What is ethics? Ethics is an individual's set of beliefs and values ​​that he applies to circumstances related to morality. To act “ethically,” an individual must demonstrate integrity by doing what he or she believes is right. When working within any professional body, an individual will be subject to circumstances where personal ethics will come into play. The accounting profession is no different as ethical issues arise during any workday and can affect how an individual or company conducts business. These questions can vary greatly in practice, from selecting new clients to the rates at which those clients will be charged. These ethical issues are raised regularly in the workplace, and each employee will react differently. The different reactions will depend on the morality of each individual or the ethics of each employee. Since each employee has their own set of values, companies need to be mindful of the fact that some of their employees may have more "flexible" morals than others. This “flexible” morality can lead to corruption and manipulation in the workplace and can cause serious problems for companies. As a result, all major professional accounting bodies have begun to reintroduce compulsory ethics courses to their employees. In addition to this, the 'Guide to professional ethics' has been published which contains a series of different principles to regulate the behavior of accountants and also to identify and reduce the major areas of risk with respect to unethical behaviour. How does a person behave? form their own set of morals? Ethics programming had been left out of the professional accounting program due to the discussion of whether or not ethics was… middle of the paper… thinking over a period of time. Therefore, although it is almost impossible to change someone's morals, it is possible to guide them throughout their employment for the benefit of the company. In today's business environment it has become essential for accountants to have a basic understanding of business ethics. Having guidelines in place gives accountants a relatively consistent method of addressing the ethical situation (based on interpretation). Even simply teaching a course dedicated to ethics demonstrates to accounting students that it is an issue that is an important part of their education and will at least give them a chance to address their own morality. Additionally, teaching morality gives the company a level of deniability in the event of scandals or unethical behavior. References Can ethics be taught? By Archie CarrollCan ethics be taught? By Manuel Velasquez