ETHICS IN ACCOUNTING

Abstract

Ethics is a widely understood concept in the field of philosophy, the subject of which is human action, and more specifically the distinction between good and bad conduct. Accounting ethics is an indispensable factor regulating the principles and procedures of competent and trustworthy employees. Among the factors that have a big impact on the ethical behavior of employees, one can distinguish, among others: the treatment of employees employed in higher positions in the service hierarchy, employment conditions and wages, the surrounding of close colleagues, respect for the private sphere of employees. In an accounting job, you can face an ethical dilemma. It is defined as a situation in which there are some arguments for taking action, but there are also arguments at the same time to not perform an action. The article presents examples. The aim of the article is to present ethics in accounting and diagnose the level of professional ethics among employees of accounting departments. To this end, an online survey was conducted among 25 people - employees of the accounting department of companies from the Lublin province. The questionnaire consisted of ten questions about ethical issues and a few additional questions to get to know the respondents and their work environment. The conducted study showed what features should be a good accountant, it also allowed to know the reasons for unethical behavior among employees and indicated the level of knowledge of the Code of Professional Ethics in Accounting. The research showed that the most important feature of a good accountant in small units is punctuality, and competence and regularity are in second place. On the other hand, large units regarded punctuality and competence as the most important attribute of a good accountant. Systematic, therefore, does not play such an important role in the accounting departments of larger enterprises. The article uses a critical analysis of the subject literature in the field of accounting and uses simple statistical methods. The results are presented in the form of graphs.