Introduction to Book Keeping Ethics
Working in a bookkeeping role means that you have a responsibility for behaving in the interest of the public. You need to behave ethically and professionally which, at times, can be difficult due to conflicts between what is best for the public and what is best for the client or company you work for.
Ethics refers to moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity.
Transparency, Accountability and Probity (TAP)
Transparency is about being easy to understand, and being open, frank and honest in all communications, transactions and operations. It is possible to be accountable by providing a lengthy and technical explanation of every detail, but if this information is not easily understood by the audience, and if key facts are hidden by the sheer volume of information then the information is not presented in a transparent form. Accountability and transparency go hand-in-hand, and involve being aware of who charities are accountable to, what the important pieces of information are, and how they can be communicated most effectively.
Accountability is about being responsible to someone for actions taken; about being able to explain, clarify and justify actions. It implies that someone has a right to know and hold an organisation to account; and that the organisation has a duty to explain and account for its actions. Charities have this duty as they have a privileged status because their purposes must be for the benefit of the public.
Probity Strict adherence to a code of ethics based on undeviating honesty, especially in commercial (monetary) matters and beyond legal requirements.
The Need for TAP in Business
1. Accountability in business is critical, as the concept enhances the ethics of managers.
2. Being accountable means standing by decisions, actions, and the overall well-being of projects.
3. Accountability is also a management process that ensures employees answer to their superior for their actions and that supervisors behave responsibly as well.
4. Accountability addresses both the organization’s expectation of the employee and the employee’s expectation of the organization.
5. Accountability, transparency and probity help to increase performance of business as a whole and to maintain a positive company culture, vision, and ethics.
6. People and communities deserve to know the ins and outs of a company’s operation before they begin to patronize it.
Attributes of TAP
1) Right information: Data needs to be correct. This sounds basic but we don’t need to think too long to come up with examples where it is hasn’t been quite so. We know that accurate information doesn’t necessarily mean stakeholders will make good decisions. Case in point: we have clear data indicating that smoking is bad for one’s health, but people are still taking up the habit today. However, fewer people are taking up the habit, and correct information about tobacco—previously obscured—is undoubtedly a contributor to these improved outcomes.
2) Right stakeholders: This means that correct information needs to reach the stakeholders who need it to make better decisions (others can have it, too, but they may not need it)…
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