Working Effectively in Accounts and Finance Ethics & Sustainability

Aims of the Session Refresher on AAT Ethics: Sustainability: ICEPOP People Planet Profit

What Are the AAT’s Ethical Principles? Integrity. Confidentiality. Equality. Professional care & due competence. Objectivity. Professional behaviour.

Professional Ethics ICEPOP Integrity Confidentiality Equality Professional competence and due care Objectivity Professional behaviour ICEPOP

When Can You Break Confidentiality? When the client gives you written permission. Legal or ethical responsibility. If a court orders you to.

Threats to Your Ethical Principles? Familiarity. Advocacy. Intimidation. Self interest. Self review.

Familiarity Caused by: Knowledge of an issue. Relationship with your employer or client. Judgement of a client or colleague is wrong. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Being too familiar with a client, being offered football tickets etc… Can lead to lapses in judgement.

Advocacy If you are to speak out publically either for or against a client. This maybe in a court setting, maybe to try and gain extra customers. What if you work in business rather than in practice?

Intimidation Not just physical. Financial. ‘Self-imposed’ intimidation.

Self Interest Financial. Fear of loss of employment. Direct or indirect interest in the affairs of a client. Having shares in a client’s business.

Self Review If you have to subsequently review your work. You work as Sales Ledger Clerk for Mrs Miggins’ Mutton Shop, but are head hunted by Marley’s Accountants, who are the external auditors for Mrs Miggins. In your new role you will be required to review your previous work. This is a self review threat.

FAIIR Familiarity. Advocacy. Intimidation. Interest. Review.

What Do You Do? A client offers you hospitality tickets to Wimbledon to say thank you for reducing their tax liability. A client brings in a case of champagne to say thank you for helping to organise a bank loan. A client asks for your help to promote a new brand of Oombrellas, saying that having your well known accountancy firm ‘come onboard would be really helpful’. A school friend, whose employer is a client of yours, asks how much you earn? As they’re thinking of starting AAT. The same school friend asks how much their manager earns. Politely decline, tell your boss, may influence your objectivity later down the line. As it’s a case it can probably be shared throughout the office, record it in gift book & share out. Difference between the first 2? Wimbledon hospitality ranges from £655 to £4695 tickets need to be bought in pairs – case of lidl champagne (£120), also sharing and difference between that & you receiving a gift. Politely decline. It’s up to you.

Sustainability People Profit Planet Sustainable business must be about balancing all three of these. Profit at all costs? Environmental practicalities. Charitable work. Brundtland Report May cost more to begin with, ie paying for double glazing or thicker insulation, or solar panels, but should lead to longer term cost benefits. Why Environmental practises need to be weighed up, ie it’s more sustainable for me to cycle to see learners, but not very practical when they’re in Boston. Businesses can support charities, we had a MacMillan cake sale, Tesco had one last week.

Sustainable Policies Car share. Recycling. Using recycled paper. Fair trade tea, coffee and snacks. Checking supplier’s supply chains.

Rana Plaza YOU? Who’s responsible? The factory owners? The workers and trade unions? The multi-nationals? YOU? April 2013, 1100 killed and 2500 injured in a factory collapse in Bangladesh, here clothes were made for companies such as H&M, Zara. Has led to some improvements, but HRW says that there are still problems in these factories.

Bill & Melinda Gates Bill Gates retired from Microsoft in 2006 to devote more time to running his foundation. It has donated 21485.1 million dollars to various good causes, including 1456 million to fight malaria, which he wants to eradicate within a generation.

Questions

Lesson Recap AAT ethical principles – ICEPOP. Sustainable practises – 3 Ps.