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Standards of professional ethics of auditors. Course: Moral and ethical foundations of the professional activity of auditors - Features of the ethics of the auditor. Reputation of the audit firm

3. First of all, what is ethics? Ethics is a system of norms of moral behavior of a person or any professional group. As the practice of the audit showed, for a long time it was still possible to do without the law, but not without the regulation of professional ethical obligations. For example, already at the very early stage of formation of the Russian audit, among the top-priority issues discussed with clients, there were always contractual conditions for confidentiality. The task of ethical codes is to force any professional community to force its members to comply with formally defined corporate morality.

In a number foreign countries Codes, Regulations, Rules of audit ethics have been drawn up and have been in force for a long time.

Russian Code professional ethics auditors generalizes ethical standards professional conduct of independent auditors united by the Audit Chamber of Russia. In our country, the Code of Professional Ethics for Auditors was formulated and approved at the general meeting of the Audit Chamber of Russia in 1996. New Code ethics of Russian auditors was approved by the Audit Council under the Ministry of Finance of Russia in 2007 (Minutes No. 56 of May 31, 2007).

In accordance with the adoption of the new Federal Law “On Auditing” dated December 30, 2008, each self-regulatory organization of auditors adopts a code of professional ethics for auditors approved by the Audit Council. Moreover, a self-regulatory organization has the right to include additional requirements in the code it adopts.

If the Code of Professional Ethics is adopted by each individual audit organization and auditors in their audit activities.

The standards of professional conduct defined by the Russian Code are based on international ethical standards developed by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).

The Code summarizes the ethical standards of professional conduct of independent auditors: moral, moral values, such as: independence, honesty, objectivity, professional competence, confidentiality of information, fees for professional services and professional conduct.

Consider what it means to comply with ethical standards.

I. The auditor should always be independent. This means that the auditor should withdraw his professional services if he is in a relationship with a client that may affect the results of the audit. (This may be a financial, family or personal dependency, or it may be the prior performance of accounting services)

II. When providing any audit services, the auditor must be honest, objectively to consider all emerging situations and real facts, not to allow personal bias, outside pressure to affect the objectivity of their judgments.

III. When providing audit services, the auditor must comply with professional competence.

Assuming an obligation to provide certain professional services, the auditor must be confident in his competence in this area, have sufficient knowledge and skills to professionally fulfill obligations, guarantee the client audit services based on modern techniques using all, including the latest regulations. To do this, he must constantly update his knowledge in the field of accounting, taxation, financial activities, legislation and other issues.

The audit firm is obliged to conduct annual training of auditors in the amount of at least 20 teaching hours with mandatory annual control of knowledge of new rules and regulations that have arisen in auditing.

And further- to ensure the quality of services, the auditor must strictly follow Russian standards.

IV. The auditor is obliged to maintain confidentiality of information obtained during the audit about the affairs of clients without time limits and regardless of the preservation or termination of relations with them. The auditors may not use this information for their own benefit or for the benefit of any third party, or to the detriment of the client's interests.

But every rule has exceptions..

Publication and other disclosure of confidential information of clients is not a violation of professional ethics in the following cases:

1. when it is done with the permission of the client, and also taking into account the interests of all parties that it may affect;

2. when it is provided for by law and the decision of the judiciary;

3. to protect the professional interests of the audit organization in the course of a formal investigation or private proceedings conducted by managers or representatives of clients;

4. when the client inadvertently and illegally involved auditors in actions that are contrary to professional standards.

And one moment. The Auditing Organization is responsible for maintaining confidential information on the part of all personnel of the organization.

V. The next ethical standard is payment for professional services.

Auditors are required to agree in advance with the client and fix in writing in the contract the conditions and procedure for payment for their professional services. Payment for audit services should be determined by the volume and quality of the services provided and depend on their complexity, qualifications, experience, professional authority and degree of responsibility of the auditor.

The amount of payment for the services of auditors should not depend on the achievement of any particular result.

