Caterpillar Inc.: The AICPA Code Of Professional Ethics

I agree with you in your position because I too believe the CPA does not have to advise Ahi on its plan to earn interest on their $100,000,000 tax liability to the IRS by mailing the check from the U.S. Virgin Islands to create a float. Article seven, scope and nature of services, of the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct sates that the CPA should observe the principles of the Code in determining the scope and nature of services provided (Colson, 2004). Ahi employee’s plan is not part of the CPA competencies in regards to taxation; the activity does not seem to be consistent with the CPA’s role. This plan should have probably been discussed within the finance or accounting department in Ahi Corporation.

Ethics is defined as moral principles that administer a person’s behaviour. It is the basic perception and essential principle of decent human conduct. Issues concerning unethical approach are known as ethical issues.

Article 8 gives examples on using the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. The article gives the example of you taking over the role of handling the independence and ethical matters involved with auditing for a retiring partner in your firm. You are quickly given the task of determining whether or not your firm can provide auditing services to a client that owns a small, privately owned bank and a used car dealership. To perform work for the client you want to see the rules on how the firms will remain independent from the bank and car dealership, and you have a week to research any questions or concerns that you have with the potential client.

“ In order to prevent fraudulent financial reports and statements, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants(AICPA) has created ethical standards” (Ethical standards in a financial statement, 2011). These standards aim to make financial professionals accountable for their accounting practices. This includes the integrity of financial reporting and ensuring financial reporting is done fairly and factually. Financial accountants and professionals should maintain professional integrity, objectivity, and independence to reduce the risk of resulting legal action, loss of profits, and a poor reputation if improper financial reporting is done (Ethical standards in a financial statement, 2011).

In the case study of Gee Wiz, “Wanda David, a licensed CPA, works for Gee, LLC, a professional accountancy corporation with offices in Wisconsin and Illinois, in the audit department and she also has some small business clients that she provides tax services to in her spare time generally on weekends. Her employer does not know that she does this. Wanda never thought about a conflict of interests because the firm does no tax work. One of Wanda’s small business clients, Wiz Inc., was also an audit client of Gee and had fallen more than 90 days past due on paying bills. In her position with Gee, Wanda was assigned to the audit of Wiz and is responsible for preparing and estimating the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts. During the audit of Wiz’s financial statements during the week ending March 1, 2013, her boss asks her for justification for not including Wiz Inc. in the 90+ day aging report. It seems there are some audit-related questions about the collectible of the Wiz account. Wanda came up with an explanation for not including the Wiz account in the estimated allowance and her boss was satisfied. Within a week of this request, Wanda is given a nice promotion and raise, but she has to transfer to the office of Gee in Chicago for the new job. Wanda accepts the promotion, leaves immediately, and decides to quit doing accounting on the side. In moving, Wanda does not complete the corporate tax return for Wiz on Form 1120, which should be filed with the IRS by March 15. She also

The APA code of ethics general principles intent is to guide and inspire psychologist toward the highest ethical standards of the profession. The five basic principles are beneficence and nonmaleficence, fidelity and responsibility, integrity, justice, and respect for people’s rights and dignity.

Ethically, as supportive professional staff members in the long term care facilities it is important to do what is best for the residents within the organizations based on safety concerns and the policies of the organizations. “LLR.sc.gov (2016) reports the administrator, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for dignity of the individual, with primary commitment to the resident. The administrator practices administration in a manner consistent with the laws and standards of practice pertaining to nursing homes and community residential care facilities.” Most organizations are focused on working together to implement different strategies that would allow them the chance at improving quality issues or complaints

Even Caterpillar’s global tax strategy manager had questioned the validity of properly taking advantage of the significantly lower Swiss tax rate. The issue finally came to light through an employee whistleblower suit in 2009. Shareholders ultimately filed lawsuits against the company for inflating stock prices and lack of governance. In addition to improper accounting practices, there is word that the government is looking into Caterpillar’s possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, inaccurate export valuations, and doing business with companies under U.S. sanctions including Syria, Sudan, and

SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt decried what he termed "accounting hocus-pocus" and called for coordinated efforts to uncover it. He targeted the practice by some companies of improperly boosting reported earnings by manipulating the recognition of revenue. Among the most common methods of doing this are the bill-and-hold transaction and a long list of sham transaction involving shipping, billing and/or related-party involvements. Both the SEC and the AICPA seek to increase independent auditors ' awareness of problems associated with these practices.

From my own personal worldview, when I read this prompt, my first question was, “what are the clients’ presenting concerns?” Certainly, there are some pieces of information regarding employment, graduation rates, and access to the outside world; however, the thought that kept coming to my mind were related to cultural and environmental contexts of happiness and satisfaction. The ACA Code of Ethics (2014) stated, regarding research and publication, that, “counselors minimize bias and respect diversity in designing and implementing research,” (p. 15). There may be the possibility that our Western, standardized concepts of education and notions of “earning a living” are not seen the same way on this island. While it is an island that is a part of a State within the United States of America, it contains a variety of ethnic populations, including indigenous to the region, that may have very different values and belief systems. Also, individuals may not necessarily be upset about a lack of exposure to the outside world. They may embrace it, and see anything different

Drilling for oil is a risky and dangerous operation BP had major environmental industrial accidents that killed employees and spilled oil. To improve the relationships with the stakeholder groups BP came up with safety and sustainability programs. Safety procedures were reviewed and improved to protect employers in the future. They developed a code of conduct which was introduced to every employee in 2005. The new rules supposed to be clearer and detailed which was an updated of the previous guide detailing what the BP Company stand for. The code of conduct covers health, safety, security and the environment expectations. The provide guidelines for business partners, governments and communities to cover issues such as bribery, money laundering

Social workers work with conflicting interests and competing rights to support, protect and empower people, statutory duties and other obligations that may be coercive and restrict people’s freedoms. Social work is an interrelated system of values, theory and practice.

A Code of Ethics is placed to act as a guideline to specific values, ethics, organization objectives, and the responsibilities of the specific organization. The code of ethics acts a guideline and template for the behavior for both internal employees and also towards employees externally. Being the cornerstone of operations, The Star Financial and Tax Solutions Company operations are guided by the following Code of Ethics:

Alcoa had a very strong values-based culture. ... In 1985, Fred Fetterolf, then president, decided the company needed to document the values that all employees must live by: Integrity; Environment, Health, and Safety; Customer; Accountability; Excellence; People; and Profitability.

Caterpillar Incorporated (Caterpillar) is the world’s top in manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. In 2008, Caterpillar reported sales revenue of $51.3 billion dollars from domestic and worldwide operations (Caterpillar, 2008). As reported in Caterpillar’s 2008 Annual Report, Caterpillar is a worldwide company with 67% of their sales from outside of the United States (Caterpillar, 2008). With a global reach and influence, Caterpillar has recognized the need to develop and implement a Code of Conduct to guide its management and employees in their daily practices to make Caterpillar the efficient and profitable global leader