Overview

SAICA, SAIBA, SAIT and SAIPA requires a minimum of 2-5 hours ethics CPD per annum, dependent on the professional member body.

This CPD course is designed to ensure professional accountants maintain their professional standing with their professional bodies.

The presentation deals with general principles of ethics, and why it is important to reinforce these concepts for professional accountants every year. The presentation will look at the Enron / Arthur Andersen and Fidentia cases as the reason why we should not underestimate the importance of ethical conduct by professional accountants. Looking at some recent research on why good people sometimes do bad things and the effect a number-crunching culture can have on one view of ethics, the presentation will then deal with how the profession seeks to keep professional accountants off the ethical slippery slope, by re-examining the fundamental principles contained in the accountants Code of Professional Conduct. Guidance will be given as to how professional accountants can reinforce their prevention focus to minimise the chance of ethical transgressions.

Content

• What is ethics?
• Why is ethics important for professional accountants?
• The accounting professions Code of Professional Conduct
• Part A: General application of the Code (fundamental principles, threats, safeguards)
• Part B: Professional accountants in public practice
• Changes to the code: Responding to non-compliance with laws and regulations
• Solving ethical dilemmas
• Disciplinary matters and the application of the fundamental principles
• Lessons to be learned
   

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
 

The aim of this session is to provide a refresher to all professional accountants on the importance of ethical behaviour as well as to provide some guidance on how to deal with ethical issues. The professional accountant should be able to identify ethical dilemmas and threats, and be able to apply appropriate safeguards to reduce these threats or eliminate them completely.

Guidance will be given on how professional accountants can reinforce their prevention focus to minimise ethical transgressions, by looking at the practical application of the fundamental principles of the Code of Professional Conduct by means of case studies and recent disciplinary matters.

This course will also focus on the new sections 225 and 360 of the Code setting out the professional accountant's responsibilities when encountering or becoming aware of any non-compliance with laws and regulations (NOCLAR), and provide guidance in assessing the implications of the matter and the possible courses of action when responding to it.

The new NOCLAR requirements will affect all professional accountants in public practice as well as accountants carrying out professional activities for an employing organisation.

It is therefore important to be up to date with the nature and scope of the requirements of the new sections as well as its application.
 

Presenter

Lynette Badenhorst, Managing Director, ProBeta
Academic, entrepreneur and accounting practitioner Lynette Badenhorst places a high premium on skills development in her profession, believing it to be essential for staff efficiency and overall organisational performance.  

Lynette’s responsibilities include the development of course material, and different training platforms and she therefore spends numerous hours researching and interpreting new developments in the accounting industry, specifically audit, taxation and legislative updates.

She also writes and publishes a tax guide, after the budget speech, which is revised annually. 
 

Who should attend?

The webinar will thus be of interest to the professional accountant, his/her general staff as well as trainee accountants.

CPD

•    Attendance of this two-hour webinar will accrue 2 hours’ CPD.
•    All delegates receive a 10% discount to the UNISA NQF 5 certificate course in bookkeeping once you have passed the free online assessment. Click here