Another important moment.

The auditor is not entitled to receive payment for his services in cash in excess of the generally established norms of calculations.

VI. And the last ethical norm that we will consider is professional conduct. Auditors should maintain good relations with colleagues in the profession, share with them the accumulated experience of audit work, and refrain from unreasonable criticism of their activities. Comments on the work of your colleague can only be made in the correct form. Auditors should refrain from being disloyal to colleagues when a client replaces an audit firm.

Conclusion: Compliance with professional ethical standards is the duty and duty of every auditor, head and employee of an audit organization.

The ethics of the auditor is a system of norms of moral behavior of the auditor, the audit organization during the audit, the provision of services related to the audit. Such a concept as medical ethics has long been known, and the functions of an auditor can be compared with the functions of a doctor, only the object of the beneficial influence of the auditor is not a person, but an enterprise (organization).

In October 1996, the Presidium of the Audit Chamber of Russia approved a code of professional ethics for auditors united by the chamber. It's approved general meeting Audit Chamber of Russia December 4, 1996

The Code of Professional Ethics for Auditors first appeared in Russian history. The very procedure of its application is unique and unusual. Auditors undertake to voluntarily and in good faith comply with established norms professional behaviour. Therefore, they must not only be known, but also understood. The Code specifies the following ethical standards:

- generally accepted moral norms and principles
- public interest
- objectivity and attentiveness of the auditor
- professional competence of the auditor
- confidential customer information
- tax relations
- fee for professional services
- relationships between auditors
- relations of employees with the audit firm
- public information and advertising
- incompatible actions of the auditor
- audit services in other states

I consider it appropriate to comment on certain norms contained in the Code.

The Code of Ethics of Auditors summarizes the ethical standards of professional behavior of independent auditors, defines the moral, moral values that the audit community asserts in its environment, ready to protect them from all possible violations and encroachments. Compliance with universal and professional ethical standards is an indispensable duty and the highest duty of every auditor, manager and employee of an audit firm. The Code of Ethics contains the following requirements.

Auditors are obliged to adhere to universal moral rules and moral norms in their actions and decisions, to live and work according to their conscience; observe the rules of the norm of general morality, truthfulness and honesty in actions and decisions, independence and objectivity in judgments and conclusions, intransigence to injustice. Compliance with the public interest.

The external auditor is obliged to act in the interests of society and all users of financial statements, and not just the customer. Defending the interests of the client in tax, judicial and other authorities, as well as in his relationship with other legal entities and individuals, the auditor must be convinced that the protected interests arose on legal and fair grounds. As soon as the auditor becomes aware that the protected interests of the client arose in violation of the law or justice, he is obliged to refuse protection. auditor objectivity.

Auditors should not present facts knowingly inaccurate or biased. When providing any professional services, auditors are required to objectively consider all emerging situations and real facts, not to allow personal bias, prejudice or outside pressure to affect the objectivity of their judgments.

The auditor should avoid relationships with persons that could affect the objectivity of his judgments and conclusions, or immediately terminate them, indicating the inadmissibility of pressure on the auditor in any form. Auditor attention.

When performing professional services, maximum care should be taken. Auditors must be attentive and serious about their duties, comply with approved auditing standards, adequately plan and control work, and check subordinate specialists. auditor independence.

Auditors are required to refuse to provide professional services if there are reasonable doubts about their independence from the client organization and its officers in all respects. In an opinion or other document drawn up as a result of the services rendered, the auditor must consciously declare his independence in relation to the client.

