Jacqueline
Murphy
AC504
Unit 2

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy is commonly referred to in the English community as Leo Tolstoy was a Russian novelist, a social reformer, a pacifist, a Christian anarchist, and a moral thinker (Contributors, 2008). He was born on September 9, 1828 on his family’s estate in the Tula Province of Russia. He is the youngest of four boys. His mother Princess Volkonskaya, died in 1830 when he was very young. His father County Nikolay Tolstoy died seven years after his mothers’ death. After his fathers’ death his aunt was appointed legal guardian of him and his siblings (Leo Tolstoy, 2013). Tolstoy is broadly considered as one of the utmost of all novelists. He is particularly well-known for his works of War and Peace and Anna Karenina. In those writings he showed that he had insight into human motives. Tolstoy found the pacifist doctrine of nonresistance in the Christian Gospels. He rejected all forms of coercion from both the government and the church. He suffered a spiritual crisis and grew depressed. He struggled to uncover the meaning of life, he came to believe that Christian churches were corrupt and, in lieu of organized religion, developed his own beliefs (Contributors, 2008). Tolstoy should be recognized as a crusader for social justice. He was a constant thorn in the side of the Russian Orthodox Church, the czarist government, and local authorities. His work was banned in the Soviet Union because of his resistance to violence and repressive government (Fuller, 2009). The most important conflict of ideas that Tolstoy wrestled with was the emancipation of the serfs in 1861 (Fuller, 2009). Benjamin Franklin significantly influenced his style and though. There is little similarity between the American politician and scientist and the Christian seer of Yasnaya Polyana (Sokolow, 1975). During the period of 1841 to 1847 Tolstoy referred to Benjamin Franklin’s “Rules of Conduct” in his diary. In Tolstoy’s Childhood, Boyhood and Youth series he mentions that he decides to formulate rules of conduct as a guide for his new views (Sokolow, 1975), which is another reference to Benjamin Franklin. In Childhood, Boyhood and Youth, he divided the rules into three categories: duties to himself, to his neighbors, and to God (Sokolow, 1975). Tolstoy was far ahead of his time in developing theories of how to live a good life. He was constantly thinking for himself and attempting to do what he believed was the right and Christian thing to do (Fuller, 2009). However, he was not always able to maintain the consistency of his theories in real life. Tolstoy tried to practice what he preached, he progressively emphasized what he had learned from Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography: the search for virtue and goodness forms the cornerstone of the good life (Sokolow, 1975). He consistently fought against the established church and called into question its self-serving nature and its political and economic corruption (Fuller, 2009). Over the last 30 years of his life, Tolstoy established himself as a moral and religious leader. His ideas about nonviolent resistance to evil influenced the likes of social leader Mahatma Gandhi (Leo Tolstoy, 2013). I believe that Tolstoy body of thinking applies to, and informs ethical practices and conduct in accounting by trying to apply rules of conduct. Ethics is all rules of conduct shared by a particular community, rules that are based on the distinction between good and evil (Usurelu, Marin, Danaila, & Loghin, 2010). Tolstoy rejected all forms of coercion, from the church and the government. To obey the rules, you would have to avoid or reject all forms of coercion, even from your boss, or if it is a large sum of money. There are certain principles that a professional accountant should respect, this is like Tolstoy’s’ rules. There are six that a professional accountant should possess. The first integrity, a professional accountant should be straight and honest in all professional and business relationships (Usurelu, Marin, Danaila, & Loghin, 2010). If you do not have integrity, you cannot be ethical. The second is objectivity, a professional accountant should be impartial and must not allow prejudice, confusion, conflicts of interest and unwanted influence to interfere with professional or business judgments (Usurelu, Marin, Danaila, & Loghin, 2010). The third is professional competence and prudence, a professional accountant has a continuing duty to maintain knowledge and skill level necessary to ensure that a client or employer receives competent professional service based on the latest developments in practical. A professional accountant should act with caution and in accordance with applicable technical and professional standards in providing professional services (Usurelu, Marin, Danaila, & Loghin, 2010). The fourth is privacy, a professional accountant should respect the confidentiality of information acquired as a result of professional or business relationship