Best Answer
When people think of accounting, they rarely think of ethics. While ethical guidelines are of obvious importance in other professions, they seem removed from the black and white nature of number crunching. However, accounting ethics are of incredible importance, not only to accountants but also to their clients. That is because when handling money there is tremendous pressure to fudge numbers, look the other way when other people are doing wrong, or even to dip your hand in the cookie jar. This can result in a range of disastrous results, from tax problems for clients to professional consequences for an accountant, all the way up to huge financial scandals such as Enron. In order to understand accounting ethics, it is important to understand the various components of them. Therefore, we would break down your essay into three major parts: why ethics are important, the differences between ethical and legal obligations, and the various components of ethical obligations. This could be the basis of a standard five-paragraph essay, but also easily expanded into a significantly longer essay with discussions of each of the individual components.
I. Introduction
A. Importance of ethics in accounting
B. Difference in ethics and law
C. Components of ethics
D. Thesis statement
II. Importance of ethics in accounting
A. Handling other people’s money
B. Temptation to steal
C. Pressure to engage in wrongdoing
D. Details about finances can reveal other information
E. Exposure to risk
III. Difference between ethics and law
A. Ethical obligations are greater than legal ones
B. Ethical obligations may require whistleblowing
C. Important to explain ethical obligations to clients
IV. Components of ethics
A. Integrity
B. Objectivity
C. Professional competence and due care
D. Confidentiality
E. Professional Behavior
V. Conclusion
A. Restate thesis
B. Importance of ethics in accounting
C. Difference between ethics and the law
D. Components of ethics
E. Call to action