The main circumstances that may impair the independence of the auditor or give rise to doubts about his actual independence:

1) forthcoming (possible) or ongoing court (arbitration) cases with the client's organization;
2) financial participation of the auditor in the affairs of the client's organization in any form;
3) financial and property dependence of the auditor on the client (for example, joint participation in investments);
4) indirect financial participation (financial dependence) in the organization of the client through relatives, employees of the company, through the main and subsidiaries, etc.;
5) family and friendly relations with directors and higher

management personnel of the client;

6) excessive hospitality of the client, as well as receiving goods and services from him at prices significantly reduced relative to real market prices;
7) participation of the auditor (heads of audit firms) in any management bodies of the client's organization, its main and subsidiaries;
8) careless recommendations and advice of auditors (managers

audit firms) on financial investments in organizations in which they themselves have any financial interests;

9) the previous work of the auditor in the organization of the client or in the management

organizations in any positions;

10) proposals from the client to appoint an auditor to a managerial and other position in the client's organization.

Under the above circumstances, independence is considered violated if they arose, continued to exist or were terminated in the period for which professional audit services are to be performed.

The main circumstances that may damage the independence of an audit firm or give rise to doubts about its actual independence:

1) if the audit organization participates in financial and industrial

group, in a group credit organizations or a holding and provides professional auditing services to organizations that are part of this financial-industrial or banking group (holding);

2) if the audit organization arose on the basis of structural unit former or current ministry (committee) or with the direct or indirect participation of a former or current ministry (committee) and provides services to organizations previously or currently subordinate to this ministry (committee);
3) if the audit organization has arisen with the direct or indirect participation of banks, insurance companies or investment institutions and provides services to organizations whose shares are owned, acquired or acquired by the above structures during the period for which the audit firm must provide services.

In cases where the auditor performs other services on behalf of the client (consulting, reporting, maintaining accounting etc.), it is necessary to ensure that they do not violate the independence of the auditor. Auditor independence is ensured when:

1) auditor's advice does not develop into management services

organization;

2) there are no reasons and situations affecting the objectivity of the auditor's judgments;
3) personnel involved in accounting and reporting are not involved in the audit of the client's organization;
4) responsibility for the content of accounting and reporting assumes the client's organization.

Professional competence of the auditor.

Auditors are required to provide a sufficient professional level of audit services required by the client.

Assuming an obligation to provide certain professional services, the auditor must be confident in his competence in this area, possess the necessary amount of knowledge and skills in order to conscientiously and professionally fulfill obligations, guarantee the client audit services based on modern techniques using all, including the latest, regulations.

The auditor is obliged to refrain from providing professional services that go beyond his competence, as well as those that do not correspond to his qualification certificate.

The audit firm can attract competent professionals to assist the auditor in solving specific tasks.

The professional competence of the auditor is based on general and special higher education, passing attestation exams, confirmed by relevant diplomas and certificates, as well as on the experience of continuous practical work for the provision of professional audit services together with other specialists of this profile and professional level.

The auditor is obliged to constantly update his professional knowledge in the field of accounting, taxation, financial activities and civil law, organization and methods of auditing, legislation, Russian and international norms and standards of accounting and auditing.

To ensure the quality of professional services, the auditor must strictly follow Russian and international auditing standards.

Client confidential information.

The auditor is obliged to keep secret confidential information about the affairs of clients obtained in the provision of professional services without limitation in time and regardless of the continuation or termination of direct relations with them.

The auditor should not use confidential information of the client, which became known to him in the performance of professional services, for his own benefit or for the benefit of any third party, and also to the detriment of the client's interests.

Publication or other disclosure of clients' confidential information is not a violation of professional ethics in the following cases:

1) when it is done with the permission of the client, and also taking into account the interests of all; the parties it may affect;
2) when it is provided for by legislative acts or decisions

judiciary;

3) to protect the professional interests of auditors during the official; investigations or private proceedings conducted by managers or authorized representatives of clients;
4) when the client involved the auditor in actions contrary to professional standards.

The auditor is responsible for maintaining confidential information by assistants and all personnel of the firm.

tax relations.

Auditors are required to strictly comply with tax laws in all respects: they must not knowingly hide their income from taxation or otherwise violate tax laws for their own benefit or for the benefit of others.

