Abstract
Few financial scandals are the result of methodological errors rather than from errors in judgment. This has increasingly been shown in corporate collapses and audit failures around the globe, where attention has not been adequately given to the ethical and professional values of honesty, integrity, objectivity, due care, and the commitment to the public interest before one's interests. The results have been an apparent breakdown in society's belief that accountants act in the public interest. The number of accounting abuses has served as prima facie evidence that something more is needed in terms of accounting ethics. To some extent, professional bodies and educational institutions have responded by calling for more ethics education in the accounting curriculum. But is this enough? This research report is about professional accountancy and ethics failure. The study sought to deepen the understanding of the ethical sensitivity/awareness, development, motivation, and character of professional accountants in contributing to ethical failure or otherwise. Broadly, the objective of the study was to examine the ethical development, ethical sensitivity, and ethical intent of professional accountants, and the extent to which the current state of professional accountancy training has contributed to ethical failure or otherwise. The focus of the study was therefore to determine the factors that drive or constrain the role of ethics in professional accountancy (training and practice) in reducing corporate failure. The research report covers the following four sub-themes: (1) accounting ethics and professional accounting
practices in Ghana; (2) the role of accounting ethics, internal controls and personality traits in
fraud mitigation; (3) organisational culture, accountants’ personality and ethical influence on
corporate failure; and (4) the effect of religion, gender and accounting certification on ethical
accounting practices. Using a sample of 335 respondents, made up of qualified accountants who are members of ICAG, primary data was obtained through an online survey. The findings from this study revealed that being ethical enhances the quality of financial reports and builds user confidence in the financial reports. Ethics also promotes the objectivity and independence of the accountant. Ethics promotes professional behaviour in accountants. The results obtained from this study are sufficient to conclude that ethical accounting practices and ethical decision making are relevant in professional accounting practices. The study will assist entities to ensure their controls are working. It will also help professional bodies to ensure their members are abiding by the laid down codes of conduct and not being complacent. If necessary, a review of these codes of conduct should be done and there should be a system to ensure their members6are abreast of the new changes. Our research brings to the notice of all and sundry that discrimination at the workplace on the basis of gender, religious or ethnic affiliations are of no good. There is no need necessarily classifying one group as ethical and the other group as not. This study has revealed that the critical ethical issues contributing to recent corporate failures include conflict of interest; insider dealings, disregard for good corporate governance and failure of oversight bodies; auditors and accountants not playing their much needed watchdog roles; pursuit of personal interest by corporate management as against corporate interest; board chairs interfering in day-to-day management of institutions and ordering management to undertake or make certain transactions in their favour; pressure from superiors to accountants to bend financial practice procedures to ease operations flows and makes financial statements look good; decayed integrity; and failure of supervisory bodies to promptly crack the whip. Based on the findings and conclusion from this study, we recommend that professional accountancy bodies should provide financial insurance cover for accountants who lose their jobs as a result of strong adherence to ethical standards; punishment in the form of revocation of license and loss of membership/suspension of certificate should be instituted and enforceable; regulators should establish effective widely known whistle-blower lines, which can be trusted to provide anonymity; guided by the ethical standards of their profession, professional accountants must demonstrate commitment to ethical principles and personal values; political party affiliations especially by accountants in the public sector should be strongly discouraged; and there should be regular profiling of the ethical behaviour of accountants by reviewing their activities and personal value system.
