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According to the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants in the Philippines, a

distinguishing mark of the accountancy profession is its acceptance of the responsibility to act in

the public interest. Therefore, it is essential in the business world to maintain a proficient level

of integrity and objectivity. The value of the output of Certified Public Accountants lies heavily

on the integrity of the professional and of the profession as a whole. One important instrument

used in harnessing ethics within an organization is a code of ethics that formalizes the proper

conduct of a professional. This study focuses on the practice of ethics in the workplace by

aiming to determine the degree of adherence to the code of ethics and also to determine

whether the presence of a strong ethical culture has a correlation to the degree of adherence to

the code of ethics. A sample of 30 respondents were asked to answer a survey questionnaire

based on the questionnaire formulated by Gene Sullivan which is the Index for Ethical

Congruence in order to determine the degree of adherence to the code of ethics. The results of

the computations show that there is a high commitment to the code of ethics by Certified Public

accountants from the government sector of the accounting profession. The components of

ethical culture are: clarity of ethical expectations, congruency of management , congruency of

supervisors, feasibility of fulfilling responsibilities, supportability of ethical expectations,

transparency, discussability, and sanctionability. In general, out of the eight factors of ethical

culture, the respondents perceived four of them as evident ± clarity of ethical expectations,

congruency of management, congruency of supervisors, and supportability of ethical

expectations. On the other hand, four subfactors are perceived by the respondents as slightly

evident ± feasibility of fulfilling responsibilities, transparency, discussability, and sanctionability.

Using the Pearson¶s Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (Y and t ± test this study has found

out that there is an insignificant correlation between the level of adherence to the Code and the

degree of evidence of an ethical culture in an organization. The non existence of a significant

correlation may be due to the perception of the CPAs in the government that there is a weak

ethical culture in the accounting profession. This conclusion may or may not hold true to all

sectors of the accounting profession therefore it should be further investigated.

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The five most important qualities of a professional are ÷
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. A professional¶s integrity enhances the value

of his work especially for accountants and auditors. Second, having high moral standards can

be tantamount to incorruptibility of a professional¶s values and principles. It is difficult to

maintain one¶s values in a place where values are mere words. Therefore, a professional

should be incorruptible amidst pressures to do immoral actions. A professional should also

have good interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills include communication skills, emotional

intelligence, and day-to-day interactions with other professionals. People with good

interpersonal skills can generally control the feelings that emerge in difficult situations and

respond appropriately, instead of being overwhelmed by emotion. Having positive interpersonal

skills increases the productivity in the organization since the number of conflicts is reduced. A

professional should also be self-disciplined which refers to the training that one gives oneself to

accomplish a certain task or to adopt a particular pattern of behavior, even if one would rather

be doing something else. For example, denying oneself an extravagant pleasure in order to

accomplish a more demanding charitable deed is a display of self-discipline. This is important

because professionals are expected to be independent and it is impossible to have a boss that

checks every single action of his employees. Lastly, a professional should be adaptable to the

changing demands of the workplace. This is important in order to keep himself abreast of all the

current trends in the profession and also to keep himself marketable and employable.

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In judging whether a certain decision is ethical or unethical, one may use different sources of

ethical guidance such as statutory laws, code of ethics, moral norms, and personal values and

principles. These sources of ethical guidance should be consulted in the manner stated above.

Any actions or decisions contrary to these are considered unethical. An action is unethical if the

benefit from it inures only to one person and is detrimental to another. An ethical decision

considers all its ramifications to other people, next generations, environment, and to the public.

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Building friendship in the work place is necessary to facilitate smooth working relationships.

These relationships should not be too invasive so as to impair the judgment of a professional.

This holds true especially to auditors, who need to maintain their independence and impartiality

at all times. The lack of independence of an auditor diminishes the value of and auditor¶s

output. The value of independence is not only essential to auditors, but to all professionals who

are in a position to exercise professional judgment and management decisions. These

decisions should be made in light of public interest and common welfare and not for the welfare

of your friends, bosses or co-workers.