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Auditing textbooks include summary level coverage of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Code of Professional Conduct, but textbook coverage is too brief to support a strong understanding of auditor independence. Independence rules have the force of professional law for the independent auditor (PCAOB, 2015). Threats to firm independence can arise from events and circumstances such as investments in the client, loans from the client, past-due fees, contingent fees, deposits in the client, gifts and job offers. Student test results from a five-year rotation of alternative auditor independence lecture support materials demonstrate that using the actual AICPA Code of Professional Conduct reduces student performance. However, this drag on student performance was mostly offset by the positive impacts of simultaneous use of an independence decision tree developed for this chapter and tested as a teaching material for classrooms use.

Examines the role of professional associations, governmental agencies, and international accounting and auditing bodies in promulgating standards to foster auditor independence domestically and abroad. Focuses specifically on the role played by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Government Accounting Office. Also looks at other professional associations in banking, industry, and manufacturing sectors dealing with sensitive issues of auditors′ involvement in such matters as management advisory services, operating responsibilities, outsourcing, opinion shopping, auditor rotation, and other conflicts of interest which may impair auditor independence.

Highlights similarities among the codes of ethics promulgated by professional societies in the United States such as The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), and the EDP Auditors Association (EDPAA). Takes the Code of Ethics of the Institute of Internal Auditors, an international professional association, as an example to demonstrate that most of the articles of professional codes do not reflect the cultural dimensions of Asian, European, and other countries. Since one single universal code of ethics may not meet the needs of an international group, international professional societies may wish to consider alternatives to incorporate in their codes of ethics, especially the cultural dimensions of other countries. Cultural differences often limit the effectiveness of a uniform international code of ethics because they create a lack of consensus within a profession as to what constitutes acceptable behaviour.

The time period from the mid-1980s through 2002 is described in this series of research as a “pre-SOX” era of rapid deprofessionalization in U.S. pubic accountancy resulting in the loss of professional status. This was a period, however, when all professions were suffering some deprofessionalization. During the pre-SOX period it appears that leadership in public accountancy responded to a nearly perfect storm of changes confronting the profession with a corporate mentality of management by objectives, commercialization, and profit maximization resulting in constant and substantial net deprofessionalization greater than that of other professions. Starting in the late-1970s and continuing through 2001, some critics of public accountancy have asserted that leaders in the profession either lost or forgot what was required for public accountancy to be recognized as a profession. The conclusion stated in this paper is that public accountancy has lost its professional status in or before 2002. The reasons and events leading to this conclusion are presented and discussed. In the United States it appears as though once professional status is lost, regaining the elite status is more difficult. The question is if public accountancy can learn from history going into the substantial changes to be confronted in the post-SOX era of public accountancy and regain or at least make progress toward regaining professional status.

This study documents that an outcome-favorable bias is greater when the quantity of information describing a balanced tax-decision context is substantially increased. Second, the study demonstrates that an outcome-favorable bias can be offset by the use of principles-based ethical standards. Specifically, we examine the effect of AICPA Code of Conduct Section 54 for integrity and Rule 102-6 for advocacy. Students volunteered to participate in this study examining the manner in which accounting novices initially process principles-based standards. Prior studies using student subjects in an audit setting have found that principles-based standards were effective only when students had high levels of moral reasoning (Herron & Gilbertson, 2004), and rules-based technical standards had no impact on student subjects when making financial adjustments (Pflugrath, Martinov-Bennie, & Chen, 2007). If professional standards increasingly rely on principles-based standards, then understanding the impact of such standards on future entrants into the profession would provide guidance in the creation and implementation of future standards, as well as assist educators in the development of accounting curricula. We extend the pattern of past research to a tax setting and show that tax-saving recommendations are a function of the presence of a professional standard and the level of contextual detail.

Explains the implications for management accountants′ ethical responsibilities following the restructuring of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Code. In order to enable management accountants to integrate their work more effectively with internal and external auditors, changes are recommended in the National Association of Accountants (NAA) Code of Standards.

Congruence of personal values to organizational (the profession) values affects job performance, job satisfaction and ethical behavior. The purpose of this paper is to answer two research questions: (1) what are the personal ethical values of today's leaders in the US accounting profession and (2) are these personal ethical values congruent with the profession's ethical code?

This study uses a survey approach to determine the personal values of US-certified public accounting leaders. The personal values of the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) leaders were measured using the Rokeach Value Survey instrument.

Findings show that for each highly prioritized personal value, there is one or more parallel with the profession's values, as represented by the US American Institute of CPAs ethics code.

This study was limited by the time period used. Future studies could include other time periods. This study could be used as a starting point for longitudinal studies to determine if personal values of professional accountants change over time.

This paper offers a fresh understanding of the relationship of accountants' personal values to professional values.

This paper provides insights into the person–organization (P–O) fit of US accountants within their profession.

This paper examines the P–O fit of accounting leaders, that is, the congruence of personal values and organizational values. The P–O fit contributes to job performance and job satisfaction.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 and its amendment – the Trade and Competitive Act of 1988 – are unique not only in the history of the accounting and auditing profession, but also in international law. The Acts raised awareness of the need for efficient and adequate internal control systems to prevent illegal acts such as the bribery of foreign officials, political parties and governments to secure or maintain contracts overseas. Its uniqueness is also due to the fact that the USA is the first country to pioneer such a legislation that impacted foreign trade, international law and codes of ethics. The research traces the history of the FCPA before and after its enactment, the role played by the various branches of the United States Government – Congress, Department of Justice, Securities Exchange commission (SEC), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); the contributions made by professional associations such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICFA), the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the American Bar Association (ABA); and, finally, the role played by various international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). A cultural, ethical and legalistic background will give a better understanding of the FCPA as wll as the rationale for its controversy.