Ethical Practices of the Professional Accountant in Nigeria

Abstract

There exists a gap between what is documented in form of ethical codes and what some professional accountants really practice. The main focus of this research is to examine the extent of ethical values reflected in professional practice of accountancy profession in Nigeria. Primary data were collected by means of questionnaire and the secondary data were sourced from professional journals of various accountancy bodies. The Z-score test was used in testing the hypotheses and it was analyzed using computer software (SPSS). The major finding from the study is that in the development of professional practices, compliance with well-grounded ethical values are a good prerequisite for an enduring practice and that penalties meted out to erring members are grossly inadequate. The researcher recommended that to provide remedy or improve the situation, there is the need for practicing accountant to pay attention to good ethical conduct and there is the need to adhere strictly to the ethical code of conduct.

Keywords: ethical codes, professional accountants, ethical conduct