When providing professional tax services, the auditor is guided by the interests of the client. At the same time, he is obliged to comply with tax laws and should not contribute to falsification in order to evade the client from paying taxes and deceive tax service.

On the facts of violation of tax legislation, errors in calculations and payment of taxes, the auditor is obliged to writing notify the client administration and audit commission joint-stock (economic) company and warn them about possible consequences and ways to correct violations and errors.

Introduction

The object of the work is the system of ethics of auditors.

The subject of the study is the activity of the system of codes of ethics for professional accountants and auditors.

The purpose of the work is to study the professional ethics of professional accountants and auditors from the Russian and foreign points of view.

Analysis of the topics of the Codes of Ethics for professional accountants and auditors is quite relevant and is of scientific and practical interest.

The profession of a professional accountant is a public interest profession, which implies the recognition and acceptance of a duty to act in the public interest. In relation to the professional accounting community, the public includes clients, employers, employees, professional associations of accountants, the financial community, as well as other individuals who rely on the objectivity, independence, integrity of professional accountants in order to ensure orderly conduct commercial activities. Therefore, the responsibility of a professional accountant is not limited to meeting the needs of an individual client or employer. When acting in the public interest, a professional accountant must comply with and comply with the requirements of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants and Auditors.

Norms of behavior of accountants. For the first time, the provisions of professional accounting ethics were developed in the USA in 1987. The American Association of Accountants adopted a code of ethics for accountants, which is updated from time to time. Its main provisions:

1) an accountant, before taking a place, must carefully study the work of the predecessor;

2) if the predecessor is no longer working, he should be contacted with a written request;

3) if it follows from the preliminary acquaintance with the cases that the employer violates or may violate the current legislation, the accountant must refuse the offer (work);

4) the accountant has no right to demand from the administration knowledge and understanding of what he is doing;

5) an accountant cannot himself demand a promotion;

6) the employer's profits cannot include a share for the chief accountant, i.e. an accountant cannot receive a bonus or additional payment for financial results that he himself has deduced;

7) the accountant should not advise the employer how to commit and hide the traces of his crime;

8) the employer and the accountant are jointly and severally liable for the misrepresentation of reporting;

9) an accountant is obliged to regularly improve his professional qualifications, etc. It is believed that the presence of a code strengthens the status of an accountant and increases the demand from employers for his work.

Auditing has become a prominent phenomenon in modern economic life. Qualified auditors are relatively highly paid specialists. The auditor bases his activity on the trust of clients and users of financial statements. The organization selects and invites a qualified, objective auditor who enjoys the trust of shareholders and all other persons interested in accounting information. A number of mandatory requirements and restrictions in the activities of the auditor is determined in legislative acts. They constitute the legal foundations of the audit profession.

The community of auditors and their organizations, united by the Audit Chamber of Russia, is called upon to improve auditing in the country, nurture high moral qualities in auditors and consultants, and strictly monitor the observance by auditors of not only legal, but also ethical standards of professional and human behavior.

1 The origin of professional ethics

To find out the origin of professional ethics is to trace the relationship of moral requirements with the division of social labor and the emergence of a profession. Aristotle, then Comte, Durkheim paid attention to these questions many years ago. They talked about the relationship between the division of social labor and the moral principles of society. For the first time the materialistic substantiation of these problems was given by K. Marx and F. Engels.

The emergence of the first professional and ethical codes refers to the period of the division of labor in the conditions of the formation of medieval workshops in the 11th-12th centuries. It was then that for the first time they state the presence in the shop charters of a number of moral requirements in relation to the profession, the nature of work, and partners in work.

However, a number of professions that are of vital importance for all members of society arose in ancient times, and therefore, such professional and ethical codes as the Hippocratic Oath, the moral regulations of priests who performed judicial functions, are known much earlier.

