Please provide feedback to the below. 250 words – double spaced APA Style. Must be a substantial and meaningful feedback.
“Given recent headlines regarding unethical behavior and its impact on the profession of accounting, how can frameworks enhance the public’s view of the accountant or auditor.
Before I began studying accounting this past Summer, my view of accountants was they are there to help companies avoid paying taxes at all costs, and audits were for those who got caught doing so illegally. This viewpoint is probably something I picked up in the movies and a complete misconception, one I’m sure many in the public hold. News headlines only perpetuate this perception because the public only wants to hear the bad stuff. No one other than an accountant gets excited when a balance sheet finally balances… newsworthy stuff in my opinion, but I’m a nerd!!
Getting the word out as to what accountants actually do would be helpful in changing the perception as to what we stand for. Most accountants are ethical individuals with high morals and are just there to help clients follow the law and use it to maximize profits. If exposed bending the rules to an illegal level, accountants can lose their entire livelihoods.
If the public had a more realistic view of what we do, that we have frameworks in place to help guide us in ethical decision making on behalf of our clients, the public view of the profession would change for the better. The biggest key that gets lost is that many of us are here to serve the public. The client we work for is just the means to that service.”
