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ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · The role of regulatory and professional bodies in promoting ethical and professional standards in the accountancy profession

Lena is an ACCA member who audits Orion Ltd. She discovers that her firm's audit work was substandard in a prior year, but the partner suggests keeping quiet to avoid a complaint to the professional body. Which statement best explains why the partner's suggestion conflicts with the role of professional bodies?

Concealing the substandard work conflicts with the professional body's role because bodies depend on members acting with integrity, competence and due care. Hiding failings erodes public trust, which the body exists to protect. Bodies do not limit themselves to government complaints or directly correct client financial statements.

  1. AProfessional bodies only investigate complaints made by the government, so the suggestion is irrelevant
  2. BProfessional bodies rely on members acting with integrity and meeting competence and due care standards, and concealing poor work undermines this and public trustCorrect
  3. CProfessional bodies are responsible for correcting the client's financial statements directly
  4. DProfessional bodies prohibit members from working for audit clients for more than one year

Explanation

Members are bound by the fundamental principles, including integrity, professional competence and due care, and professional behaviour. Concealing substandard work breaches these and defeats the body's purpose of protecting the public. Bodies do not only act on government complaints, correct client accounts, or impose a one-year limit.

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