The appearance of professional ethics in time preceded the creation of scientific ethical teachings, theories about it. Everyday experience, the need to regulate the relationship of people of a particular profession led to the realization and formalization of certain requirements of professional ethics. Professional ethics, having arisen as a manifestation of everyday moral consciousness, then developed on the basis of a generalized practice of the behavior of representatives of each professional group. These generalizations were contained both in written and unwritten codes of conduct and in the form of theoretical conclusions. Thus, this indicates a transition from ordinary consciousness to theoretical consciousness in the sphere of professional morality. Public opinion plays an important role in the formation and assimilation of the norms of professional ethics. The norms of professional morality do not immediately become universally recognized, this is sometimes associated with a struggle of opinions. The relationship between professional ethics and public consciousness also exists in the form of tradition. Different types of professional ethics have their own traditions, which indicates the continuity of the basic ethical standards developed by representatives of a particular profession over the centuries. Professionalism as a moral personality trait.

1.1 Professionalism as a moral personality trait

Professional ethics is a set of moral norms that determine a person's attitude to his professional duty.

The moral relations of people in the labor sphere are regulated by professional ethics. Society can function normally and develop only as a result of a continuous process of production of material and valuables.

Professional ethics studies:

relations labor collectives and each specialist separately;

moral qualities, the personality of a specialist, which provide

the best performance of professional duty;

relationships within professional teams, and those

specific moral standards inherent in this profession;

features of professional education.

Professionalism and attitude to work are important characteristics of the moral character of a person. They are of paramount importance in the personal characteristics of the individual, but at different stages historical development their content and evaluation varied significantly. AT class society they were determined by the social inequality of types of labor, the opposite of mental and physical labor, the presence of privileged and unprivileged professions. The class character of morality in the sphere of work is evidenced by a work written in the first third of the 2nd century BC. the Christian biblical book "The Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach", in which there is a lesson on how to treat a slave: "feed, stick and burden - for the donkey; bread, punishment and deed - for the slave. Keep the slave busy and you will have peace loosen his hands and he will seek freedom. In ancient Greece, physical labor in terms of value and significance was at the lowest rating. And in feudal society, religion considered labor as a punishment for original sin, and paradise was presented as immortal life easily.

The situations in which people find themselves in the process of performing their professional tasks have a strong influence on the formation of professional ethics. In the process of labor, certain moral relations develop between people. They have a number of elements inherent in all types of professional ethics.

First, it is related to social work to participants in the labor process.

Secondly, these are the moral relations that arise in the area of direct contact between the interests of professional groups with each other and with society.

Professional ethics is not a consequence of inequality in the degree of morality of different professional groups. It's just that society shows increased moral requirements for certain types of professional activity. Basically, these are such professional areas in which the labor process itself requires the coordination of actions of all its participants. Particular attention is paid to the moral qualities of workers in the field that are associated with the right to dispose of people's lives, here we are talking not only about the level of morality, but also, first of all, about the proper performance of their professional duties. The labor activity of people in these professions, more than any other, is not amenable to preliminary regulation, does not fit within the framework of official instructions. It is inherently creative. The peculiarities of the work of these professional groups complicate moral relations and add to them new element: interaction with people - objects of activity. This is where moral responsibility becomes crucial. Society considers the moral qualities of an employee as one of the leading elements of his professional suitability. General moral norms should be specified in the labor activity of a person, taking into account the specifics of his profession.

Thus, professional morality should be considered in unity with the generally accepted system of morality. Violation of the work ethic is accompanied by the destruction of general moral principles, and vice versa. The irresponsible attitude of an employee to professional duties poses a danger to others, harms society, and can ultimately lead to the degradation of the individual himself.

In modern society, the personal qualities of an individual begin with his business characteristics attitude to work, the level of professional suitability. All this determines the exceptional relevance of the issues that make up the content of professional ethics. Genuine professionalism is based on such moral norms as duty, honesty, exactingness towards oneself and one's colleagues, responsibility for the results of one's work.

