Ethics for Accountants

Identify threats to independence in practice and apply safeguards from the code of professional ethics, including policies, quality monitoring, revenue diversification, staff rotation, and independent engagement practices.

Learn how accountants build trusted client relationships through due diligence and know your client (KYC), verify identity, assess money laundering risk, and implement ongoing customer due diligence.

Explain how accountants handle recommendations and referrals, including disclosure of referral commissions. Inform clients about referrals and ensure competence and due care, limiting services to authorized, like external auditing.

Explore how accountants set fees by time spent and rate, factoring complexity and expertise, disclose engagement terms, avoid low-balling and contingent fees, and bill out-of-pocket expenses.

Promote ethical marketing of accounting services by avoiding aggressive tactics, staying honest and truthful, and upholding dignity, integrity, and professional standards in all client communications.

Address self-review and self-interest threats, second opinions, and gifts; note that Terrorism Act 2000 relates to anti-money laundering, and due diligence means knowing your client before engagement.

Explore the Bribery Act 2010 ethics in accounting, focusing on when hospitality becomes a bribe, high-value incentives, and scenarios testing acceptable conduct.

Explore how to identify ethical conflicts in accounting, apply internal procedures, seek ethics committee guidance, and act to protect clients, integrity, and professional standards—even if resignation is necessary when unresolved.

Money laundering hides the source of criminal proceeds by disguising, converting, or transferring criminal property. Anti-money laundering laws, including the Proceeds of Crime Act and Terrorism Act, govern these offences.

Learn how tipping off affects money laundering investigations, the penalties involved, and the appropriate actions, such as reporting to the money laundering reporting officer when concerns arise.

Accountants provide taxation services with integrity and objectivity, acting as agents for the client principal, disclosing errors to client and HMRC, and reporting money laundering to the MLRO or NCA.

Explore whistleblowing under the Public Information Disclosure Act, safeguarding good-faith disclosures of illegal or unethical practices, with internal reporting and external action to protect health, safety, and the environment.

Learn to seek ethics guidance from professional bodies or independent legal experts, understand loyalty duties to employer and client, and refuse unethical or illegal client requests.