The objective of this course is to provide a framework for CPA’s to have guidance on ethical reasoning, professional values, and attitudes for exercising professional skepticism and other behavior that is in the best interest of the public and profession.

This course covers several topics including an introduction to ethical concepts, the psychology of moral development, public expectations of CPA responsibilities, and ethical dilemmas. We also look to explain the historical relationship between the accounting profession, business, and government.

Learning Objectives
  • Identify sources of ethical guidance, including rules promulgated by the AICPA Code Of Conduct, state boards of accountancy, SEC, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and PCAOB
  • Explore ethical lapses in business and in the accounting profession
  • Recognize how to apply models of ethical analysis and decision making to identify the impact of various approaches to moral reasoning on moral behavior in accounting and business
  • Recognize how to apply moral reasoning to identify and confront unethical behavior.
Last updated/reviewed: March 26, 2024
101 Reviews (481 ratings)

Reviews

4
Anonymous Author
This course thoroughly covers the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, but also provides a very interesting rundown of ethical failures in history - from the Ford Pinto design fault in 1972 to the World-Com debacle. The instructor was clear, concise, and very knowledgeable.

3
Anonymous Author
A good summary of ethics. Liked the pyramid of ethical decision basis. The only thing negative was the repeats of Dixon Illinois and WorldCom information but at least these are repeated because the industry doesn't have thousands of cases to include each year.

4
Anonymous Author
Provides an overview of several interesting topics such ethical concepts, moral development and ethical dilemmas. The pyramid of ethical decision basis is helpful. Nice real-life examples of companies like Ford and WorldCom. Overall, a good refresher course.

5
Anonymous Author
Mr.Adam illustrated multiples of cases to show the theories, which would help me to prevent from some dilemma situations. Mr Adam's voice is very kindly and consideration, and his courses are very logical. I benefited a lot to attend the course.

5
Anonymous Author
Well-designed foundational course for ethics. The presenter included a wide variety of content and introduced some aspects of ethics which I hadn't seen before in similar courses (e.g. how to safeguard personal code of ethics, schemas).

5
Member's Profile
Great exercises to understand ethics. It helped me to appreciate the factors involved in ethical dilemmas and how they can be prevented from having an impact by preparing strategies ahead and following professional guidance.

4
Member's Profile
Identified the need for ethical training and did a good job laying out the definitions of key terms, such as ethics. Overall a good and thought-provoking class, but it did move a little slowly.

5
Member's Profile
Excellent course. Really enjoyed learning about the topics presented here. Instructor was wonderful. Would certainly recommend this course to my friends, family, and colleagues.

5
Member's Profile
Very well organized material presented in a very professional manner by a highly qualified instructor. Blend of humor along with the important information was a plus.

5
Anonymous Author
This course is very helpful and a good refresher. The time allotted for the course is sufficient and the instructor was effective in presenting the course materials.

4
Member's Profile
Great overview. A little slow paced feeling but hard to make this topic more exciting really. Still very good. I was reminded of things I don't always think about.

4
Anonymous Author
Felt like the course material was good things to think about, but the final exam questions were more about the detail of the theories and code of conduct.

4
Member's Profile
The instructor was very clear. The material taught is a great foundation in understanding acceptable/unacceptable ethical behavior in public accounting.

4
Member's Profile
I thought the real-life examples of former public companies (e.g., Ford, WorldCom) were helpful in applying the theory to actual scenarios.

4
Anonymous Author
It was a great refresher course and thought it was well structured. The overview of moral development was a nice addition to the course.

5
Member's Profile
Amazingly comprehensive. Wow a great recap of nearly everything I needed to review. Well spoken and easy to follow. Thank you Adam.

4
Member's Profile
The large amount of examples and the bulleted slides were very easy to follow and understand. He was a very good speaker as well.

5
Anonymous Author
I thought this was a good course. It combined both AICPA guidelines and also philosophical ideas about ethics and morality.

4
Member's Profile
A very thorough ethics course, but I feel like the examples (such as Ford Pinto) are not directly relevant for accounting.

5
Anonymous Author
Great for an ethics course. I especially liked the case studies and the six step approach to solving an ethical dilemma.

5
Member's Profile
Good course on ethics in the profession and being personally responsible while taking care to uphold your role as a CPA.

5
Member's Profile
This course provided a good summary on Regulatory Ethics and pointed out all the most important, key areas to remember.

4
Member's Profile
Thorough coverage of the rules/regulations and ethics involved in the accounting world. It's good to see this taught.

5
Anonymous Author
The lecturer gives a very clear lecture. Very well organized material presented. Great exercises to understand ethics.

4
Anonymous Author
This course meets the AICPA ethics requirements for AZ CPAs and is better than some alternative courses I considered.

5
Anonymous Author
Great course to count towards ethics course requirement straight to the point and informative. Good instructor tempo.

4
Member's Profile
This helped to clarify the AICPA Professional Code of conduct while providing a good overview of the topics covered.

5
Member's Profile
Great review course for anyone. There is a lot of material covered at a quick pace, which keeps your interest.

5
Member's Profile
Good basic information, but good reminders and examples even after taking 18 years of annual ethics courses

5
Member's Profile
I enjoyed this course. Great overview on ethics, ethical dilemmas, and consequences on acting unethically.

5
Anonymous Author
Interesting presentation of a dry subject. Appreciated the real world examples at the end of the course.

5
Member's Profile
This course was very helpful and provided a good refresher. I highly recommend this course to other CPAs!

