Fundamental ethical principles
In this lesson, you'll learn the five fundamental ethical principles that form the foundation of the Code of Ethics for professional accountants—integrity, objectivity, professional competence and care, confidentiality, and professional behaviour.
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In this lesson
- 0:00 Advanced order insurance and Code of Ethics overview
- 0:20 Five fundamental ethical principles explained
- 2:02 Objectivity, competence, diligence and confidentiality
- 3:00 Professional behaviour and misconduct standards
- 3:22 Conceptual framework for identifying ethical threats
- 4:00 Implementing safeguards to mitigate threats
About this lesson
Understanding these principles is essential for ACCA students, as they underpin ethical decision-making in audit and assurance work and are tested across multiple papers including AA and SBL. The lesson walks you through how to apply a conceptual framework approach to identify and evaluate ethical threats in real scenarios. You'll learn to categorise threats by significance, then determine what safeguards can mitigate or eliminate them. This systematic methodology is critical when answering case study questions where you need to spot ethical issues and propose practical solutions that protect professional standards.
Duration: 5m
Transcript
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