Ethics In Accounting

This study paper mainly focuses on the relationship of ethic and financial reporting assurance. As nowadays, the ways of reporting financial information are changing because of the nature and unavoidable technological advancements. Following the biggest scandal in accounting field such as Enron, World com, Parmalat and many more, the accounting professional bodies and other concern party are beginning to questioning the reliability of financial report that is being published by professional accountants. Hence, the ways to overcome this is by cultivate the ethical behavior among new and current professional accountants. Besides, to enhance the confidence of stakeholders, integrated financial reporting is now becoming a necessary element in financial reporting. This study also recognizes the important of good corporate governance for the better future of companies, auditors and other parties that involve in accounting fields.

Seemingly, a formidable ethical challenge to financial reporting is the phenomenon of fallacious and discretional financial reporting as currently in practice. Such untruthful reporting intensified during the first decade of the 21st century when many of the personnel got involved to increase their personal benefits and the result was a widespread financial fiasco in the form of MCI WorldCom, Enron, Well Fargo, and Tesco accounting scandal, to mention a few. Most of the scandals were cause by false reporting, withholding information about financial troubles, revenue and earnings inflation, discretional revenue and expense recognition, use of off-balance-sheet items, artificial increase of cash flow and profits, backdating of sales contracts and accounting for vendors allowances and financing. The research in hand is an attempt to discuss such issues in the light of ethical and moral values that are not only recommended teachings of Islam, but also accepted business ethics in the civilized world. Islamic ethical guidelines for business encompass discipline and rules as enjoined in the divine sources of Sharī'ah-Qur'ān and Sunnah (sayings of or the approved actions by the holy Prophet Muhammad PBUH). Implementation of these guidelines to make financial reporting ethical should be acceptable to the entire world, at personal, organizational, and society levels for broad based benefits of the mankind.

Seemingly, a formidable ethical challenge to financial reporting is the phenomenon of fallacious and discretional financial reporting as currently in practice. Such untruthful reporting intensified during the first decade of the 21st century when many of the personnel got involved to increase their personal benefits and the result was a widespread financial fiasco in the form of MCI WorldCom, Enron, Well Fargo, and Tesco accounting scandal, to mention a few. Most of the scandals were cause by false reporting, withholding information about financial troubles, revenue and earnings inflation, discretional revenue and expense recognition, use of off-balance-sheet items, artificial increase of cash flow and profits, backdating of sales contracts and accounting for vendors allowances and financing. The research in hand is an attempt to discuss such issues in the light of ethical and moral values that are not only recommended teachings of Islam, but also accepted business ethics in the civilized world. Islamic ethical guidelines for business encompass discipline and rules as enjoined in the divine sources of Sharī'ah-Qur'ān and Sunnah (sayings of or the approved actions by the holy Prophet Muhammad PBUH). Implementation of these guidelines to make financial reporting ethical should be acceptable to the entire world, at personal, organizational, and society levels for broad based benefits of the mankind.

Seemingly, a formidable ethical challenge to financial reporting is the phenomenon of fallacious and discretional financial reporting as currently in practice. Such untruthful reporting intensified during the first decade of the 21st century when many of the personnel got involved to increase their personal benefits and the result was a widespread financial fiasco in the form of MCI WorldCom, Enron, Well Fargo, and Tesco accounting scandal, to mention a few. Most of the scandals were cause by false reporting, withholding information about financial troubles, revenue and earnings inflation, discretional revenue and expense recognition, use of off-balance-sheet items, artificial increase of cash flow and profits, backdating of sales contracts and accounting for vendors allowances and financing. The research in hand is an attempt to discuss such issues in the light of ethical and moral values that are not only recommended teachings of Islam, but also accepted business ethics in the civilized world. Islamic ethical guidelines for business encompass discipline and rules as enjoined in the divine sources of Sharī'ah-Qur'ān and Sunnah (sayings of or the approved actions by the holy Prophet Muhammad PBUH). Implementation of these guidelines to make financial reporting ethical should be acceptable to the entire world, at personal, organizational, and society levels for broad based benefits of the mankind.

