Have you ever thought about the integrity of your accountant? Integrity can have a different meaning to each individual and a slightly different interpretation for each professional industry. For many, integrity is incorruptibility, completeness, and communication. Sounds simple enough, right? Now, how do these three key elements apply to the professional services that Yeo & Yeo’s accountants provide for their clients?
Incorruptibility has been an important part of our profession. To prevent unethical practices, an individual must understand what ethics are. Ethics are defined as moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of any activity. In other words, ethics are known as a person’s value system. Ethics and objectivity are fundamental principles that accounting professionals choose to abide by.
Financial information obtained from an accountant is heavily relied upon by many, such as businesses, creditors, investors and the public, so it is very important for accountants to use reasonable judgement and maintain ethical practices. An important thing to remember is an accountant’s reputation equates to their livelihood. We take our ethics seriously and apply our standards to the work we do.
Completeness can be satisfied by having a general framework to follow. As with many industries, the accounting industry has rules and regulations that must be followed, especially with the presentation of financial statements. These rules and regulations help accountants maintain integrity and uniformity.
One of the most prominent terms in the accounting profession is GAAP which stands for generally accepted accounting principles. GAAP is a set of accounting principles, standards and procedures that a company must follow when compiling financial statements. GAAP is a combination of authoritative standards set by policy boards and the commonly accepted ways of recording and reporting financial information. GAAP allows there to be uniformity and in many cases, comparability, amongst all accounting professionals in the presentation of financial information. Even though GAAP provides a general framework, there is still room for accountants to work with you to apply the framework.
Communication is an important aspect of our integrity. Technology changes continually, and the accounting profession has seen astronomical changes in recent years. Though the advancement in technology has been far more beneficial to accountants and their clients, it still has come with challenges due to cyberattacks. Utilizing technology to assist in our communication allows us to better serve you by having the ability to complete tasks more timely and store information in a more organized fashion with easier access on demand, which provides flexibility to you.
Skill set, confidentiality and ethics are all important components of financial integrity. Financial integrity is a fundamental component of the accounting profession. As a trusted advisor to our clients, accountants should act objectively, responsibly, ethically and maintain confidentiality in all situations pertaining to client information. As a result, professional services will be considered accurate, and therefore, others will be able to rely on the information provided by your trusted advisor.