Impact of Ethics on the Conduct of Professional Accountants in Nigeria (original) (raw)
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Impact of Accounting Ethics on the Practice of Accounting Profession In Nigeria
This study is an empirical investigation of the impact of ethical values on the practice of accounting profession in Nigeria. To achieve the purpose of this study, research questions were raised, hypotheses were formulated, and a review of related literature was made. The main objective of this study is to examine if accounting ethics have much impact on the practice of accounting profession in Nigeria, the factors that make the accountants breach accounting rules and if ethical codes of conduct address all the issues that border on ethical practices. The study employed a synthesis of descriptive and survey research methods. The major instrument used for generating the primary data was the questionnaire, which was designed in five-response option of likert-scale. Two hundred and fifty (250) questionnaires were administered, two hundred and nineteen (219) questionnaires were completed and returned. The data generated for this study were analysed through mean scores while the stated hypotheses were statistically tested with z-test. Our findings revealed that there are other major influence which accountants believe have impact on their professional conducts like policies and rules of companies where accountants work, religion were found not to have major influence in the professional conduct of accountants. The legal system and societal value systems also inter-played in the accountants' professional conduct. It was recommended among others that the accountant in practice needs to pay attention to good ethical conduct and there is the need to adhere strictly to the ethical code of conduct.
Ethical Practices of the Professional Accountant in Nigeria
Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 2013
There exists a gap between what is documented in form of ethical codes and what some professional accountants really practice. The main focus of this research is to examine the extent of ethical values reflected in professional practice of accountancy profession in Nigeria. Primary data were collected by means of questionnaire and the secondary data were sourced from professional journals of various accountancy bodies. The Z-score test was used in testing the hypotheses and it was analyzed using computer software (SPSS). The major finding from the study is that in the development of professional practices, compliance with well-grounded ethical values are a good prerequisite for an enduring practice and that penalties meted out to erring members are grossly inadequate. The researcher recommended that to provide remedy or improve the situation, there is the need for practicing accountant to pay attention to good ethical conduct and there is the need to adhere strictly to the ethical code of conduct.
Accountants perception of the factors influencing auditors' ethical behaviour in Nigeria
Heliyon, 2020
This paper examines the perception of accountants (chartered and non-chartered) of the personal factors influencing auditors' ethical behaviours in Nigeria. Data were obtained from 152 accountants (80 chartered and 72 non-chartered) in Lagos State Nigeria through the use of a well-structured questionnaire. The data collected were analysed using nonparametric tests (Wilcoxon rank-sum test and Mann-Whitney test) to check for differences in the perceptions of chartered and non-chartered accountants of the personal factors influencing auditors' ethical behaviours. The results showed that, except for auditors' age, there is a consensus in the perceptions of both chartered and non-chartered accountants of the personal factors influencing auditors' ethical behaviours. While there were significant divergent views on whether age influences auditors' ethical behaviours, fear of sanction, religion, upbringing, conscience, gender, and personal values were found to be influencers of auditors' ethical behaviours. The study offers value to professional accounting bodies in that it provides empirical explanations to guide the pursuit of sustainable and resilient ethical values among accounting professionals.
within Nigeria context. The primary data was sourced through administration of questionnaire on two major categories of respondents, practicing accountants (both in private and public practice) and the users of financial statement. However, data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistic method. Two hypotheses formulated were tested using chi-square method. The researchers found that public has little or no confidence in the ethical standing of the Accountant. Despite the claims by majority of Chartered Accountants that they always adhere to the ethical principles of the profession, users of accounting information believe otherwise. Besides, moral values have much influence on the ethical reasoning of the Accountant, therefore the higher the personal ethical standard of the Accountant, the easier it is to adhere to the spirit of the professional code of ethics. Also, Codes of ethics have little impact on the ethical reasoning of the Accountant as it only acts as a guide for ethical behavior. Auditors' independence issues need to be revisited and the relationship between a reporting entity and its professional advisers should be more transparent. It is therefore recommended that, members' rules for professional conduct should be reviewed more often to deal with the changing culture. The various accounting associations should respectively establish procedures to back-up members who face victimization from their employers for upholding high ethical standards.
Ethics and Accounting Practice in Nigeria
International Journal of Commerce and Management Research, 2015
The broad objective of the study is to examine the impact of ethics on accounting practice in Nigeria. The survey research design was used for the study with an extensive reliance on primary data. The populations of the study consist of accountants, auditors and management of selected companies. A sample of 147 respondents was utilized. The likert scale questionnaire was used as the research instrument and chi-square parametric was utilized as the data analysis method. The findings indicate that firstly, ethics play a significant role in accounting practice. Secondly corporate governance improves ethical compliance of accounting professionals and thirdly, accounting regulatory bodies influences the level of compliance with ethical standards. The recommendation is that there is a need for ethical standards in accounting practice to extend beyond mere documentation and articulation to effective enforcement of these standards and the concerted efforts by all stakeholders ranging from t...