Two decades of financial scandals have seriously damaged the credibility of accountants as guardians of financial information. To repair this credibility, universities have been identified as crucial to the development of morally competent accountants for the future. In 2012, the Malaysian government joined this crusade through the release of a blueprint to revolutionize the Malaysian educational system. One of the key mandates of this blueprint is for Malaysian educational institutions to produce morally competent professionals. This study seeks to assess the progress of Malaysian universities in meeting this important mandate by evaluating the moral competencies of final-year accounting students enrolled at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). As IIUM is an islamic university, and all its final-year students are Muslims, an instrument was developed through a collaboration with Islamic accounting and Fiqh Muamalat scholars to measure the moral competencies of these students from a wholly Islamic perspective. Islam's two primary sources of guidance, The Noble Quran and Sunnah were relied upon to develop this instrument. The instrument called Muslim Accountant Moral Competency Test (MAMOC) contained ethical scenarios to measure nine qualities required for a morally competent Muslim accountant; 72 out of 90 enrolled final-year students were surveyed using MAMOC. The results of the survey revealed that according to IIUM's own grading system, the current crop of final-year accounting students were not morally competent enough to deal with the inevitable moral dilemmas they would face in the work place. The students were particularly weak regarding selecting an Islamically-appropriate place to work as well as in being diligent when discharging their accounting duties. On the bright side, the students showed a very clear understanding of the importance of being trustworthy and objective as professional accountants. The implications of these results is that at the moment, IIUM's accounting department is not meeting the government's mandate to produce morally competent professionals. The department has to reexamine its current curriculum as to it's ethics coverage, particularly regarding qualities that the students scored very low on. The department has as its stated mission the production of accounting graduates "who are professional competent and observe ethical norms in their conduct" (Bachelor of accounting programme description, n.d.). It must make sure it does all it can to fulfill this noble mission.

For over a century, scholars have argued that religious education is crucial for the developed of students' moral competencies. This study sought to empirically test this assertion by comparing the moral competencies of two sets of Muslim accounting students: those who had attended a religious secondary school and those who attended a public (secular) secondary school in Malaysia. The focus on accounting students is quite important in an era where the moral competencies of accountants has been in the public eye due to their complicity in the rash of financial scandals that have plagued the business world over the last two decades. The Muslim Accountant Moral Competency Test (MAMOC) was developed by a collaboration with Islamic accounting scholars and was used to measure the students' moral competencies. Although the results revealed that there was no difference in the moral competencies of both sets of students, they both displayed satisfactory levels of moral competency whi...

There is a growing concern for accountant involvement in the continuous scandals which is due to the ethical judgments of certain accountants and amount of academics recommend that the school system is partly responsible. The ethical elements of accounting education were found to be inadequate, so there is a lack of meaningful attention to tackling accounting problems. In the first place, the purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of ethics in accounting education. Second, the paper argues that in the application of accounting ethics, specifically Islam, accounting education should concentrate on religious codes of ethics and values. Furthermore, this research explored the ethical viewpoint of Islam and how it gives some insights into the process of creating a more harmonized and ethical accountant. This study suggests the Islamization of the ethical concept of accounting as a solution to the ethical challenges the accounting profession is confronted with, in the form ...

Accounting is an integral part of an effective and transparent record of the monetary transactions of individuals and organizations. Accountants influence their religious teachings and create perceptions of various interest groups about organizations based on accounting information. This paper seeks to understand the importance of religious affiliation of accountants in their profession in accounting education stakeholders. The research strategy used the qualitative research approach of grounded theory, where Charmaz's constructivist version was applied. The sample was selected to account for education stakeholders to provide in-depth responses through open-ended interviews. Findings show that Islam guides accountancy, yet accountants do not follow it because of a variety of academic, social, and regulatory factors that lead to manipulation and behavioral malpractice by accountants who have been suggested to take different steps. Results show that stakeholders are fully aware of accounting that can be used to develop policies for education and accounting practice. This study proposed many suggestions for accounting educators, practitioners, and researchers.

For over a century, scholars have argued that religious education is crucial for the developed of students' moral competencies. This study sought to empirically test this assertion by comparing the moral competencies of two sets of Muslim accounting students: those who had attended a religious secondary school and those who attended a public (secular) secondary school in Malaysia. The focus on accounting students is quite important in an era where the moral competencies of accountants has been in the public eye due to their complicity in the rash of financial scandals that have plagued the business world over the last two decades. The Muslim Accountant Moral Competency Test (MAMOC) was developed by a collaboration with Islamic accounting scholars and was used to measure the students' moral competencies. Although the results revealed that there was no difference in the moral competencies of both sets of students, they both displayed satisfactory levels of moral competency whi...

