Moral principles, auditing, and how they (should) overlap
The credibility of the auditing industry has taken a hard knock, but ethical behaviour starts with individuals
Over the past few years, SA has been at the top of the leader board regarding unethical behaviour. In recent times, the “Zupta” state-capture claims have further demonstrated how entrenched unethical behaviour is in this country. Even the auditing profession, with its stringent independence and ethical requirements taught as part of the curriculum at university, is being dragged into the debacle. Earlier this year, the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA), exposed several auditors accused of consistently contravening its professional standards and the law. In the words of SA’s Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu, “The credibility of the accounting profession in SA is in the gutter.” The industry as a whole took a mammoth knock, with scandal after scandal being brought to the fore, leaving one of the country’s most trusted industries scrambling to pick up the pieces of its credibility. I proceeded to search for a definition of ethics and this is what I found: “Moral principles t...
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