AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING SCANDALS
Rebuild trust with an ethics Codesa
In these muddy waters is the true test of how the professions deal with confidentiality
The professional ethics of accountants, auditors and financial managers provide a robust foundation for their behaviour. But sometimes they wish the spate of accounting and auditing scandals would just go away. Not long ago it was KPMG in the spotlight. Now Nkonki. All have been implicated or embroiled in governance lapses. Nkonki has filed for voluntary liquidation. Which firm will be next? Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu has removed KPMG and Nkonki from its list of service providers. Did it have to go that far? What has gone wrong in the profession that it has reached the point where some are willing to help anxious, short-sighted businesspeople for a price? Why are some in the profession selling their souls for a few rand? Accountants and auditors have the best ethical intentions and believe they are meeting their responsibilities with competence and integrity. They try to achieve this by applying standards or principles of accounting and auditing correctly and abiding by the ethica...
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