There is a growing concern for accountant involvement in the continuous scandals which is due to the ethical judgments of certain accountants and amount of academics recommend that the school system is partly responsible. The ethical elements of accounting education were found to be inadequate, so there is a lack of meaningful attention to tackling accounting problems. In the first place, the purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of ethics in accounting education. Second, the paper argues that in the application of accounting ethics, specifically Islam, accounting education should concentrate on religious codes of ethics and values. Furthermore, this research explored the ethical viewpoint of Islam and how it gives some insights into the process of creating a more harmonized and ethical accountant. This study suggests the Islamization of the ethical concept of accounting as a solution to the ethical challenges the accounting profession is confronted with, in the form ...

There is a growing concern over the apparently low moral standards of some accountants and an increasing number of academics who suggest that the education system should bear some of the blame. Ethical components in accounting education have been found to be ...

Feedback from the sectors about the efficiency of accounting education is very important for accounting educators and academicians. This kind of feedback enables to include the issues into the curriculum that are needed by the business. So the feedbacks from accounting professionals about the efficiency of the accounting courses in faculties, if they are attuned to practice and the courses that should be included in the curriculum are also important for the quality and future of the accounting education. The aim of this study is to present the opinions and expectations of certified public accountants operate in Antalya and registered in chamber of public accountants of Antalya about the current situation of the accounting education in universities. A likert type survey is prepared and the results of the survey are analyzed in SPSS package program and results are discussed. Results show that, accountants think that s of the companies. Recommendations according to the results will be useful for the development of the accounting education.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the views and opinions of contemporary Muslim scholars on organisational accountability in Islam. The paper is based on in-depth semi-structured interviews and a review of the relevant documents. Eighteen interviews with twelve Muslim scholars, two ulamas (mufti), two organisational donors, and two relevant government officers, both in Indonesia and in Malaysia were, respectively, conducted. The Muslim scholars interviewed perceived that accounting and accountability activities are not contradictory to Islamic teachings. The accountability relationship in Islam is  viewed as not only fulfilling the legal requirements, but also fulfilling the relationship with God. The findings clearly indicate that a formal accountability mechanism is strongly encouraged in Islam, and financial reporting is viewed as essential in enhancing the accountability of Islamic religious organizations. Therefore, any organization dealing with community funds must dem...

For over a century, scholars have argued that religious education is crucial for the developed of students' moral competencies. This study sought to empirically test this assertion by comparing the moral competencies of two sets of Muslim accounting students: those who had attended a religious secondary school and those who attended a public (secular) secondary school in Malaysia. The focus on accounting students is quite important in an era where the moral competencies of accountants has been in the public eye due to their complicity in the rash of financial scandals that have plagued the business world over the last two decades. The Muslim Accountant Moral Competency Test (MAMOC) was developed by a collaboration with Islamic accounting scholars and was used to measure the students' moral competencies. Although the results revealed that there was no difference in the moral competencies of both sets of students, they both displayed satisfactory levels of moral competency whi...

The professional ethics of accountants is an important issue directly relating to the integrity of the profession and its ability to secure the public trust. The fraudulent activities in accounting field indicate the failure of accounting education as the beginning stage of the practice. It is perceived that those happen due to deficiency of moral values inserted in the education level. Inevitably, education system is alleged as the main cause of the problem. Accounting education seeks for moral values to generate ethical accountants as part of society. Accordingly, the visibility of ethics<br />education in accounting programs may initiate the development of morality<br />and also increase public confidence in the profession. However, the efforts to integrate ethical values in educational system will not work well if there are no moral commitments implanted in the individuals.  Islam with its divine values plays the notable role to embed cognitive ethical values. It emp...

This article builds upon calls for a shift in the paradigm of the accounting discipline, away from preparing or certifying financial reporting of management activities aimed at maximizing shareholder wealth toward recognition that businesses must also be accountable to other stakeholders and indeed the community at large. If individuals in business apply a sound moral compass to their activities and decisions, we believe that commerce can shift toward outcomes that may not only satisfy shareholders but also contribute to the common good. In this article, we are concerned with the role of accounting and business education. We enumerate recommendations toward achieving this paradigm shift from profit maximization to social justice. In some cases, the instructor may implement changes in their pedagogy at their discretion, while in other cases the change may require approval at the department or at higher levels of the university administration. We begin with a discussion of recent accounting and financial reporting failures as well as the global financial crisis. The dangers created by risky practices of financial institutions "too big to fail" and the systemic risk of a global marketplace have not been resolved. We articulate the need for ethics in the accounting and business curricula, a need that is hardly satisfied by the one course typically offered by universities at the graduate level. We propose that businesses and the accounting profession can realize change by redefining accounting as an instrument of accountability. To accomplish this change, each university must critically examine its curricula and reflect topics and material most important to ethical and moral behavior, including borrowing from the liberal arts disciplines. Finally, this article shows how an interfaith approach grounded in social justice to infuse ethical and moral behavior within the accounting curriculum can work.

