What following fundamental principles A professional accountants should be straightforward and honest in all professional and business relationships?

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is a professional organization responsible for developing professional accounting ethical values. The AICPA requires professional accountants to act responsibly when engaging in accounting services and reviewing sensitive financial information. Accountants should always exercise sound moral judgment in all accounting activities.

Accountants have the unique responsibility to provide clients with professional services while presenting a truthful and accurate assessment of a company's financial health to the general public.

The Importance of Integrity

Integrity is an important fundamental element of the accounting profession. Integrity requires accountants to be honest, candid and forthright with a client's financial information. Accountants should restrict themselves from personal gain or advantage using confidential information. While errors or differences in opinion regarding the applicability of accounting laws do exist, professional accountants should avoid the intentional opportunity to deceive and manipulate financial information.

Public accounting firms or private companies often develop a code of ethics or conduct for accountants. These ethics and conduct rules ensure all accountants act in a consistent manner. In the absence of specific rules or standards, accountants should review their actions to ensure they are following commonly accepted principles.

Objectivity and Independence

Objectivity and independence are important ethical values in the accounting profession. Accountants must remain free from conflicts of interest and other questionable business relationships when conducting accounting services. Failure to remain objective and independent may hamper an accountant's ability to provide an honest opinion about a company's financial information. Objectivity and independence are also important ethical values for auditors.

The accounting industry usually limits the number of services public accounting firms or individual certified public accountants (CPA) can offer clients. Accounting services include general accounting, auditing, tax and management advisory services. Accountants who perform more than one of these services for a client may compromise their objectivity and independence.

For example, individuals who handle general accounting functions and then audit this information are essentially reviewing their own work. This situation may allow an accountant to hide a company's negative financial information.

Due Care and Competence

Due care is the ethical value requiring accountants to observe all technical or ethical accounting standards. Professional accountants are often required to review generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and apply this framework to a company's specific financial information. Due care requires accountants to exercise competence, diligence and a proper understanding of financial information.

Competence is usually based on individual's education and experience. Thus, due care may require senior accountants to supervise and direct other accountants with less experience in the accounting profession.

The Code of Ethics and its obligations are therefore a key part of the accounting profession’s commitment to these standards. 

Early this year, Chartered Accountants Ireland (among the other professional bodies that subscribe to the IESBA Code) will be launching a new Code of Ethics. If you want to get a sneak peek at what the new Code will look like, have a look at the UK ICAEW Code here at Code of Ethics, updated from 1 January 2020. 

It is not expected that there will be many changes of substance to the Professional Accountancy Bodies Codes of Ethics. One of the primary differences, however, is expected to be the new style of language used in writing the Code. The purpose of this change is to make the new Code easier to navigate and to help with the understanding and application of ethical practice. For example, it will be clearer which parts of the new Code are requirements, and which are guidance.

Before this new Code comes into effect, as a reminder, let’s look at the five fundamental principles (which will remain unchanged) of the existing code. These principles govern all ethical behaviour for accountants in practice and in business and indeed accountancy students:

Fundamental Principles of Ethical Behaviour: 

1. Integrity – to be straightforward and honest in all professional and business relationships. Integrity also means that members must not knowingly be associated with misleading information.
2. Objectivity – not to compromise professional or business judgements because of bias, conflict of interest or undue influence of others. If undertaking an assurance engagement, members must also be and appear to be independent.
3. Professional Competence and Due Care – to attain and maintain professional knowledge and skill at the level required to ensure that a client or employing organisation receives competent professional service, based on current technical and professional standards and relevant legislation; and act diligently and in accordance with applicable technical and professional standards.
4. Confidentiality – to respect the confidentiality of information acquired as a result of professional and business relationships. Confidential information must not be disclosed outside the organisation without authority, unless there is a duty or right to disclose, or disclosure is in the public interest and permitted by law.
5. Professional Behaviour – to comply with relevant laws and regulations and avoid any conduct that the professional accountant knows or should know might discredit the profession.

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Which of the following are fundamental ethical principles for professional accountants to be straightforward?

What professional behavior a professional accountant should be straightforward and honest in performing professional services?

What are the fundamental ethical principles for professional accountants?

Which of the following are fundamental ethical principles for professional accountants competence integrity objectivity all of these?