Accounting and finance professionals’ perception on the current state of the accountancy profession in South Africa.
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Date
2022
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Abstract
Background: Accountants, auditors, and other finance professionals have
traditionally been well respected and held in high regard by the public. They are
regarded as financial reporting overseers because they are responsible for ensuring
that organisations follow relevant regulations and financial laws. Globally, accounting
and finance professions have been tarnished by scandals involving intentional
manipulation of financial information. The professional ethics of finance professionals
are under scrutiny by the concerned public at large. The importance of ethics to
accounting professionals stems from the need to make ethical decisions on a regular
basis. This study is informed by the repercussions of these scandals and how they
have influenced the public view of the profession.
Purpose and method: The study investigates how South African accounting and
finance professionals perceive their ethical knowledge, compatriots’ ethical
responsibility and the role of the professional bodies in maintaining ethical
responsibility. The study adopted a quantitative approach using systematic sampling.
The population of the study comprises 165 accounting and finance professionals at
government, corporate institutions and audit firms. An anonymous online
questionnaire was the instrument used for the collection of data.
Main Finding: The study found that the majority of accountants and finance
professionals agree in general that they perceive themselves to have a strong
knowledge of ethics. They also perceive their fellow accounting and finance
professionals to be ethically responsible. It also found that being a member of
professional accounting bodies also influences on the ethical behaviour and
professional conduct of accounting and finance professionals. The majority of
accountants and finance professionals agree in general that they face a considerable
amount of pressure to compromise on ethics
Conclusion: The current level of ethical knowledge of accounting and finance
professionals must be maintained and improved upon via training programmes such
as the continuous professional development programme. Improved knowledge of
ethics can reduce perceived pressures to compromise on ethics among accounting and finance professionals. Based on this contribution, this study further concluded that
accounting and finance professionals should improve their ethical knowledge in order
to reduce their perceived pressures to compromise on ethics.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.