Most "Who Do You Trust?" surveys rank politicians, lawyers and used car salesmen at the bottom and certified public accountants at the top. That is because the CPA profession has a squeaky clean image--anal-retentive little wimps who wear thick glasses and cannot get a date. CPAs are known and respected for their honesty. The profession that goes out of its way to project that image, and there is a certain amount of truth to it.

Not all accountants are anal-retentive little wimps who cannot get a date. Many of them are quite articulate. Some are quite lovely. In some schools, more than half of the accounting majors are women. Also, not all CPAs are squeaky clean and respected for their honesty. Some are quite dishonest and are putting a black mark on the image of the entire profession.

There is one area where the CPA profession has fallen short of protecting the public interest. The general duty that accountants owe to their clients and the other persons who are affected by their actions is to

While students must be acquainted with professional codes of conduct as part of their preparation for a career, most researchers on ethics do not consider such material to be sufficient grounding in ethical training . A few years ago the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts (AICPA), the largest CPA membership organization in the world, decided that starting in the year 2000, new members would have to have 150 semester hours of college credits (5 Years) instead of the present four years to become a member .

of an accountant's license to practice or the suspension from practice. Finally disciplinary proceedings may be brought against an accountant by professional societies such as the AICPA.

2. Recognize issues in accounting that have ethical implications.

5. Learn to deal with uncertainties of the accounting profession.

"exercise the skill and care of the ordinarily prudent accountant" in the same circumstances. Two elements compose the general duty of performance: skill and care. Another element and responsibility is owed to clients and other persons, that is that accountants should observe a standard of ethical or social responsibility.

In accounting ethics education literature, the benefits of teaching ethics have been greatly influenced by the following set of goals presented by Stephen Loeb :

4. Develop the abilities needed to deal with ethical conflicts or dilemmas.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Accounting Ethics, Accounts AICPA, Stephen Loeb, Exchange Commission, accounting ethics, sense moral, respected honesty, clients persons, certified public, criminal violations, wrongful conduct, cpa profession, little wimps, ethics instruction,
Approximate Word count = 1103
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)