Research-Professional Development Article - Improving the Code of Conduct

Research-Professional Development Article

"Improving the Code of Conduct"

by Catherine Allen

The article "Improving the Code of conduct" by Catherine Allen brings our attention to the goals and challenges that AICPA's Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) faces when revising the existing AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. The author points out several reasons why it is necessary to make changes to the current code. The main reason is that there are many subjects that are scattered about the code, which makes it difficult for the users to understand and apply the Code's guidance. Besides, the revised code is aimed to be synchronized with ethical standards of International Federation of Accountants that would ultimately benefit international business connections.

The AICPA's PEEC will revise the coding and make some textual changes to the current Code to make it easier to search and understand the application of the existing rules in certain situations. The PEEC will use conceptual framework when revising the Code, which will better provide a foundation for the rules and create consistency to the analysis of any particular situation. Although PEEC plan to recast several provisions of the Code (primarily under " Independence", "Integrity" and "Objectivity" sections) no changes will be made to the existing rules. The Code will retain the same prohibitions and exemptions that exist today.

The new Code will have a new numbering system and new structure that will be described in the Preface. The author emphasizes that under the revised Code a member who is under an ethical threat should be able to easily identify the nature of that threat, to find a similar example in the Code description and to obtain a proper guidance for a certain situation. To add to this, PEEC will provide educational and testing assistance for this project: the state board advisory group and testing "pilot" group were formed to enrich the process of codification by adding different angles of views.

The Critical issue of the whole article is to revise and restructure the organization's ethical standards especially the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct so that members would have a better guidance of what course of actions to follow or not to follow.

• Critical Factor #1:

Meeting minimum standards of IESBA and implement the conceptual framework approach. The PEEC has an enormous task ahead of them. They are undertaking the role of rewriting, revising and updating the AICPA's professional code of ethics. Nowadays with the business world becoming global and international relations becoming so vast, it is necessary

...