ACCOUNTING ETHICS AND ITS IMPORTANT ROLE FOR REDUCTION OF ACCOUNTING FRAUD: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY IN HANOI

Abstract

Ethics is a sensitive concept of any profession in society, especially for career that closely associated with economic activities such as accounting. Given the code of ethics for professional accountant, and the factors that contribute to accounting fraud, this study aims to examine the significance of ethical issues that challenge professional accountant in good corporate governance and sustainable business practices. It is carried out via a survey of 200 accountants which are divided into 2 groups. They are both from public and private companies. The result of this study shows that, accountants who have less experiences work more objectively than the one who have more experiences. But they have more possibility to break ethical culture than the one who have more experiences. And, ethical conflicts commonly arise in the organization's relationship with customers, employees, suppliers, and other individuals, and also as a result of these acts as courtesy gifts, kickbacks and discriminatory pricing.