With 22% of accountants believing that a quarter of the profession have helped clients create misleading accounts, an enforceable code of ethics must be introduced to stop further corporate scandals, says Simon Wright, managing director of CareersinAudit.com
Many of you will remember the headlines in October 2001, when the Enron scandal broke in the news. What followed was not only the bankruptcy of the company, but a hefty prison sentence for CEO Jeffrey Skilling and other employees.
Plus the de facto dissolution of Arthur Andersen – one of the Big Five. Cited as the biggest audit failure, the accountancy profession which had always played a behind the scene part was now front of stage. The ethics not just of Arthur Andersen, but the profession scrutinised under a very bright light.
Seventeen years on, has that bright light meant the profession is unlikely to be committed for a similar offence? I wish this was the case but recent research by CareersinAudit.com reveals a rather shocking picture; more than a third of accountants surveyed admitted they are aware of a senior staff member at their current workplace who has made a decision to deliberately chose a commercial result for the company, even though the decision could be regarded unethical.