5
Member's Profile
Very well organized and great speaker. He spoke thoroughly and knowledgably on the subject of ethics.

4
Anonymous Author
Challenging course. Good refresher for those who took the Ethics portion of the CPA exam a while ago.

5
Anonymous Author
What you would expect for a foundation level course. The questions proved to be a nice refresher.

3
Anonymous Author
slides were not detailed/descriptive enough. did not provide enough reference for the final exam.

5
Member's Profile
It was good overview of AICPA code of conduct. It was delivered in a very professional manner.

5
Anonymous Author
Well developed course that was well structured and presented. Good refresher or introduction .

3
Anonymous Author
It was a bit dense but I liked how it discussed the theories of morality as a starting point.

5
Anonymous Author
He gives relevant and useful examples while going through the slides. He does a great job.

5
Anonymous Author
Very informative. Learnt a lot. Will look forward to other ethics related courses. thanks

5
Member's Profile
A decent presentation of the AICPA ethics rules. The delivery of the presenter was good.

5
Member's Profile
The training was well organized and was probably the best Ethics course i have taken.

5
Member's Profile
Very knowledgeable and concise presentation. The examples were relevant and timely.

5
Member's Profile
Enjoyed learning about the stages of ethical decisions, schema, and the case studies

5
Member's Profile
Interesting thought on hanging a visible sign regarding ethics in your workspace.

4
Anonymous Author
Good review on a required section for CPEs. Always good to get a refresher here.

5
Anonymous Author
Enjoyed studying this material. Very useful and insightful information. Thank you

5
Anonymous Author
Ethics course to fulfill the requirement. Course is clear and easy to follow.

5
Anonymous Author
The tempo of the course is excellent ! The instructor talks in a clear manner.

4
Member's Profile
This training was a bit boring but it covered the topics well and thoroughly.

4
Anonymous Author
This course was very helpful to refresh my memory of the AICPA ethical codes.

5
Member's Profile
This course is clear, concise and a good overview of Accounting Ethics.

5
Anonymous Author
Interesting course - does a good job of covering the relevant material.

3
Member's Profile
Great use of different examples to drive the concept home. Thank you!

5
Member's Profile
The examples and illustrations in this course provided great clarity.

5
Anonymous Author
Instructor spoke very clearly. Had good examples. Interesting course.

4
Anonymous Author
Great course, enjoyed the presenter and the slides are very helpful.

5
Anonymous Author
Great class, qualifies towards CA Board required 4 hours for ethics

5
Member's Profile
Good speaker, good pace. Nice overview of AICPA ethics standards.

5
Member's Profile
Great nice slow pace, clear speaker, covers all relevant material

4
Member's Profile
need more detailed pdf sheets not the same as presentation sheets

4
Anonymous Author
course is fine but exam is poorly written and should be revised.

5
Anonymous Author
The course focuses on the key areas of compliance. Really Good!

5
Anonymous Author
Yay for ethics, yay for me! I love learning about ethics!!!!

5
Anonymous Author
I liked the use of the examples throughout. Kept it moving!

5
Member's Profile
Really well spoken instructor. Very clear to understand,

4
Member's Profile
Instructor was clear and concise. Interesting examples.

4
Anonymous Author
would have like more specific ethics violation examples

5
Member's Profile
Great course loved real world examples such as Pinto.

5
Member's Profile
Very informative. Great presentation. Good presenter.

4
Anonymous Author
Thorough presentation on many topics related to ethics

3
Anonymous Author
I liked the sample questions at the end of the course.

5
Anonymous Author
Well laid out and effective presentation of materials.

5
Anonymous Author
I liked the pace and how we could pause, rewind, etc.

5
Anonymous Author
Great structure, use of example and clear explanation

3
Member's Profile
Slides did a nice job of summarizing the discussion.

4
Anonymous Author
good course, simple and clear. instructor is good.

5
Anonymous Author
Good refresher, meets the CPE requirement.

5
Anonymous Author
Likeable instructor with relevant material

4
Anonymous Author
really helpful real life scenarios

4
Anonymous Author
Good overview of key concepts.

5
Anonymous Author
Nice pace, clearly explained.

5
Anonymous Author
Learned a lot. Great class!

4
Anonymous Author
Great overview. Thank you.

5
Anonymous Author
review of codes of conduct

5
Member's Profile
Good presenter and pacing

4
Anonymous Author
Good basic overview

4
Member's Profile
very good course.

4
Anonymous Author
nice introduction

5
Anonymous Author
very thourough

5
Member's Profile
good refresher

4
Anonymous Author
valued course

4
Member's Profile
Good overview

4
Member's Profile
Good content.

5
Member's Profile
Very helpful!

4
Anonymous Author
Great Course

5
Member's Profile
Informative

5
Member's Profile
Good review

5
Member's Profile
Well done

4
Member's Profile
Thanks.

Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Foundational

No Advanced Preparation or Prerequisites are needed for this course. 

Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Instructor for this course
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
  Introduction to the Ethics Foundation Course7:29
Ethics
  Ethics and The CPA Profession5:56
  Moral Development3:58
  Schemas5:58
  The Power of Organizations 7:14
  Your Personal Code of Ethics6:03
AICPA
  AICPA Code of Conduct7:50
  AICPA Code of Conduct for Public Practice12:51
  Other Codes of Conduct3:20
  Ethical Failures 14:04
  AICPA Independence Dilemmas5:35
CONCLUSION
  AICPA Conclusion2:51
Continuous Play
  ETHICS FOUNDATION COURSE 1:23:07
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
  Slides: Ethics Foundation CoursePDF
  Ethics Foundation Course Glossary/IndexPDF
REVIEW and TEST
  REVIEW QUESTIONSquiz
 FINAL EXAMexam