and should not disclose such information to any third party without specific authorization, unless there is a right. Confidential information obtained in a professional or business relationships should not be used for personal advantage of the professional accountant or third parties (Usurelu, Marin, Danaila, & Loghin, 2010). The fifth principal is professional behavior, a professional accountant should comply with relevant laws and regulations and should avoid any action that can discredit the profession (Usurelu, Marin, Danaila, & Loghin, 2010). The sixth principle is respect for technical and professional standards, professional accountant should carry out professional duties in accordance with relevant technical and professional. Professional accountants have a duty to perform with skill and care instructions provided to the client or employer that are compatible with the requirements of integrity, objectivity and, if self-employed accountants, with independence. In addition, they must comply with professional and technical standards issued by: IFAC, IASB CECCAR, CAFR and relevant legislation (Usurelu, Marin, Danaila, & Loghin, 2010). Professional ethics is a reflective and critical discipline (Usurelu, Marin, Danaila, & Loghin, 2010). An accountant should have, credibility. Throughout society there is need for credibility in information and information systems. They should possess professionalism. There is a need for customers, employers and other stakeholders can be clearly identified those accounting professionals. They should always provide their quality service. It requires ensuring that all services obtained from the professional accountant are carried to the highest standard of performance. They should always be confidence. Professional accountants’ service users must be able to feel confident that there is a framework of professional ethics governing the provision of those services (Usurelu, Marin, Danaila, & Loghin, 2010). Tolstoy tried to show this in his daily living. He tried to practice what he preached, but it was really difficult in his early years. Tolstoy believed that the church had become corrupt, accountants can become corrupt. Accountants can use what they know about the accounting rules to manipulate the figures reported in the accounts of a business (Usurelu, Marin, Danaila, & Loghin, 2010). This is where an accountant’s personal ethics comes in. There could be sentiments of greed, self-sufficiency or even fear which can be stronger than those related to good behavior. Sentiments can also lead to attitudes of sentimentalism, the morality of which could be questioned (Usurelu, Marin, Danaila, & Loghin, 2010). An accountant’s moral judgment or capacity to judge which alternatives are ethically acceptable and which are not and to determine the uprightness of the intention. Good behavior requires deliberation and deciding to carry out an action. Making sound moral judgments is previous to making a good decision. Moral motivation, understood as willingness to take the moral course of action, placing moral values (human goods) above other values, and taking personal responsibility for moral outcomes. Frequently, moral motivation is the driving force for making good moral judgments but it plays a crucial role in selecting the right action and in executing it. Moral virtues or permanent attitudes and interior strength for moral behavior. Among these virtues, those which have special relevance to accounting are fairness, integrity, truthfulness, honesty, loyalty, and faithfulness, and trustworthiness, service to the common good, gratitude and benevolence. Courage, perseverance, competence, diligence, professional will, humility, and other self-mastering virtues which help to defeat inner resistance to act as one should. Practical wisdom, as has been said, provides capacity to perceive the right means for each virtue (Usurelu, Marin, Danaila, & Loghin, 2010). All of these things have to be taken into account. Tolstoy stood against the government and the church when it was really unheard of at the time. When it comes to right and wrong in accounting, there will be morals, beliefs and virtues that will be tested. Sometime the job that may be lost because the popular or trendy practice was not done. Sometimes sacrifices will be made to stand up for what is right and what is ethical.

Works Cited
Contributors, N. W. (2008, August 29). Leo Tolstoy. Retrieved from New World Encyclopedia: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Leo_Tolstoy&oldid=795253
Fuller, J. R. (2009). Leo Tolstoy and social justice. Contemporary Justice Review, 321-330.
Leo Tolstoy. (2013). Retrieved from The Biography Channel: http://www.biography.com/people/leo-tolstoy-9508518
Sokolow, J. A. (1975). Arriving at Moral Perfection": Benjamin Franklin and Leo Tolstoy. American Literature, 427.
Usurelu, V. I., Marin, M., Danaila, A. E., & Loghin, D. (2010). ACCOUNTING ETHICS - RESPONSIBILITY VERSUS CREATIVITY. Annals of the University of Petrosani Economics, 349-356.