This article builds upon calls for a shift in the paradigm of the accounting discipline, away from preparing or certifying financial reporting of management activities aimed at maximizing shareholder wealth toward recognition that businesses must also be accountable to other stakeholders and indeed the community at large. If individuals in business apply a sound moral compass to their activities and decisions, we believe that commerce can shift toward outcomes that may not only satisfy shareholders but also contribute to the common good. In this article, we are concerned with the role of accounting and business education. We enumerate recommendations toward achieving this paradigm shift from profit maximization to social justice. In some cases, the instructor may implement changes in their pedagogy at their discretion, while in other cases the change may require approval at the department or at higher levels of the university administration. We begin with a discussion of recent accounting and financial reporting failures as well as the global financial crisis. The dangers created by risky practices of financial institutions "too big to fail" and the systemic risk of a global marketplace have not been resolved. We articulate the need for ethics in the accounting and business curricula, a need that is hardly satisfied by the one course typically offered by universities at the graduate level. We propose that businesses and the accounting profession can realize change by redefining accounting as an instrument of accountability. To accomplish this change, each university must critically examine its curricula and reflect topics and material most important to ethical and moral behavior, including borrowing from the liberal arts disciplines. Finally, this article shows how an interfaith approach grounded in social justice to infuse ethical and moral behavior within the accounting curriculum can work.

Recent accounting scandals and financial frauds led to a focus on accounting ethics and the need for reviewing of accounting ethics education. Accountants have obligations to shareholders, creditors, employees, suppliers, the government, the accounting profession and the public at large; therefore, they have to remember responsibility in accounting profession. The existence of accounting standards and rules per se does not guarantee sound and appropriate financial reports, and lack of professional ethics can give an unrealistic picture of financial reports. Despite accounting standards and rules, without values and responsibili ties, accountants can provide manipulated financial reports. Although, textbooks, case studies, articles and journals about accounting ethics have been used in accounting education programs, it seems that for developing and promoting ethical thinking, a reengineering in accounting education for identifying and planning ethical behavior based on ethics including humanizing accountants and self regulation in their work environment must be used. It needs a social planning to make accounting students in public or private universities and accounting organizations aware of ethical behavior. This study is a survey study that explores the theories and various approaches used for teaching ethics in accounting. The aim of this study is to introduce a new approach to ethics education in accounting profession by incorporating Islamic ethics in all courses of accounting education.

The role of accountants in adhering to ethics was addressed in this paper. Accountants face a number of challenges in the course of carrying out their roles and obligations. Questionnaires were used to elite responses from respondents and the Chi-Square statistic was used to analyse the data collected. It was found that the role of the accountants is dependent on the ethics of the accounting profession.

The article discusses Islamic ethics and the impact it has on the professional ethics of Muslim auditors. Based on studies of the available literature on the subject and the Qur’an, the paper identifies the source of Muslim ethics and indicates that its perspective is slightly different from the perspectives known in the West. It also identifies the ethical principles which should be followed by a Muslim auditor. The analysis of the sources indicates that Islamic ethics and the understanding of certain principles and rules in Muslim countries differ (for cultural and religious reasons) from the perspective commonly adopted in other countries, hence the belief that it is necessary to create their own code of ethics for professionals, such as auditors. Attempting to assess how cultural norms affect professional ethics, based on a selected example of professional audit practitioners in Muslim countries, the article may be a prelude to further research in this direction, not necessarily...

The average person might assume that codes of professional ethics are themselves ethical. Indeed, one would expect such codes to be beacons of light that provide clear-cut guidance on ethical rules of conduct. Unfortunately, the facts can be quite different than the perceptions. Ethics codes can be used to perpetuate unethical practices like pricefixing, monopoly and restraints on trade. They can be self-serving tools that some profession uses to feather the nests of its members at the expense of the general public. Economists refer to this practice as rent-seeking. The author discusses the fact that codes of ethics have been used in the past to protect members of the profession rather than the public interest and cites examples.

There is a growing concern over the apparently low moral standards of some accountants and an increasing number of academics who suggest that the education system should bear some of the blame. Ethical components in accounting education have been found to be ...

