As if we don’t have enough to worry about during the COVID-19 crisis, don’t forget about your professional ethics.
Our environment is so disrupted right now, it’s easy to focus on surviving the chaos and not worrying about potential ethical implications of the things we do to help our clients or organizations survive.
The pressures are tremendous. As we see economic uncertainty, there can be added pressure for those of us in industry from management to make the financials look as good as we can and end up subordinating our judgement. We may see a struggling client and not raise going concern as an issue because we feel sorry for them and don’t want to pile on to their struggles.
There are many ways we could easily let our ethics fall by the wayside right now, but in order to maintain the integrity of the profession, it is important we never forget our ethical obligations.
My suggestion to you is to always keep ethics on your radar as you go through your work day. If you find yourself in a questionable situation, ask questions.
And if you aren’t sure what to do, remember we have resources to help you.
You can always contact the INCPAS Ethics Hotline at (317) 726-5000 to connect to the Ethics Committee member on call for the month, who can help answer your questions or steer you to resources that can help.
Additionally, you can review the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct if you like to find your own answers.
Stay safe and healthy!
