Although the foundation of financial
accounting and auditing has traditionally been based upon
a rule-based framework, the concept of a principle-based
approach has been periodically advocated since being
incorporated into the AICPA Code of Conduct in 1989.
Recent high profile events indicate that the accountants
and auditors involved have followed rule-based ethical
perspectives and have failed to protect investors and
stakeholders – resulting in a wave of scandals and charges
of unethical conduct. In this paper we describe how the
rule-based traditions of auditing became a convenient
vehicle that perpetuated the unethical conduct of firms
such as Enron and Arthur Andersen. We present a model
of ten ethical perspectives and briefly describe how these
ten ethical perspectives impact rule-based and principlebased
ethical conduct for accountants and auditors. We
conclude by identifying six specific suggestions that the
accounting and auditing profession should consider torestore public trust and to improve the ethical conduct of
accountants and auditors