There is a growing concern over the apparently low moral standards of some accountants and an increasing number of academics who suggest that the education system should bear some of the blame. Ethical components in accounting education have been found to be ...

There is growing concern over the users of financial statements about the level of frauds occurring in the business organization. The unexpected collapse of corporate giants such as Enron and WorldCom has informed the interested parties to pay more attention to the unethical practices in accounting systems. The phenomenon of Earnings Management (EM) is seen as one of the most problematic issues facing the accounting profession during the last few decades. It has been argued that EM misleads the users of financial statements. This is because when the managers alter earnings, the financial statements do not accurately reflect the economic wealth of the company, which ultimately leads to the gross violation of stakeholders' trust. The objective of this paper is firstly to address the ethical issue of EM and evaluate the progress of research in dealing with this issue where Islamic Structural Framework, based on Islamic creed (aqidah), can provide some insights into the behavioral p...

In light of the recent crisis and its aftershocks, it becomes crucial to reflect on the relationship between finance and accounting and on how to integrate ethics and efficiency, as well as on how to motivate and empower practitioners in the world of finance to commit to justice, fairness and enhanced understanding, and to improving their personal integrity. This article, written as an editorial introduction to a special issue includes works related to control measurement and ethical behavior, misbehaviors in finances and accounting, professionalism in accounting, ethical investing and corporate reporting. We conclude by suggesting further research for a better integration of technical aspects of accounting and finances into business activity-human activity actually-and an for understanding of ethics not limited to rules, but as a mutual and interdependent system of values (human goods), virtues and principles.

The objective of this paper is to examine the significance of Islamic ethics principles towards quality accounting practices. This paper also explores the suitability of Islamic ethics principles to be integrated in accounting education to develop ethical accounting students. A quantitative research method through questionnaire was adopted to collect data. The sample of this paper consists of 195 accounting educators from Malaysian public universities. The finding reveals that Islamic ethics principles were suitable in directing user towards Islamic behavior. The results of a correlations analysis indicated that Islamic ethics principles positively and significantly correlated with quality accounting practice and the development of ethical accounting students. Thus, the study suggests that education system should emphasize on student's moral development and consider integrating Islamic ethical principles in the accounting curriculum.

For over a century, scholars have argued that religious education is crucial for the developed of students' moral competencies. This study sought to empirically test this assertion by comparing the moral competencies of two sets of Muslim accounting students: those who had attended a religious secondary school and those who attended a public (secular) secondary school in Malaysia. The focus on accounting students is quite important in an era where the moral competencies of accountants has been in the public eye due to their complicity in the rash of financial scandals that have plagued the business world over the last two decades. The Muslim Accountant Moral Competency Test (MAMOC) was developed by a collaboration with Islamic accounting scholars and was used to measure the students' moral competencies. Although the results revealed that there was no difference in the moral competencies of both sets of students, they both displayed satisfactory levels of moral competency whi...

There is a growing concern over the apparently low moral standards of some accountants and an increasing number of academics who suggest that the education system should bear some of the blame. Ethical components in accounting education have been found to be ...

There is a growing concern over the apparently low moral standards of some accountants and an increasing number of academics who suggest that the education system should bear some of the blame. Ethical components in accounting education have been found to be ...

The professional ethics of accountants is an important issue directly relating to the integrity of the profession and its ability to secure the public trust. The fraudulent activities in accounting field indicate the failure of accounting education as the beginning stage of the practice. It is perceived that those happen due to deficiency of moral values inserted in the education level. Inevitably, education system is alleged as the main cause of the problem. Accounting education seeks for moral values to generate ethical accountants as part of society. Accordingly, the visibility of ethics<br />education in accounting programs may initiate the development of morality<br />and also increase public confidence in the profession. However, the efforts to integrate ethical values in educational system will not work well if there are no moral commitments implanted in the individuals.  Islam with its divine values plays the notable role to embed cognitive ethical values. It emp...

The professional ethics of accountants is an important issue directly relating to the integrity of the profession and its ability to secure the public trust. The fraudulent activities in accounting field indicate the failure of accounting education as the beginning stage of the practice. It is perceived that those happen due to deficiency of moral values inserted in the education level. Inevitably, education system is alleged as the main cause of the problem. Accounting education seeks for moral values to generate ethical accountants as part of society. Accordingly, the visibility of ethics education in accounting programs may initiate the development of morality and also increase public confidence in the profession. However, the efforts to integrate ethical values in educational system will not work well if there are no moral commitments implanted in the individuals. Islam with its divine values plays the notable role to embed cognitive ethical values. It emphasizes on the unity of God, the accountability to God and the concept of maslahah (public benefits) to be the foundations of ethics. Incorporating Islamic ethics into the system will be a significant contribution towards generating ethical accounting education. This paper attempts to elucidate how the Islamic ethics contribute its role towards ethical accountants as the products of accounting education.

