Overview

This webinar will deal with the general principles of ethics, and why it is important to reinforce these concepts for professional accountants every year. We 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’s view of ethics, the webinar 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.

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

Content

• What is ethics?
• The Enron and Fidentia case studies
• Why is ethics important for accountants?
• Why do good people do bad things?
• The Ford Pinto case study
• The accounting profession’s Code of Professional Conduct
  • General application of the Code (fundamental principles, threats, safeguards)
• Six pillars of character

Who should attend?

Any accountant requiring an update on the fundamental principles of ethics or who is seeking guidance on how to deal with ethical dilemmas.

Presenter

Jan Dijkman

Independent Ethics Consultant

Jan Dijkman was the Project Director: Ethics and Discipline for the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants for over 16 years. He has the degrees of BA, LLB, LLM, and has Higher Diplomas in Tax and in Labour Law. He is a non-practising Advocate of the High Court of South Africa and is the 30th Certified Ethics Officer in South Africa. He was involved with a company which provided professional indemnity insurance to the Chartered Accountancy profession for 17 years and was also on the Audit and Risk Committee and the Social and Ethics Committee of a large non-listed South African company (turnover in the region of R900 million) for the period 2010 to 2014.

He is an independent legal and ethics consultant, concentrating on business and professional ethics, as well as corporate governance. Over the years, he has conducted many training sessions on ethics, particularly professional ethics as it relates to the broader accountancy and tax professions, as well as business ethics.

He also lectures on the University of Johannesburg/Institute of Director’s diploma in corporate governance, including directors’ responsibilities in terms of the Companies Act, the common law and the King Code on Corporate Governance III.

CPD

Attending the webinar will accrue 2 hours’ CPD for members of a relevant professional body such as ACCA, SAICA, AAT, SAIPA, SAIBA, IAC, CIS, ICBA, LSSA, FPI, and the IBA.