Because of recent financial disasters in the news, the board of directors of your company decided that they wanted to ascertain that the organizations code of ethics was appropriate and in agreement with the Code of Professional Conduct (CPC) as adopted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Therefore, you have been asked to provide this assurance with a report to the CFO of your organization.
Create a report of 45 pages including thefollowing:
· Review the 6 principles in the AICPA’s CPC.
o State what you assess to be the primary purpose of each of the 6 principles.
The principles of the AICPAs Code of Professional Conduct include the following (Ethics and Independence, 2011):
Responsibilities that require that CPAs carry out their duties as professionals exercising ethical and moral judgment in all aspects of their activities are present.
Public interest trust is a principle of obligation to behave and demonstrate professionalism and commitment to their trade.
Integrity is to be demonstrated in all aspects of their professional responsibilities with the ultimate purpose of maintaining and broadening public confidence.
CPAs are to remain independent and avoid conflict of interest situations in all their duties and responsibilities.
They must exercise due care by members and observe standards of ethics and professional technical nature in the continued strive for competence improvement and quality of services.
Scope and nature of services should be limited to those regarding auditing the financial statements, accounting, tax, financial planning, and litigation support services.
Ethics and independence. (2011). Retrieved from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Web site:.org./InterestAreas/CenterForAuditQuality/Resources/CAQAuditLibrary”>http://aicpa.org./InterestAreas/CenterForAuditQuality/Resources/CAQAuditLibrary
· Analyze the codes of conduct of at least 3 major public U.S. companies.
Include citations for each of these companies’ codes of conduct.
· Identify connections and relationships of the principles included.
· Explain how the 6 principles relate to those identified in your analysis of the codes of conduct of the 3 chosen companies.
· Prepare a recommended list of at least 7 essential elements that must be included in your organizations code of conduct based on your analysis and assessment.