Ethics in Accounting and Corporate Accounting Scandals Research Paper

Ethics in Accounting and Corporate Accounting Scandals - Research Paper Example The suggested course of action by the companies is also recommended in order to prevent unethical practices that lead to corporate scandals and eventual bankruptcy of the organizations. Introduction The accounting practices are based on the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Apart from the rule base practices, the importance of principle based practices have emerged in the field of accounting. This is due to the corporate scandals that have occurred over the years. These corporate scandals establish a link with the unethical practices in accounting. In different countries, the accounting practices are guided by different laws like the tax law in Germany, accounting law in Sweden, company law in USA, etc. The unethical practices in accounting have not only resulted into bankruptcy of the companies but also eroded the wealth of the investors. International Financial Reporting Standards, Sarbanes-Oxley Act have been implemented in order to prevent the unethical accounting practic es and subsequent corporate scandals. ... The accountability is much greater as compared to the compensation received for their role in accounting domain. The most important part of accounting is the code of ethics that is to be followed as a professional in this field. This leads to the concept of ethics in accounting (Duska, Duska and  Ragatz, 2011). Accounting ethics is a part of applied ethics which relates to the moral values and judgments that are applied in the role of accounting. The concept of accounting ethics was first introduced by Luca Pacioli, an Italian mathematician which was later endorsed by the government departments and even the private organizations. The training modules conducted by the companies while training the accountants and auditors include accounting ethics as an integral part. The wide range of accounting services and the news on the fall of big corporate houses like Enron have triggered an importance of following code of ethics in accounting field. Due to fraudulent accounting practices, mal -intention on the part of accountants, auditors and the management, the profession of accountants and the subjects of accounting have been badly criticized. Also the losses incurred by the companies due to unethical practices in accounting field have blown out of proportions (McPhail and  Walters, 2009). In order to avoid the similar devaluation of companies and bankruptcy in future, the institutions irrespective of government and private entities have stressed on the importance of accounting ethics and proper implementation of ethical practices by their accounting departments. The lack of ethical accounting leads to fraudulent accounting practices in the companies which may be due to manipulated or