Professionalism Accounting The accounting profession is one of great responsibility and duty. Certain obligations are required of those who wish to manage the financial affairs of the businesses and organizations that keep the economy, and eventually the population sustained with energy and motivation. The purpose of this essay is to relate the professional qualities necessary to be successful within the accounting and financial management sectors of careers. I will identify and explain four different explicit and specific characteristics that create the necessary components of professionalism that relate to accounting and its objectives. Additionally, I will relate my personal opinions on what factors are needed to be a professional in today's complex and fast paced society.

The KPMG handout explained four different attributes of a professional: commitment to serve, integrity, objectiveness, and competence. These terms adequately suffice a comprehensive set of standards that professionalism can be understood within. Results of acquiring these attributes may result in certain distinguishing acts of self-regulation, professional education and licensing. Therefore professionalism is different than just doing something for emotional satisfaction or fruitless means. Purpose and definitive action that fall into systems of order and regulation are very important and mandatory in any type of profession.

The commitment to serve is important for those wishing to become accountants. Their total responsibility to not only the fairness of the law, but also to the customer, clientele, the account may be employed to require a self sacrificing attitude and a certain commitment to a higher purpose than mediocrity. Financial statements represent...

Therefore it is of the utmost importance to keep some objective principles in mind while practicing this profession. This ultimately requires a huge commitment to honesty and doing the right thing when nobody is looking. Selfless service to others demonstrates the importance of how society may peacefully coexist due to professional standards.
Integrity may be the most important characteristic of professionalism. Integrity requires respect for the truth and the processes that eventually lead to this understanding. The idea of treating others as one would like to be treated is the essence of integrity. Honesty should only be expected when it is given in earnest. Trust and faith are the guiding standards that the limitations of what an accountant may or may not do requires an integral understanding of its framers intent. But how does one keep one's integrity? While guiding standards of ethical behavior provide pathways to integrity, only when subjective experience is reasoned with these laws can we see a true representation of integrity.

Integrity is based on ethics, so this assumption may lead us to this: "Are we not teaching our students enough ethics? Can ethics be taught? If so, how do we best teach ethics to accounting students?" (Faour, 3). Education integrity may be obtained through an ethical baseline of understanding. Here we see how the effects of the four characteristics are resulting in a tendency of self-regulation. Ethical debates are of a circular nature, so it is important that accountants within their own profession have specific ethical codes to adhere to in order to maintain the essence of professionalism.

The idea of…