The new global accounting community: Rationale for dialogue to establish its accountability?

The reputation of the accounting community is an important intangible asset. The community persistently builds its reputation through disclosure of reputation signals that crystallize its status with the commercial social system [Riahi-Belkaoui and Pavlik, 1992; Raar J. Beyond ethics: a community platform to secure moral integrity. Australian Accounting Review 2006;16(1):41–50]. Therefore, as a community in the global village, it is an institution of accountability, which in turn is dependent on honesty and trust (Lee, 1995). The intention of this conceptual paper is to provide discourse that induces questions for reflection in the call for values underpinning the integrity and ethical stance of the profession. To an extent ethical codes assist, however in an international professional community the self-governance procedures and investigations of a local professional body may now be outside its geographical jurisdiction. Walker [Walker RG. The ASRB: policy formation, political activity and research. Paper presented at Accounting Association of Australian and New Zealand (AANZ) annual conference in Sydney; August, 1985] suggests that accounting rules are only symbolic behaviour unless compliance is monitored, and sanctions are imposed [Walker RG. The ASRB: policy formation, political activity and research. Paper presented at Accounting Association of Australian and New Zealand (AANZ) annual conference in Sydney; August, 1985. p. 12]. The internationalisation of accounting standards appears to present an opportune period in the evolution of a self regulatory accounting profession to consider the issues of moral values and integrity and ask the question, what does this international profession stand for?