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The Institute of Management Accountants, like other professional organizations, has produced a statement of ethics that their members are expected to follow. Find the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice and read it in its entirety.
Describe the ethical principles and standards advocated by the IMA.
Describe how ethical issues should be resolved. Then determine if, and/or, how the IMA sanctions members that have acted unethically.
Find the Association of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) statement on ethics and compare and contrast it with the IMA’s ethical principles and standards, resolution of ethical issues, and possible sanction of members who have acted unethically.
The Institute of Management Accountants Statement of Ethical Professional Practice (the “Statement”), sets out the ethical principles and standards that IMA members are expected to abide by in their professional capacities. The Statement is based upon established, widely accepted principles of ethical behavior and reflects current best practices in management accounting.
The primary ethical principles outlined in the Statement include integrity, objectivity, confidentiality, competency and accountability. Integrity requires that members be honest and truthful when dealing with both internal and external constituents. Objectivity demands that decisions be made independently without bias or prejudice towards any party involved. Confidentiality includes an obligation to respect trustee-client relationships as well as a duty to protect confidential information obtained through professional practice. Competency requires members to maintain their knowledge and skills necessary for performing their jobs effectively at all times. Lastly, accountability entails taking responsibility for one’s actions or those under one’s supervision while striving to bring benefit from such actions wherever possible.
To ensure compliance with these ethical standards the IMA provides guidance on how its members should handle various other issues related to conflict of interest, personal relationships, gifts & entertainment expenses and much more topics included within its Code of Ethical Conduct document available online on its website www.imanetedorg/ethics/. In addition to this general advice on ethics guidelines IMA also encourages individual member organizations set up internal policies which further define parameters for acceptable behavior among employees specific for each organization needs or industry requirements where applicable .
When it comes resolution of potential unethical issues within work environment IMA suggests following five step process: 1) Identify potential issue; 2) Analyze relevant facts; 3) Consider what action may be taken – consulting superiors if needed 4) Make decision – weighing benefits vs costs 5) Execute plan – monitor results afterwards . In case where decision leads or has led into unethical behavior ,Ima advises corrective action implemented immediately including self reporting when appropriate along with communication about intended changes in procedure going forward .
IMA further sanctions any instances where a member is found guilty violating the code by potentially suspending membership rights or even revoking same depending on severity breach judgement towards which will be based solely on facts presented during review process which could include evidence provided by either side ,third parties as well as independent examination leading up final consensus establishing whether sanctioning is indeed necessary .
In comparison AICPA’s statement on ethics is structured around six core principles providing supplemental guidance but not replacing existing laws :Public Interest ,Integrity ,Objectivity , independence Professional competence & due care Confidentiality & Non-Discrimination while addressing more narrowly tailored areas such as client privacy protection via data security measures like password protected files rather then just setting high level goals without providing practical direction . In terms structure it also differs form Ima approach being less conducive toward development of custom organizational policy though does offer comprehensive white paper covering broad range topics concerning similar matters avoiding overlap between two sets documents thereby reducing confusion among readers who may require multiple resources consult when studying particular subject matter . When it comes resolution AICPA offers slightly different set fundamental steps emphasizing deeper understanding context behind event like : identify risk factors ; assess situation ; develop response options ; decide course action ; implement solution chosen etc. .. Sanctions wise AICPA relies heavily cross disciplinary approach utilizing joint efforts between various industry bodies working together achieve desired outcome thus consolidating power