Abstract
The authors empirically examine the nature and extent of ethical problems confronting senior level AICPA members (CPAs) and examine the effectiveness of partner actions and codes of ethics in reducing ethical problems. The results indicate that the most difficult ethical problems (frequency reported) were: client requests to alter tax returns and commit tax fraud, conflict of interest and independence, client requests to alter financial statements, personal-professional problems, and fee problems. Analysis of attitudes toward ethics in the accounting profession indicated that (1) CPAs perceive that opportunities exist in the accounting profession to engage in unethical behavior, (2) CPAs, in general, do not believe that unethical behavior leads to success, and (3) when top management (partners) reprimand unethical behavior, the ethical problems perceived by CPAs seem to be reduced.
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Don W. Finn is Associate Professor of Accounting at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Professor Finn has published over twenty articles on business, accounting, and budgeting topics which have appeared in professional publications such as The Accounting Review, Omega, Oil & Gas Tax Quarterly, Cost and Management, and Managerial Planning. Dr. Finn also has co-authored two monographs on accounting topics. He is also active in the American Accounting Association and the National Association of Accountants.
Professor Shelby Hunt is currently Distinguished Professor and Horn Professor of Research in the Marketing Department at Texas Tech University. He has published extensively in Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, and many other prestigious journals. Recently, he was editor-in-chief for the Journal of Marketing.
Professor Chonko has published in Journal of Marketing Research and other prestigious marketing journals. He is currently director of consumer research at Baylor University.
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Finn, D.W., Chonko, L.B. & Hunt, S.D. Ethical problems in public accounting: The view from the top. J Bus Ethics 7, 605–615 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382793
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382793