical pronouncements and considerations.This comprehensive guide integrates the various requirements of the AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct, the SEC, the Department of Labor, the GAO’s Yellow Book, and state societies and state boards.  The book also contains information on ethical standards for consulting and tax services, and provides a concise analysis of international ethics requirements.  Drawing upon years of experience consulting on ethical issues, the authors deliver invaluable guidance on how a CPA should respond to an ethics investigation, proceeding step-by-step through the entire process. Ethics for CPAs also:Presents information in an easy-to-use information-mapping format that enables CPAs to find the information they need, fastIdentifies and discusses specific ethical issues raised by the Enron investigationContains practical examples and user-friendly practice aidsIncludes self-study CPE, pursuant to the requirement by many states that CPAs complete a minimum number of hours on ethics-related topics for each licensing periodEach chapter contains a section that provides guidance on the authoritative sources for the topics discussed and also provides information on where CPAs can go to get more information on ethics issues. Guidance on future pronouncements will be posted on www.wiley.com/ethics within thirty days of issuance. Ethics for CPAs supplies accounting professionals with a much-needed authoritative resource for meeting expectations in challenging times.