Recent accounting scandals and financial frauds led to a focus on accounting ethics and the need for reviewing of accounting ethics education. Accountants have obligations to shareholders, creditors, employees, suppliers, the government, the accounting profession and the public at large; therefore, they have to remember responsibility in accounting profession. The existence of accounting standards and rules per se does not guarantee sound and appropriate financial reports, and lack of professional ethics can give an unrealistic picture of financial reports. Despite accounting standards and rules, without values and responsibili ties, accountants can provide manipulated financial reports. Although, textbooks, case studies, articles and journals about accounting ethics have been used in accounting education programs, it seems that for developing and promoting ethical thinking, a reengineering in accounting education for identifying and planning ethical behavior based on ethics including humanizing accountants and self regulation in their work environment must be used. It needs a social planning to make accounting students in public or private universities and accounting organizations aware of ethical behavior. This study is a survey study that explores the theories and various approaches used for teaching ethics in accounting. The aim of this study is to introduce a new approach to ethics education in accounting profession by incorporating Islamic ethics in all courses of accounting education.

There is a growing concern for accountant involvement in the
continuous scandals which is due to the ethical judgments of
certain accountants and amount of academics recommend that the
school system is partly responsible. The ethical elements of
accounting education were found to be inadequate, so there is a
lack of meaningful attention to tackling accounting problems. In
the first place, the purpose of this study is to highlight the
importance of ethics in accounting education. Second, the paper
argues that in the application of accounting ethics, specifically
Islam, accounting education should concentrate on religious codes
of ethics and values. Furthermore, this research explored the
ethical viewpoint of Islam and how it gives some insights into the
process of creating a more harmonized and ethical accountant.
This study suggests the Islamization of the ethical concept of
accounting as a solution to the ethical challenges the accounting
profession is confronted with, in the form of the introduction of
Islamic ethics in accounting curricula to be taught as part of the
ethical accounting education method., the paper is a concept paper
using other publications on the topic with the aimed of suggesting
good system of accounting education that will produce accountants
with excellent ethics.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the current quality waqf
reporting practices by waqf institutions in Malaysia. Five factors that influence quality waqf reporting practices namely relevance, faithful representation, understandability, comparability and timeliness were studied. Twenty items were used to measure the current level of quality waqf reporting practices in all 14 waqf institutions in Malaysia. Results show the current quality waqf reporting practices by waqf institutions in Malaysia are at a moderate level as it only scored 40.29%. Among the five factors, timeliness scored the highest with 54.29% while the lowest score is comparability at 27.5%. Among the 14 waqf institutions, Perbadanan Wakaf Malaysia (PWS) achieved the highest scorewith 82%.On the other hand, there are eight (8) waqf institutions that only scored 20% (all 20 items are scored with one (1) as the lowest score value). This research provides an important extension on previous knowledge and relevant literature of quality waqf reporting practices by waqf institutions in Malaysia.Moreover, this research focuses on the key dimensions of quality waqf reporting practices reported in the literature. This research helps especially the management of waqf institutions to measure their current disclosure level to improve quality waqf reporting practices.

Ethical aspects of professional practice are increasingly the focus of attention and scholarly investigation, nowhere more so than in the field of financial accounting. In this paper we examine how three experienced accountants responded to a query about the ethics of everyday accounting practice. From a corpus of 18 interviews undertaken in Australia, we chose three ‘accounts’ representing three disparate ethical positions. The interviewees developed their positions tentatively and incrementally, and each employed a distinctive range of rhetorical and discursive strategies. They had time to reflect on the topic in question, i.e. to reflect while actually speaking and to reflect on and react to what they had said so far. And they had time to consider the consequences of each impromptu formulation for their public identity as ethically responsible, trustworthy professionals as well as for their inner self-conceptions as ethical and moral agents. Our findings suggest that ethical self-understandings evolve over time, as individual agents react to the challenges or dilemmas they happen to confront, and that this process may well be accelerated through the activity of account giving – a process that simultaneously illuminates the impersonal corporate forces that organise our society.