Contemporary Ethics for CPAs
Overview:
Integrity is the overarching principle of the CPA Code of Professional Conduct and goes beyond adherence to the rules. Stakeholders rely on critical thinking, unbiased professional judgment and guidance, during dynamic environments and uncertainty. Being aware of emerging trends that may influence corporate sustainability, enables CPAs to provide leadership during times of transition, and changes in reporting standards.
This course guides you through recent developments in economic, social and governance trends, and how these changes may affect their role and the profession.
This course provides accounting and finance professionals with an opportunity to ponder the importance of ethics and integrity in our profession using a blended learning model, interactive and self-reflective. Recent importance placed on ethical principles in businesses have created a framework for reporting environmental, social and governance benchmarks that indicate the sustainability of corporations. Also of importance are a company's efforts in combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
Government resources, recent reports, statistics, actual and fictional case studies will assist the participants to navigate through relevant current trends, and how they may affect the accounting profession and their work as CPAs.
Course Content:
- Ethics and the Profession
- Why do we continue to study ethics?
- Review the ethics definitions from the CPA Code of Conduct
- How important is “Tone at the Top?”
- Contemplate our ethical responsibilities as CPAs
- Review ethical decision-making models and the importance of critical thinking when adopting best practices
- Reviewing the CPA Code of Conduct in areas of ethics will serve as useful reminders of CPAs overarching principles of integrity
- Discussion of the importance of Tone at the Top will strengthen your’ ability to provide leadership in emerging areas of ethical conduct that relate to the profession
- Emerging Trends
- United Nations Global Compact
- What does the Compact mean to CPAs?
- Ten principles of the United Nations Global compact and
- How some corporations are addressing corporate sustainability
- A company’s value system and a principles-based approach to doing business
- Operating in ways that, at a minimum, meet fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption
- Examples of corporations adhering and reporting on the principles serve as models for CPAs to understand the principles and how they may be applied by businesses
- Fighting Financial Crime
- Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations (PCMLTFR)
- Anti-money Laundering (AML) Anti-terrorist Financing (ATF)
- Beneficial Ownership Registry
- CPA Guide and Resources for AML/ATF
- Update on Canadian and Provincial efforts to fight against money laundering and terrorist financing
- Recent reports from government and authorities responsible for taking action will inform CPAs of the current situation
- Various industry schemes will be shared so that you can get a birds-eye view of the transactional flow of dirty-money, and where they may expect it to occur
- Updates from FINTRAC and the PCMLTR will reveal requirements and purpose for Suspicious Transaction Reports (STR) and Reasonable Grounds to Suspect (RGS)
- Recent developments on the Beneficial Ownership Registry
- Explore the CPA Guide to AML/ATF
- Guidance on assessing a suspicious situation, understand one’s role as an employee or contractor and how to avoid crossing the line into an active or future investigation that may hinder the outcome
- Case study around money laundering and investigation will inform the participants of how to avoid interfering with a criminal investigation.
- A New Frontier
- Environment, Social Governance (ESG)
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
- The Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) (specific to ESG)
- ESG and Indigenous Peoples
- Critical Thinking - Assessment Tool to Analyze ESG and Your Organization
- Current developments to inform you of what actions governments and corporations have taken to implement ESG
- The Statistics Canada Modernization Project, and the ESG Dashboard will be reviewed to bring relevance to the theories and purpose of environmental, social and governance measurement and reporting, such as diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) ESG impacts on Indigenous People will be explored, while an ESG Disclosure Index from a global Oil and Gas company provides insight
- Sustainability reporting standards by ISSB and CSSB will be covered to give you ample time to prepare for the implementation of the rules if relevant to their business
- Exercise will emphasize the importance of critical thinking when considering an ESG implementation
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Apply critical thinking to new and emerging trends related to the profession
- Implement new best practices based on changes in the profession
- Apply the principle of integrity from the CPA Code to non-financial factors in reporting
- Communicate corporate values to stakeholders by utilizing “Tone at the Top”
- Apply the principles of the United Nations Global Compact to business situations
- Describe the rules and guidance on money laundering, terrorist financing and the requirements in the event of a suspicious transaction
- Describe the Statistics Canada ESG Dashboard and how it’s used in Canadian Industries
- Describe the importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- Describe the theories and purpose of ESG and the efforts of various governments and authorities to provide a framework for reporting corporate sustainability
- Describe relevant proposed reporting standards
Who Will Benefit:
Accounting and finance professionals who are not well-versed in ESG and requirements under PCMLTR.