44. IFAC member bodies may determine the appropriat levels of skills development and the means for developing those skills.
Professional values, Ethics and Attitudes
45. Individuals should be able to apply the required professional values, ethics and attitudes in an audit environment before taking on the role of an audit professional.
Ethics and Attitudes, scts out the professional.
46. IES 4, Professional values, Ethics and Attitudes, scts out the professional values,
ethics and attitudes, professional accountants must have. IFAC member bodies need to establish a program of education that provides a framework for exercising professional judgment and for acting ethically in the best interests of both society and the profession.
47. All professional accountants need a thorough understanding of the potential ethical implications of professional and managerial decisions. They need to be aware that decision-makers can be under tremendous pressure when it comes to upholding ethical principles.
48. Audit professionals, like all professional accountants, are expected to apply the professional values, ethics and attitudes outlined in IES 4 throughout their professional careers. During their period of practical experience, they should receive guidance on the:
(a) professional approach to ethics;
(b) practical application of the fundamental principles;
(c) consequences of unethical behavior; and
(d) resolution of ethical dilemmas.
49. Learning about professional ethics needs to continue after qualification. Audit professionals need to see this as a career-long process.
50. The fundamental ethical principles that apply to all professional accountants have an added dimension in the audit domain, because of the heavy public reliance on and public interest in this aspect of the profession worldwide.