{"id":67087,"date":"2019-10-07t22:04:05","date_gmt":"2019-10-08t02:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=67087"},"modified":"2020-02-03t17:29:14","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03t22:29:14","slug":"accountant-super-powers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2019\/10\/07\/accountant-super-powers\/","title":{"rendered":"accountants: unleash your secret superpower"},"content":{"rendered":"
by donny c. shimamoto, cpa.citp, cgma<\/em><\/p>\n it seems like every day there is either news of a new scandal or additional \u201cdiscoveries\u201d about an on-going scandal. it\u2019s quite depressing.<\/p>\n i finally took a step back to ask myself: \u201cwhy is this happening? are we just doomed to a world that is just becoming more and more corrupt? or is there something that can be done to stop this degeneration of society?\u201d<\/p>\n are accountants natively ethical?<\/strong><\/p>\n as i pondered how to solve the corruption problem, i asked myself, \u201chow do we get more people to behave more ethically\u2014more like us accountants?\u201d<\/p>\n this then caused me to ask\u2026<\/p>\n in my experience, it is the latter that is true. i know that growing up, i believed in justice and doing what\u2019s right. when i was looking for a career, it was the cpa\u2019s independence and objectivity that resonated strongly with me. it paired with my desire to truly help people and resulted in my choosing a career as an accountant. (see \u201caccounting services aren\u2019t what you think they are<\/a>\u201d for the true services i believe accountants provide to people.)<\/p>\n from discussions with my accountant colleagues, i believe that many of us have the native desire to do what is ethical, and we are willing to put the needs of others above our own to do what is right for the greater good, rather than personal gain. the accounting profession feels so strongly about this, it\u2019s written into our codes of conduct and defined further in our professional standards. see the aicpa code of conduct<\/a>, iia code of ethics<\/a>, aga code of ethics<\/a>, and the ima statement of ethical professional practice<\/a> as just a few examples.<\/p>\n going beyond professional ethics to a duty to the public<\/strong><\/p>\n this duty to the greater good (the \u201cpublic\u201d) is a key differentiator of accountants from other learned professionals. a doctor’s key duty is to \u201cdo no harm\u201d and to the well-being of their patients. but there is nothing that stops them from making decisions that have personal gain involved\u2014the courting of physicians and incentives provided by the pharmaceutical industry are a prime example of this conflict of interest.<\/p>\n lawyers\u2019 key duty is to their client, or, when a judge, to the law itself. there are many examples where you can see how the outcome of a court case benefited a client but has had negative repercussions on the public. or where a judge doesn\u2019t fundamentally agree with a ruling but must make the ruling because of the way a law is written.<\/p>\n only accountants, and particularly cpas, are empowered by our duty to the public and we must put the public above our personal and even our employer\u2019s benefit.<\/p>\n it\u2019s the reason why even though external auditors are hired by an organization\u2019s management, that auditors may still report issues with internal controls or the financials themselves\u2014so that the public and other stakeholders don\u2019t invest in a company that is not fairly presenting their financial position.<\/p>\n it\u2019s the reason why cpa tax professionals won\u2019t help clients circumvent the law, but rather only pay what\u2019s rightfully due under the tax code.<\/p>\n and it\u2019s why advisory-focused cpas like myself evaluate our clients\u2019 integrity before agreeing to help them, and why we also monitor the ethical behavior and decision-making process of clients while we\u2019re working with them and have processes in place to disengage from a client if we perceive a significant issue with a client\u2019s integrity.<\/p>\n \u00a0(re-)introducing the cpa credo<\/strong><\/p>\n the strength of conviction of cpas in this duty to the public is perhaps best represented by the \u201ccpa credo\u201d introduced by eli mason<\/a> in the late 1900s. eli mason\u2019s \u201ccpa credo\u201d charges cpas (excerpt from the cpa journal, november 2001<\/a>):<\/p>\n reading the credo gave me chills because it resonated with my soul. yes, this is what i do as a cpa!<\/p>\n expanding the ethical influence of accountants<\/strong><\/p>\n while the cpa credo was written specifically for cpas, because cpa is often the starting point of a career in accounting, i believe the influence of the credo is carried throughout the profession, including in management accounting and internal audit. check out the links above to the various codes of conduct and you\u2019ll see where accounting professionals in various roles in the profession and in different industries are effective charged with upholding core tenets similar to those described in the credo.<\/p>\n so how do we solve the problem of ethical lapses in our world?<\/p>\n there are mature frameworks like the balanced scorecard<\/a> that can be used to help ensure that internal decisions consider more than just the financial profit of an organization\u2019s operations and projects. there are also emerging decision-making frameworks like conscious capitalism<\/a>, which brings in the criteria of \u201celevating humanity\u201d which is somewhat analogous to the accountant\u2019s duty to the public. frameworks like these rely upon the measurement of non-financial metrics and consideration of qualitative factors in decision-making and business reporting\u2014things that leverage core accountant competencies.<\/p>\n accountants can lead their organizations through the adoption of these frameworks. accountants leverage our professional skepticism and judgment to ensure that estimates presented during planning are reasonable. accountants also apply our expertise in internal controls and data quality to provide \u201cassurance\u201d that the data being used to populate the scorecard or measure the impacts of a decision fairly represents the aspects being measured. this is how accountants expand our ethical influence and embed balanced and ethical decision-making into the organizations that we serve.<\/p>\n using our accountant superpowers to improve the world<\/strong><\/p>\n we, accountants, must take our duty to the public seriously.<\/p>\n it can be easy to give in to the temptation of personal gain\u2014and as a trusted professional, it can be easy to \u201cslip one by\u201d a client or colleague who trusts us to provide objective advice\u2014but we always take the high road.<\/p>\n that\u2019s why i like to think of ethical behavior as one of our accountant superpowers.<\/p>\n while mere humans may be easily tempted, our exceptionally strong will and commitment to ethical behavior ensures that we do the right thing\u2014and also that we influence others to also do the right thing by holding them accountable for ethical decision-making. so our superpower not only gives us a \u201cwill of ethical steel<\/em>,\u201d but also enables us to affect others and cause them to act ethically.<\/p>\n we can<\/em> truly help reduce the problems of the world if we apply these superpowers to the organizations we serve, embrace our duty to the public, and uphold the cpa credo.<\/p>\n are you hiding your superpowers away? or are you truly having a positive impact and using your superpowers for the greater good?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"it’s time for the super-heroes of ethical behavior and the public trust to help save the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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to serve the public from whom my authority is derived<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
to serve my profession and contribute to its institutions<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
to practice at the highest professional level<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
to maintain an ethical posture characteristic of a learned profession<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
to maintain my ethical skills so that the public is served with competence<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
to maintain a state of independence at all times so that decisions are reached with objectivity<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n
to work with my colleagues\u2014for the practice of a profession is an experience in human behavior and mutual respect.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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