2 From audit history

The profession of an independent accountant-auditor arose in the 19th century. in joint stock companies in Europe. This was due to the need for an objective assessment of reporting joint-stock company, obtaining reliable data on the financial position of the enterprise. These objective data could only be given by a specialist independent of the firm. It can be noted that accountants-auditors appeared in Great Britain in the middle of the 19th century, where the law on mandatory audit was passed in 1862, in France - in 1867, in the USA - in 1937.

Until the beginning of the 20th century. an independent audit in the United States of America was based on the English model, which provides for detailed studies of balance sheet data. In this regard, R. Montgomery called the American audit of this early stage an "accounting audit", noting that three-quarters of the auditor's working time was spent on calculations and compiling accounting books. The first official regulation on auditing in the United States was published in 1917 and dealt with the "audit of balance sheets." This ruling was prepared by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (now the American Institute of Chartered Public Accountants - AICPA).

The standardization of auditing in the United States began in 1939, when the AICPA established the Audit Procedures Committee and it issued the Audit Procedure Regulations. Until 1972, 54 Regulations were issued by this Committee. The Committee then became the Auditing Standards Executive Committee (later renamed the Auditing Standards Board). The Board summarized all the Regulations and brought them together in the form of the Audit Procedure Regulation, which is currently in force.

In 1880 the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales was founded. One hundred years later, it already had 76,000 members. This institute does a lot of methodological work, develops accounting and auditing standards, publishes the journal Accountants, which publishes a variety of audit materials.

In Germany, the first attempt to introduce an audit was made in 1870, when an addition to the law on joint-stock companies obliged the supervisory boards of these companies to check the main reporting forms - the balance sheet and the profit distribution report - and report the results of the check at general meetings of shareholders.

The methodology for organizing an external audit was formulated more clearly in the regulations regarding joint-stock companies in 1931. In 1932, the Institute of Auditors was established in Germany, which existed until 1941. After the end of World War II, the Institute of Auditors was formed in Düsseldorf, which was renamed in 1954 at the German Institute of Auditors. It has gained high prestige and is essentially an all-German organization.

Currently, the Institute of Auditors includes more than 6,000 auditors and 700 audit organizations. The main condition for membership is voluntary but strict adherence to professional rules, including ethical standards.

State influence on audit activity in Germany is determined by the fact that all auditors and audit firms must be members of the Audit Chamber of Germany.

In France, there are two main organizations involved in auditing activities: the Chamber of Expert Accountants and National company account commissioners. The main difference between accountants and account commissioners is that the former are invited to conduct audits of accounting and reporting in joint-stock companies, while the latter are appointed on a mandatory basis in accordance with the existing legislation on joint-stock companies. Accounts commissioners carry out the most responsible checks; the profession of an expert accountant is not so strictly regulated by government bodies.

In Italy, statutory audit activities may be carried out in accordance with the Decree of the Government of 1992 only by persons entered in a special nominal register, which is under the control of the Ministry of Justice. Only auditors who have passed exams in accounting, law, computer technology and informatics can get into this register. Applicants for the title of auditor can be specialists with higher economic, legal and commercial education with at least three years of practical experience.

In 1983, the Audit Administration was established in China and the first audit firms emerged, which have now reached a fairly high level of development.

Audit is becoming more and more widespread in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Ukraine have adopted laws on auditing. In the CIS, the process of attestation of auditors and the issuance of licenses has been established, both for audit firms and for auditors working as entrepreneurs.

In Russia, audit activity and the profession of an auditor in their modern form appeared relatively recently in connection with the economic transformations in the country. Meanwhile, as noted by a well-known specialist in the field of audit, control and revision, prof. Yu.A. Danilevsky, attempts to create an audit institution in Russia were made in 1889, 1912 and 1928, but they all ended in failure. The fourth attempt, undertaken in the late 80s of the last century, proved to be the most successful, as practice has shown.

