Ethics are the foundation of the accounting profession, and that should be remembered whatever your specific accounting job may be. Persons engaged in bookkeeping jobs must think of integrity as their first priority. The following article takes a look at this important issue.

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	''Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,'' Lord Acton said.

In a society where there is liberty, people are free to make individual decisions about what is right and wrong. The legendary British author G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “America was the only nation in the world founded on a creed.” He is said to have believed that such a creed was made dogmatically, even theologically, explicit in the Declaration of Independence itself. The second paragraph of this founding document says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

We all are familiar by now with the “Enron culture,” and whether you are handling payroll jobs or are the finance director of your company, you must ensure that such greedy practices never take root in your organization. The Enron story must be told to every accounting professional and repeated to everyone doing accounting auditor jobs.

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Lord Acton said. “Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and authority; still more when you super-add the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.”

Considering the preceding quotation, I ask you this question: If you come across an accounting irregularity in your company which affects just one person today, but tomorrow you come across another unethical practice which might affect thousands, would your response be different in each of these circumstances?

If your answer is yes, you are not an ethical person. You may give the justification that if something affects only one individual, it is a small problem, while something affecting thousands is a big issue. But as the Enron fiasco showed, a thousand small malpractices can lead to a grand meltdown.

Every business, big or small, must put in place a system such that if anyone working in the accounts department comes across any entry which he considers to be inappropriate, he must be able to report it to the highest authority without any fear. The obvious dilemma would occur if the highest authority then told you that the practice was okay and to continue with it.

What would you do in such a situation? You don’t want to lose your job, but in the core of your heart you know that what is going on is wrong. The safest option is to anonymously inform as many people as you possibly can. It could be the auditors of the company, the tax authorities, or even the media. Once accounting malpractice comes to light, chances are that someone somewhere will take the proper action.

A small step taken by you could save the money of millions of people. So don’t be complacent. If you know of any accounting misdeed, be bold; go ahead and report it.

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