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Cpa Responsibility

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Submitted By pappyofsnakey
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Certified Public Accountants’ Responsibility

to Clients and the Profession

Abstract

The professional responsibilities of a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to their clients were investigated. The responsibilities were determined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Code of Professional Conduct. Specifically, Rule 102 regarding integrity and objectivity was used to determine what constituted as integrity and objectivity in the practice of a CPA acting as the moral conscience of their client. Rule 301 was used to determine whether information should be disclosed in the instance of fraud. Based on the information in the code of professional conduct, it was determined that CPAs have a responsibility for the greater public interest in determining the appropriate actions to be taken regarding potential fraud.

Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) providing services such as accounting, taxation, audit, attestation, and other related services have a responsibility to serve small businesses as a moral conscience. Small businesses are focused on growing their business. As a result, the small business has big dreams. Many times the owners of small businesses are good at doing the service they perform; however, they often prefer that licensed professionals oversee the accounting function. Although CPAs have a responsibility to their clients they are not to act as the moral conscience, rather, they should act as a moral conscience, CPAs should turn in clients who are knowingly violating laws, informants to the IRS are only obligated to the IRS.

Small business owners using certified public accountants, trust the professional to help their small business grow. According to Section 52 Article I Responsibilities in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Code of Conduct, members of the AICPA “have responsibilities

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