Essay Ethics in Accounting

Submitted By sophh7693
Words: 557
Pages: 3

Sophia Traina
Dr.McQuillen
AC172
17 April 2013
ETHICS IN BUSINESS AND ACCOUNTING Ethics in business is an extremely important characteristic for a successful business person to have. Ethics is defined as codes of conduct by which actions are judges as right or wrong, fair or unfair, honest or dishonest. The most important part of being a successful business person is gaining trust from your boss, peers, and customers. Without the trust of your boss, peers, and customers there is no possible way of being successful. To gain full trust you must have good ethics behind you, which will in return bring you good business. Accountants often face ethical choices making financial reports and decisions. For information to be useful and trusted within accounting the behavior of the accountant must be ethical. Ethics can also affect the success of products and services. Ethical decision making, strategizing, and planning are all a key part of your products and services being successful. Without success of your products and services you have failed as a business person and have failed to your company.
For accountants, ethical decisions are made on a daily basis, which is why it is so important to have a solid ethical foundation. Having a solid ethical foundation is something that cannot be picked up by every business mogul. As seen over the years many business people in our world have lacked an ethical foundation. As early as the 1920s, ethics have been questioned and tested by the business world. Charles Ponzi, who is a poster child for bad ethics, defines just exactly what a person is without a solid ethical foundation. Ponzi lied and coned hundreds of investors; he was extremely fast talking and slick and knew how to get money out of whomever he wanted to get money out of. By his actions, it is a given that he had absolutely no ethical business foundation. Ponzi did not care about gaining trust from his boss, peers, or customers; all he cared about was the money that he was making that was only benefitting him. That is not anyway of successfully making money and making good business. Ponzi was such a unethical and con artist of a man that he was eventually convicted. Today,