In: Accounting
Solution :
The fundamental ethical principles to be complied by Miss Nsiah - a professional accountant in the above case is as follows :
1) Integrity :
A professional accountant should be straightforward and honest in all professional and business relationships.
Miss Nsiah does not qualify for a practicing certificate and so she cannot provide audit services to the client. However, the CEO of the company wants an audit opinion from here.
In this case, Miss Nsiah should duly inform the CEO that she is not qualified to provide an audit opinion.
2) Objectivity :
A professional accountant should not be biased or allow any conflict of interest or undue influence of others to override their professional judgments.
Since Miss Nsiah is directly in touch with the CEO of the company, she should not get influenced by the CEO's actions for the scope of additional work and she should be straightforward and honest in pointing out & communicating the deficiencies and material errors in the previous financial statements.
3) Professional competence and due care :
A professional accountant should be competent and have the requisite professional and technical knowledge in the work performed.
Miss Nsiah does not have any prior experience and she does not feel competent to solve the complex tax issue. To ensure professional competency, she should not accept the work and inform the CEO about her incompetency to perform the work.
4) Professional behavior:
A professional accountant should comply with all the relevant laws and regulations.
Since Miss Nsiah does not possess a certificate, she cannot engage in a public practice which includes providing an audit opinion.
Hence Miss Nsiah should maintain her professional behavior and not accept the audit work.
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