User-friendly AICPA ethics code on horizon

Ethical decisions often need to be reached quickly, but the AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct (ethics code) is not structured for quick and easy navigation. A proposed reformatted ethics code is meant to change that. The current ethics code started as eight rules that fit on one sheet of paper and was adopted April 9, 1917, by the American Institute of Accountants, predecessor of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Over time, the rules evolved, and in 1973 they were codified into the current Code of Professional Conduct. Almost 100 years later, the ethics code and related guidance are ripe for reorganization.

The AICPA’s Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) has restructured the Institute’s ethics standards to improve the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct (Code) so that members and others can apply the rules and reach correct conclusions more easily and intuitively. To achieve this, the PEEC restructured the Code into several parts each organized by topic, edited the Code using consistent drafting and style conventions, incorporated a conceptual framework for members in public practice and in business, revised certain Code provisions to reflect the "conceptual framework" approach (also known as the "threats and safeguard" approach) and, where applicable, referenced existing non-authoritative guidance to the relevant topic.

The Proposed Revised AICPA Code of Professional Conduct was exposed for comment on April 15, 2013. Comments on the 237-page Exposure Draft will be accepted until August 15, 2013.  The April 17, 2013 Journal of Accountancy article “User-friendly AICPA ethics code on horizon” explains the new format and the substantive changes to the existing ethics standards.