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 satisfy the Ethics requirement for CPAs and emphasize the need for prudent ethical judgment when interpreting the rules and determining the public interest. This self-study webinar is oriented for CPAs in business, rather than CPAs in public practice and features the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct Conceptual Framework for Members in Business. You’ll use actual case studies and discussion questions to understand how to apply the rules to real-life ethical dilemmas that you may face in the business world.

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 different operational definitions of ethics

• Identify factors that could lead to unethical behavior

• Recognize the different stages of ethical development articulated by Kohlberg

• Identify professional standards that support ethical behavior by CPAs

• Identify factors that create ethical conflicts for CPAs

• Recognize the primary layout of the AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct

• Identify the perspective from which a CPA should view an ethical dilemma

• Identify the steps to be taken when attempting to eliminate or reduce threats to a CPA’s compliance with the AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct

• Identify the different categories of threats to a CPA’s compliance with the AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct

• Recognize the limitations of identified safeguards against threats to a CPA’s compliance with the AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct

• Recognize the characteristics of effective employee hotlines

• Recognize the steps to be taken when in an ethical conflict with no obvious solution 

• Recognize the factors which serve to minimize potential conflicts of interest

• Identify the financial statement preparer’s obligations to the outside auditors

• Identify the ethical truths illustrated within the Enron scandal

• Recognize the specific concerns of the PCAOB reflected in PCAOB Auditing Standard 18

• Ethics defined
• Kohlberg’s Six Stages of Ethical Development
• Judgments and values
• Professional responsibility: issues for accountants
• Rules enforcement
• Causes of unethical behavior
• AICPA Code of Professional Conduct Conceptual Framework for Members in Business
• The six broad categories of threats to compliance
  – Adverse interest
  – Advocacy
  – Familiarity
  – Self-interest
  – Self-review
  – Undue influence
• Overview of notable financial scandals
  – Enron
  – Volkswagen
  – Bernie Madoff
  – Wall Street issues
  – International scandals
• Implications of PCAOB Auditing Standard 18 for companies