This document discusses ethics education for accountants in Zambia. It provides background on ethics education, highlighting milestones like Pacioli in 1494 and the establishment of ethics principles by the American Institute of Certified Accountants in 1907. Major accounting scandals in the 2000s reduced public trust in the profession. In response, laws like Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002 and the Dodd-Frank Act aimed to restore confidence through greater ethics education and regulation. However, ethics education faces limitations like insufficient coverage, educator discomfort, and challenges influencing individuals' ethical attitudes. Factors affecting accountants' ethical choices include social and organizational pressures as well as government laws and professional standards. Recommendations include introducing ethics education in

1. GROUP 7
 TASK: DISCUSS ETHIC EDUCATION AND THE MAJOR
FACTORS AFFECTING ETHICAL CHOICES OF
ACCOUNTANTS IN ZAMBIA

2. Dawn of the 21st century

3.  The worst was still however to come.
 This was the global financial crisis 0f 2008.
 Trillions of dollars lost and companies close
collapse.
 The big question now is “WHAT DO ALL
THESE EVENTS HAVE IN COME?”
THE HUGE OF INVOLVEMENT
OF ACCOUNTING
PROFESSIONALS
Dawn of the 21st century continued……….

4. Credibility Lost
 The public lost confidence in accountants
 Professional accounting bodies strategize on how to restore
the confidence
 Rules and Regulations
 The profession was still
under a lot of scrutiny
 Quest for a solution
waged on

5. ETHICS
AND ITS CORE
VALUES!!

6. INTRODUCTION
DEFINITION OF ETHICS
 The word ethics is derived from the Greek word “Ethos” which
means character and a Latin word “moras” which means customs
taken together these two words define how individuals choose to
interact with one another
PURPOSE OF THIS DISCUSSION
 Discuss Ethic education before and after the financial crisis
 The importance
 Its limitations
 Factors affecting ethical choices of accountants in Zambia

7. HISTORY OF ETHICS EDUCATION
 1494. The father of accounting Luca Pacioli 1888. The American Association of Public
Accountants(AAPA) was created to develop
professionalism.
 1907. The AAPA changed its name to American
institute of Certified Accountants (AICA) and
delivered divisions of ethical principles.
These are;
1. Independence
2. Objectivity
3. Integrity
4. Competence
5. Professionalism
 ACCOUNTING SCANDALS

8. Sarbanes and Oxley Act Of 2002
 Passed by the American congress to protect the investors
from fraudulent financial activities of the corporation
 The act was mandated strictly to improve financial
disclosures and prevent fraud
 Aim was to restore investor confidence

9. ETHIC EDUCATION: POST
GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS

10. DYNAMICS OF
BUSINESS
“THE BUSINESS WORLD WORKS LIKE A
JIGSAW PUZZLE”
UNFORTUNATELY… ONE CRITICAL
PIECE WAS MISSING. This was ethics.
Replaced instead with corporate greed

12. COMPANY PROFITS: PURE ECONOMICS?
OR PINOCIONOMICS

13. DODD FRANK ACT
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ETHIC
EDUCATION (IAEE)
RISE OF ISLAMIC FINANCE
EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENT(S)

15. Due to all the accounting
scandals, accountants have
long been thought of as the
black sheep of the business
world
But with ethicly driven
efforts, such as good business
practice, public relations and
corporate social
responsibility, this image can
be forgotten and be replaced
with a return in shareholder
confidence
ETHICS IMPACT ON
SHAREHOLDERS
A lack of ethics
pierces
investor
confidence

16. Without ethics education
ORGANISATIONAL
INFLUENCE
ETHICAL
DECISION
WITH ETHICS EDUCATION
Ethics in the profession acts as an effective
countervailing power to organizational influence
or power of authority

17. This was seen
in the case of
Zambia
National
Farmers Union
This is important in instances where a boss
asks an accountant to manipulate figures so
as to use larger figures and embezzle money
to their benefit

18. Ethics in the accountancy profession ensures that
people in the accounting field have a broader
understanding of fraudulent conduct

19. Penalties of fraudulent activity- if
found, are not strict and felt
Accountants engage in fraudulent conduct
because they are in direct contact with the
funds

20. Accountants and Auditors have
informational advantage over those they
serve.
This power asymmetry can be exploited to
the advantage of the professional and thus
there needs to be a corresponding sense of
professional responsibility

21. Professional ethics
provides the function
of identifying moral
hazards providing
the appropriate

22. What are Limitations?
“A limitation is a restriction or something that holds you
back”

23. LIMITED MATERIAL OR
INSUFFICIENT COVERAGE
Is ethics
Important
?

24. Avoiding ethics in their courses or dealing
with the topic only superficially
Being uncomfortable to discuss
ethical issues in the classroom.
Fear of not leading by example
deters them from teaching
ethics

25. LACK OF PARENTAL INSTRUCTION
Family plays a key
role since an
individual’s
personality is shaped
within family
primarily by
behaviours of parents
“A lack of parental instruction makes it hard for educators to
impart knowledge about ethics in students because of the weak
foundation”

26. Failure to take into account students ethic education
background.
Educators have given little attention to students moral
education background before entering into college or
university classrooms

27. “The notion that every
individual has got his or
her own fixed ethical
attitude which cannot be
modified despite ethic
education is a major
objection of ethic
education”

28. FACTORS AFFECTING
ETHICAL CHOICES
OF ACCOUNTANTS

29. There are many factors affecting choices
of accountants. These can be classed into
three main categories namely;
Individual
Factors
Organisational
Factors
Ultra-
Oraganisational
Factors

30. INDIVIDUAL FACTORS
 Social pressure and culture
 moral obligation
 educational factors
 Personal factors

31. ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS
 Top management support for ethical practice
 Company code of ethics
 Poor security controls
Organisational commitment

32. Remuneration structures
39%
61%
CIMA SURVEY 2015
unsatisfied satisfied

33. ULTRA ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS
 Government laws
 Professional body code of ethics

34. RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction of an ethics subject in the
school curriculum in primary school
e.g. similar to Mulenga and Jelita
literature through the ministry of
Education and organizations such as
FAWEZA
Similar legislation such the SARBOX of 2002 and
Dodd Frank of 2010 to deter accountants from
malpractices in their profession and anyone who
acts contrary to the provisions of the act must be
prosecuted accordingly
In most organizations , there must be
frequent seminars ,workshops for courses
on ethics spearheaded by the Government
in conjunction with organizations such as
Transparency international Zambia and Anti
corruption commission to sensitize the
masses on the value of ethics as a
professional.

35. CONCLUSION
 We highlighted what ethics education is ,its history and
evolution, how it was affected before and after the
financial crisis, its importance ,limitations and possible
recommendations
 Despite there being limitations on how much can be
done about individual ethical choices, ethics education
has come a long way and has yielded positive results
and is yet to yield even more positive results.