Professional Ethical Considerations for CPAs

Course Description

Every CPA must comply with a Code of Professional Conduct, which is a hallmark of the CPA designation. CPAs in public practice must overcome higher barriers, such as when attest service providers must also retain independence. This course will provide an overview of the core principles from which the CPA profession is built upon.

Major Topics

• Core principles of any Code of Professional Conduct applicable to all CPAs, including conflicts of interest, preparing and reporting information, competence, confidential information, and more
• The importance of maintaining independence for CPAs in public practice, especially when also performing nonattest services for the attest client
• Comparing and contrasting various ethical standards, including those promulgated by the AICPA, PCAOB, and international bodies

Learning Objectives

Upon completing this course, you should be able to:

• Describe core principles underlying the any Code of Professional Conduct that apply to both CPAs in public practice and industry, whether designated by the AICPA, PCAOB, or an international body
• Explain common ethical dilemmas faced by all CPAs and how they can be safeguarded to an acceptable level

Course Information

• CPD Credit: 2.0 hours Regulatory Ethics
• Prerequisites: None
• Program Level: Basic
• Advance Preparation: None
• Who Should Participate: Anyone who needs to comply with ethical principles

Instructor

• Name: Jennifer Louis
• Hometown: Charlotte, NC
• Bio: Jennifer has over 25 years experience in designing and instructing high-quality training programs in a wide variety of technical and “soft skills” topics needed for professional and organization success. In 2003 she founded Emergent Solutions Group, which is dedicated to meeting organization’s professional training needs on a project or part-time basis. Jennifer serves a wide variety of clients, including public accounting firms, state CPA societies, private industry corporations, and public sector agencies.Previously Jennifer served as the Director of Audit Product Development at Surgent Professional Education for three years. Prior to that, Jennifer was Executive Vice President/Director of Training Services at AuditWatch, Inc., a highly respected training and audit process consulting firm later acquired by Thomson Reuters. Over her six years at AuditWatch, Jennifer served many roles. She began her career at AuditWatch as Vice President of Product Development. Jennifer also served as an instructor and consultant for the firm’s Audit Productivity Improvement Program (a comprehensive program enabling accounting firms to enhance audit quality and improve audit efficiency), as well as various other training courses. Later, Jennifer was primarily responsible for working with clients to design high-caliber, customized training programs. She led the Training Services Division, which includes AuditWatch University (“core-level” staff training for new hires to managers) and related offerings. She also co-authored the Guide to Value-Added Auditing (Thomson/Practitioners Publishing Company, Fort Worth, TX, July 2001). Before joining AuditWatch, Jennifer was the Financial/Operational Audit Manager at AARP. While at AARP she served as one of their specially trained facilitators available as a resource throughout the organization for designing and leading strategic meetings and trainings. Jennifer was also an Audit Manager at Deloitte, in Washington, DC. During her five years with Deloitte, she was a frequent local and national instructor. Jennifer also served as an instructor for the firm’s national “Train the Trainers” program. Jennifer graduated summa cum laude from Marymount University with a BBA-Accounting. She is currently a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and is licensed to practice accounting in the Commonwealth of Virginia and North Carolina.Contact Jennifer via email at jlouis@emergentgroup.net, or via LinkedIn