Ethics for Oklahoma CPAs – 4 Hours

Six principles sit at the top of the AICPA Code and shape everything beneath them. This course for CPAs licensed in Oklahoma works from those principles down to the enforceable rules that give them effect.

Responsibilities, the public interest, integrity, objectivity and independence, and due care apply to every member — in public practice, in industry, in government, in education. A sixth, scope and nature of services, applies only in public practice. The course explains what each demands in practice: why integrity is tested by asking what a person of integrity would do, how independence of mind differs from independence in appearance, and why due care makes competence a member’s own continuing responsibility rather than a firm’s.

From there it turns to the general standards — professional competence, due professional care, planning and supervision, sufficient relevant data — and to compliance with standards, accounting principles, and the acts discreditable rule, which reaches conduct such as failing to return client records and improper use of the CPA credential. Contingent fees, commissions and referral fees, advertising, confidential information, and firm naming are each addressed, together with the rules that apply to members in business. Earlier chapters cover ethical reasoning and corporate culture; the conceptual framework for identifying and addressing threats is set out in full, with examples and review questions throughout.

Learning Objectives

After studying this course, you will be able to:

• Recognize ethical reasoning used by accountants
• Recognize the core principles within the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct
• Identify the steps within the conceptual framework approach
• Recognize the indicators of impairment of independence
• Identify ethical standards and violations