Ethics for Corporate Accountants Webinar

To equip corporate accountants with the knowledge and practical tools needed to identify ethical challenges, apply the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct for Members in Business, and make sound decisions when faced with conflicts, pressures, or compliance risks in today’s corporate environment.

This webinar qualifies to satisfy the general Professional Ethics requirement in all states, except the following states which require state-specific Ethics: AR, AZ, DE, FL, LA, MI, MS, NJ, NY, OR, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WY.

• Ethics pre-test
• An operational definition of ethics
• Kohlberg’s six stages of ethical development
• Ethics in the professional sphere
• Causes of unethical behavior
• AICPA Code of Professional Conduct for Members in Business
• Six broad categories of threats to compliance:
  – Adverse interest
  – Advocacy
  – Familiarity
  – Self-interest
  – Self-review
  – Undue influence
• Ethical conflicts and external and internal safeguards
• Lessons learned from notable financial scandals:
  – Enron
  – Volkswagen
  – Wirecard
  – Bernie Madoff
  – Hertz
  – KPMG
  – Notable insider trading scandals
• Implications of PCAOB Auditing Standard 18 for companies
• Ethics final exam

To equip corporate accountants with the knowledge and practical tools needed to identify ethical challenges, apply the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct for Members in Business, and make sound decisions when faced with conflicts, pressures, or compliance risks in today’s corporate environment.

This self-study webinar qualifies to satisfy the general Professional Ethics requirement in all states, except the following states which require state-specific Ethics: AR, AZ, DE, FL, LA, MI, MS, NJ, NY, OR, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WY.

DETAILED LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identify the course’s operational ethics definition associated with selecting the alternative that causes the least harm

• Identify the course’s operational ethics definition associated with treating explicit rule compliance as sufficient

• Recognize how unethical peers and superiors can influence individual ethical behavior

• Identify the stage of Kohlberg’s ethical development associated with maintaining authority and social order

• Recognize how financial targets, financing pressures, and operational disruption can threaten integrity and objectivity

• Distinguish professional competence and standards-related obligations from other ethical requirements

• Identify workplace pressures and financial incentives that can contribute to unethical behavior by a CPA in business

• Identify the section of the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct applicable to members in business

• Recognize the reasonable and informed third-party perspective used in evaluating ethical threats

• Identify the role of safeguards in eliminating ethical threats or reducing them to an acceptable level

• Recognize self-interest threats arising from compensation tied to financial results

• Recognize undue influence threats arising from pressure to misstate financial information

• Identify potential sources of safeguards against threats to compliance with the Rules of Conduct

• Identify characteristics that support the effectiveness of ethics reporting hotlines

• Recognize the importance of documenting an ethical conflict, the reasoning applied, and its outcome

• Identify appropriate steps for evaluating and addressing a conflict of interest

• Recognize how disclosure, safeguards, and consultation can help address conflicts of interest

• Identify a CPA’s obligation to communicate candidly with an external auditor

• Recognize ethical lessons illustrated by Enron concerning leadership, conflicts of interest, technical compliance, and professional oversight

• Identify the areas addressed by the PCAOB’s 2014 adoption of Auditing Standard No. 18 and related amendments, including related parties, executive officers, and significant unusual transactions

• Ethics pre-test
• An operational definition of ethics
• Kohlberg’s six stages of ethical development
• Ethics in the professional sphere
• Causes of unethical behavior
• AICPA Code of Professional Conduct for Members in Business
• Six broad categories of threats to compliance:
  – Adverse interest
  – Advocacy
  – Familiarity
  – Self-interest
  – Self-review
  – Undue influence
• Ethical conflicts and external and internal safeguards
• Lessons learned from notable financial scandals:
  – Enron
  – Volkswagen
  – Wirecard
  – Bernie Madoff
  – Hertz
  – KPMG
  – Notable insider trading scandals
• Implications of PCAOB Auditing Standard 18 for companies
• Ethics final exam