Accounting Ethics And The Performance Of Accounting Firms In Lagos, Nigeria
Journal of Finance and Marketing
as integrity, honesty, and fairness which are the essential element for the proper conduct of accounting profession [3]. Ashmeade et al. [4] opined that the more an organization err from moral and ethical standards, the more it prone to opportunistic self-interest which will have negative effect on its reputation. Therefore, behaving in an ethical manner is seen as part of the social responsibility of organization, which itself depends on the philosophy that organizations ought to impact the society in ways that goes beyond the usual profit maximization objective [5]. It is often argued in many instances that, it is in the interest of an organization to behave in a way that recognizes the need for moral and ethical content in strategic decisions as this will benefit the organization, especially in the long run. A well run profession or business must have high and consistent standards of ethics in other to stand fast and to stand the test of time [6]. A tension often exists between a company's financial goals and strategies to improve profit, and ethical considerations with concern for right behaviour. When the public loses confidence in the ability of the market to prevent corporate misbehaviour, it often demands increased government regulation. For example, frequent cases of misconduct by corporate executives have led to the passage of various acts in Nigeria.
Asian Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting
Recently, there has been growing concern about ethical and integrity issues in the accounting and auditing profession in public and private sectors of the economy, based on questionable acts committed by professionals whose certification decision makers rely upon. This study adopted the stewardship theory as a theoretical background to develop an empirical framework for examining the influence of ethical professional standards on financial reporting practices in less developed countries. The result of this study however, shows that there is a low degree of adoption. The most prevalent of these factors are greediness and self-interest of the accountant while the least factor is lack of will to sanction violations of clearly defined ethical codes of conduct. The paper recommends that strong enforcement mechanism including the establishment of peer review procedures and institutional monitoring to regulate the activities of professional accountants and ensure strict enforcement of codes of professional practice.
Accounting Ethics Education in Nigeria: Value-Improving or Value-Deteriorating Tool?
Academic Journal of Economic Studies, 2018
The symbiotic relationship between good ethical disposition and accounting profession is incontestable. Aside from the previous infamous global corporate scandals, the recent fraudulent practices revelation in the Nigerian public life is a serious source of concern. This study examines the impact of ethics education on the potential accountants to establish whether the propriety of their conduct in the future is guaranteed. This necessitates the survey of accounting students based on the three forms of ownership of university in Nigeria. The findings of the survey based on the structured questionnaire using Kruskal-Wallis tests show that, the students' groups agree on the value-relevance of ethics education, its ability to expose them to means of resolving future ethical challenges and their readiness to become whistle-blowers. However, the students' groups' failure to agree on the necessity of ethical competence for accountants and their disagreement on their confidence...
The Impact of Ethics on Financial Report of Corporate Organizations in Nigeria
2019
The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of ethics on financial report of corporate organizations in Nigeria. This paper explores the role of accounting professionals on financial reporting towards the users of accounting information. The study adopted population sample of corporate organizations in Nigeria, specifically those residents in Lagos State. The study is highly descriptive and empirical embracing the use of questionnaire as the primary source of data with results presented on percentages, average and standard deviation. The target respondents were finance professionals comprising accountants and auditors of corporate organizations in Lagos State. To achieve the objective of the study, 50 questionnaires were administered to the finance professionals. Of the 50 questionnaires administered, 40 was retrieved which underwent required analysis and the one way ANOVA technique was used to test the hypothesis. Findings from the research revealed ethics have a significant impact on financial report of corporate organizations in Nigeria. It was recommended, corporate organizations should imbibe qualitative recruitment process, full adoption of the international financial reporting standards in their accounting policies, firms should establish a compliance department in their respective offices while regulatory agencies of the government should do proper monitoring of business enterprise on ethical guidelines compliance.
An Assessment of Ethical Sensitivity of Professional Accountants in Nigeria
Business and Management Studies, 2018
This study assessed the ethical sensitivity of Professional accountants in Nigeria with particular reference to members of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN). Professional Commitment, Organizational Commitment, Idealistic and Relativist ethical orientations and their effects on ethical sensitivity of the professional accountants were examined. The descriptive research design was adopted while data were collected through the Accountants’ Ethical Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire (AESS) questionnaire administered to 250 professional accountants. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to analyse the collected data. The results revealed that there exists an insignificant negative relationship between professional commitment and professional accountants’ ethical sensitivity while idealistic ethical orientation has a significant negative relationship with professional accountants’ ethical s...