Question

Integrity & Professional Judgment and how it applies to the AICPA Code of Conduct

Answer 1

The AICPA has several committees that participate in the final formulation of its Code of Professional Conduct, including the Professional Ethics Executive Committee, which helps set standards for its individual members and member firms and addresses major issues such as independence and the disciplinary process when violations of the code occur.

The AICPA Code of Professional Conduct consists of two sections: (1) the Principles and (2) the Rules. In the preamble to the code they state: The Principles provide the framework for the Rules, which govern the performance of professional services by its membersÉ The Principles call for an unswerving commitment to honorable behavior, even the sacrifice of personal advantage. For our purposes we will discuss the Principles, as they are the foundation of appropriate professional behavior. The basic principles of the

AICPA Code of Professional Conduct are:
Responsibilities
The Public Interest
Integrity
Objectivity and Independence
Due Care
Scope and Nature of Services

Integrity. Members are to maintain and broaden the public confidence and perform their professional responsibilities with the highest sense of integrity. This principle goes on to state that members are to be honest and candid within the constraints of client confidentiality and never subordinate the level of service and public trust to personal gain. Specifically, this principle states that "Integrity is measured in terms of what is right and just." Included in the AICPA's principle of Integrity is the idea that members must observe the form and spirit of their technical and ethical standards knowing that a circumvention of these standards is an improper subordination of judgment. The principle of integrity also states that members should observe the other principles of objectivity, independence and due care.