Ethics and high morality are in high demand today especially among corporate America, and specifically within the accounting profession. After the ethical failures of Enron and WorldCom, a public outcry for future preventative measures resonated throughout the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and the accounting community at large. Consequently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the overseeing government board of the AICPA, released the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, otherwise known as SOX. The act requires a higher performance standard for accounting firms and the audits they perform to prevent future accounting scandals. SOX, which has been extremely beneficial, doesn’t change the ethical standards of an individual but instead takes away most of the opportunity to commit a scandalous act. The basic character of the fraudulent individual remains corrupt, even with legislation in place. The question is then posed: Can ethics be taught, and if so, what accounting or business ethics courses are available? The answer is not ironclad as the word ethics describes the morality of an individual, which is hard to measure. There are also very limited courses offered on ethics, however ethical education should be a required course in college and a prerequisite to new employment for all accounting firms.

Most higher education institutions, and some high school level institutions, are implementing brief ethical materials into their curriculum, but very few offer courses on the subject. The basic argument against incorporating a required accounting ethics course is that there isn’t any proof that individuals who take a course would be any more ethical than they already are. If this is truly the singular obstruction to imposing an accounting course in ethics, than why aren’t other courses in the curriculum subject to examination from proof. Many audits, specifically those at Enron and WorldCom, have failed because of poor functional accounting knowledge, not just ethical queries. Most other curricular accounting courses would fail a proof assessment required by those who oppose an accounting ethics course. It is necessary to have an accounting ethics course to properly prepare students for any future ethical temptation they may experience within the field. Without experience in fraud recognition or ethical righteousness, many new timid accountants are susceptible to fraud or ethical dilemmas. A recommendation would be to add not just one course on ethics into a curriculum, but possibly three or four. A course in ethical theory could tie into another ethics course involved in spotting frauds and ethical dilemmas while a third course could focus on answering these ethical uncertainties.

The need for an accounting ethics course is also very apparent in how much destructive attention financial catastrophes attract to the profession. The recent big company accounting scandals all brought negative publicity to the accounting field. The burden of the economic failures in today’s society must be placed somewhere, and many people look at accountants as an outlet to place that burden. All of these events from big companies provide a negative perception of the accounting field, and that’s not to mention the small business owners who have encountered other accounting mistakes or unethical occurrences. This is not to say that legitimate and honest mistakes will not be made by new students, but the ability to recognize the mistakes and evaluate ethical problems can be reduced with the addition of an ethics course. The more education and experience that new accountants have and acquire the fewer mistakes that will occur, and ultimately the less negative publicity the profession will receive. It is extremely important that in the accounting profession, clients feel secure and trusting of those who they employ.

Another need for an ethics course comes from a common stereotype of accountants. The stereotype is that accountants are known to simply follow the rules, or do just enough to meet the basic criteria. To correct ethical dilemmas, it is required to go above and beyond the norm to investigate and solve uncertainties. A class in the area of ethics could help prepare and motivate new accountants to become more proactive when evaluating a possible unethical or fraudulent scenario. Clients will feel a greater sense of security with a proactive accountant, and ultimately bring more profit to the profession.

Society can not function without ethical people. The business world and accounting profession can not function without ethical people. It is for this reason that an accounting ethics course or courses are imperative. The elimination of stereotypes, fewer mistakes, and a heightened sense of awareness is exactly what could be acquired from an accounting ethics course. It is important to add ethics courses immediately, and for employers to require that their new hire’s be educated in ethics knowledge. If an employee is not educated and courses are not offered, employers should take measures to offer a mandatory ethics course within their organization.

A junior accounting major at West Chester University

Affiliate programs  opportunities for the entrepreneur. There are

several different types of affiliate programs available.

The easiest home based business income opportunity involves the affiliate placing an

advertisement like a banner ad, graphic, or on the site for the business they are trying to promote.The thing that makes these programs nice for your home based business is that a person earns a commission on the sales or clicks that the advertisement generates.

 Other affiliate programs get a little more complex with multi-tiers and proportions of sales. Other benefits of these home based business income opportunities include the fact that you do not have to create your own service or product.  You get to take advantage of these home based business income opportunites by advertising else’s services or products.

You do not have to worry about storage, shipping, or collecting payment from customers.

With types these home based business income opportunities, a high proportion of your affiliate program revenue is profit.

There are some negatives however to relying on affiliate programs as home based business income opportunities. You will not earn a major portion of the sales revenue being an affiliate program. You will not make as much money with these home based business income opportunities as you would selling your own product or service.

Affiliate programs are a good way to start your home based business because it will help you get some business knowledge.

How do you find out which affiliate program is the best home based business opportunity for you? You start by seeing which programs will look best with your website. The affiliate material should compliment the content of your web site and fit well.

You need to make sure that you find quality home based business affiliate programs because you only want to participate in affiliate programs that are reputable.

There are plenty of great affiliate programs available that can offer you effective home based business opportunities that are reputable and have a proven track record.

Despite the money you can make in affiliate programs, you best home based business income opportunities are those where you sell and market your own service or product.  Still, affiliate programs can be a great way to gain valuable experience and marketing know how.