Etika dalam Bidang Keuangan

The finance function of an organization can be divided into three distinct areas: financial transactions,
accounting, and auditing:
1. The financial transactions- the process by which the flow of money through an organization is
handled- involve receiving money from customers and using that money to pay employees,
suppliers, and all other creditors (taxes and the like), with hopefully enough left over to create a
profit that can be either reinvested back into the business or paid out to owners/shareholders.
Part of this function may be outsourced to specialist such as Paychex or ADP, for example.
2. The accounting function keeps track of all those financial transactions by documenting the
money coming in (credits) and money going out (debits) and balancing the accounts at the end
of the period (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually). The accounting function can be
handled by accounting professionals that are hired by company, outside accounting firms that
are contracted by the company, or usually a combination of the two.
3. When and organizations financial statements, or books, have been balanced, they must then be
reported to numerous interested parties. For small business, the most important customers are
government agencies- state income and sales taxes and federal taxes the IRS collects on the
profits generated by the business. In addition, lenders and creditors will want to see financial
statements that have been certified as accurate by an impartial third party professional. That
certification is offered by the auditing function- typically handled by certified professional
accountants and/or auditing specialist.
As an organization grows and eventually goes public by selling stock in the organization on a public stock
exchange, the need for certified financial documents becomes even greater. Existing and potential
investors will make the decision to invest in the shares of that organization based on the information
presented in those certified financial statements- specifically, the profit and loss statement and the
balance sheet. Investors look to those documents for evidence of financial stability, operational
efficiency, and the potential for future growth. Many organizations are large enough to maintain their
own internal auditors to monitor the accuracy of their financial functions.
Peran Internal Auditor
Internal auditors are grounded in professionalism, integrity, and efficiency. They make objective
assessments of operations and share ideas for best practices; provide counsel for improving controls,
processes and procedures, performance, and risk management; suggest ways for reducing costs,
enhancing revenues, and improving profits; and deliver competent consulting, assurance, and
facilitation services.
Internal auditors are well disciplined in their craft and subscribe to a professional code of ethics. They
are diverse and innovative. They are committed to growing and enhancing their skills. They are
continually on the lookout for emerging risks and trends in the profession. They are good thinkers. And
to eectively fulll all their roles, internal auditors must be excellent communicators who listen
attentively, speak eectively, and write clearly.
Sitting on the right side of management, modern-day internal auditors are consulted on all aspects of
the organization and must be prepared for just about any- thing. They are coaches, internal and external
stake- holder advocates, risk managers, controls experts, eciency specialists, and problem-solving
partners. They are the organizations safety net.
Its certainly not easy, but for these skilled and competent professionals, its all in a days work.

Tantangan Etika dalam Bidang Keuangan
For internal employees in the nance, accounting, and auditing departments, the ethical obligations are
no dierent from those of any other employee of the organization. As such, they are expected to
maintain the reputation of the organization and abide by the code of ethics. Within their specic job
tasks, this would include not falsifying documents, stealing money from the organization, or
undertaking any other form of fraudulent activity related to the management of the organizations
nances.
However, once we involve third-party professionals who are contracted to work for the company, the
potential for ethical challenges and dilemmas increases dramatically.
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
The accounting profession is governed not by a set of laws and established legal precedents but by a set
of generally accepted accounting principles, typically referred to as GAAP (pronounced gap). These
principles are accepted as standard operating procedures within the industry, but, like any operating
standard, they are open to interpretation and abuse. The taxation rates that Uncle Sam expects you to
pay on generated prots may be very clear, but the exact process by which you arrive at that prot
gure is far from clear and places considerable pressure on accountants to manage the expectations of
their clients.
Metode Pembukuan Kreatif
Corporations try to manage their expansion at a steady rate of growth. If they grow too slowly or too
erratically from year to year, investors may see them as unstable or in danger of falling behind their
competition. If they grow too quickly, investors may develop unrealistic expectations of their future
growth. This inated outlook can have a devastating eect on your stock price when you miss your
quarterly numbers for the rst time. Investors have shown a pattern of overreacting to bad news and
dumping their stock.
It is legal to defer receipts from one quarter to the next to manage your tax liability. However,
accountants face ethical challenges when requests are made for far more illegal practices, such as
falsifying accounts, underreporting income, overvaluing assets, and taking questionable deductions.
These pressures are further compounded by competitive tension as accounting rms compete for client
business in a cutthroat market. Unrealistic delivery deadlines, reduced fees, and fees that are contingent
on providing numbers that are satisfactory to the client are just some examples of the ethical challenges
modern accounting rms face.
A set of accurate nancial statements that present an organization as nancially stable, operationally
efficient, and positioned for strong future growth can do a great deal to enhance the reputation and
goodwill of an organization. The fact that those statements have been certied by an objective third
party to be clean only adds to that. However, that certication is meant to be for the publics benet
rather than the corporations. This presents a very clear ethical predicament. The accounting or
auditing rm is paid by the corporation, but it really serves the general public, who are in search of an
impartial and objective review. The situation can become even more complex when the accounting rm
has a separate consulting relationship with the clientas was the case with Arthur Andersen and its
infamous client Enron. Andersens consulting business generated millions of dollars in fees from Enron
alone. If the auditing side of its business chose to stand up to Enrons requests for creative book
keeping policies, those millions of dollars of consulting fees, as well as additional millions of dollars
in auditing fees, would have been placed in serious jeopardy. As we now know, the senior partners on
the Enron account chose not to stand up to Enron, and their decision eventually sank Arthur Andersen
entirely.
With so many ethical pressures facing the accounting profession, and a guidebook of operating
standards that is open to such abuse, the last resort for ethical guidance and leadership is the Code of
Conduct issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).