2.1 Formation and development of audit in Russia

The first stage (1987-1993) was characterized, on the one hand, by the directive nature of the creation of audit organizations (1987 - the creation of the first audit organization "Interaudit"), on the other hand, by the spontaneous nature of the emergence of audit activity (training, disorderly issuance of the first certificates and licenses during the period 1990-1993).

Second stage (December 1993 until the adoption federal law“On Auditing Activities” - August 2001) - the period of formation of the Russian audit, in the process of which the Provisional Rules for Auditing Activities, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 22, 1993 No. 2263, played an important role, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 1996 No. 482 “On Approval of Normative Documents for the Regulation of Auditing Activities” and a number of other documents.

The work on attestation of auditors and licensing of audit activities was started and carried out, audit public associations and audit firms were created, work began on conducting mandatory audits and providing audit-related services.

For the period 1994-2001. The Central Attestation and Licensing Audit Commission (CALAC) of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation issued 23,600 licenses to licensees (including 14,700 audit organizations and 8,900 individual auditors). The number of valid licenses was about 8,900, including 7,700 for general audit, 266 for audit of investment institutions, audit of insurers. During the same period, the CALAC of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation approved almost 36,500 auditor qualification certificates for issuance. The number of valid qualification certificates was 249,001.

For the period 1996-2000. 37 rules (standards) of audit activity and one method of audit activity were developed and approved by the Audit Commission under the President of the Russian Federation, which formed the methodological basis of the Russian audit.

The third stage of audit activity in Russia began after the adoption of the Federal Law "On Auditing" (dated August 7, 2001 No. 119-FZ as amended by Federal Law dated December 14, 2001 No. 164-FZ). The adoption of the Federal Law confirmed the final formation of audit in Russia, made it possible to adopt a number of legal acts to regulate audit activities in Russia, to take a step towards integrating Russian audit into the international audit system.

2.2 Auditor ethics

In October 1996, the Presidium of the Audit Chamber of Russia approved the Code

professional ethics of auditors united by the chamber. It is approved by the general

The Code of Professional Ethics for Auditors first appeared in Russian history. The very procedure of its application is unique and unusual. Auditors undertake to voluntarily and in good faith observe the established standards of professional conduct. Therefore, they must not only be known, but also understood. The Code specifies the following ethical standards:

Generally accepted moral norms and principles

public interest

Objectivity and attentiveness of the auditor

Auditor Competence

Client Confidential Information

Tax relations

Professional service fee

Relationships between auditors

Employee relations with the audit firm

Auditor inconsistent actions

Audit services in other states

I consider it appropriate to comment on certain norms contained in the Code.

The Code of Ethics contains the following requirements.

Compliance with the public interest.

auditor objectivity.

Auditors should not present facts knowingly inaccurate or biased.

When providing any professional services, auditors are required to objectively consider all emerging situations and real facts, not to allow personal bias, prejudice or outside pressure to affect the objectivity of their judgments.

Auditor attention.

auditor independence.

The main circumstances that may impair the independence of the auditor or give rise to doubts about his actual independence:

1) forthcoming (possible) or ongoing judicial (arbitration) cases with

client organization;

2) financial participation of the auditor in the affairs of the client's organization in any form;

3) financial and property dependence of the auditor on the client (for example,

joint participation in investments);

4) indirect financial participation (financial dependence) in the organization

client through relatives, employees of the company, through the main and subsidiaries, etc.;

5) family and friendly relations with directors and higher

management personnel of the client;

6) excessive hospitality of the client, as well as receiving goods from him and

services at prices significantly reduced relative to real market prices;

7) participation of the auditor (heads of audit firms) in any bodies

management of the client's organization, its main and subsidiaries;

audit firms) on financial investments in organizations in which they themselves have any financial interests;

9) the previous work of the auditor in the organization of the client or in the management

organizations in any positions;

10) proposals from the client to appoint an auditor to the management and other

position in the client's organization.

Under the above circumstances, independence is considered violated if they arose, continued to exist or were terminated in the period for which professional audit services are to be performed.

The main circumstances that may damage the independence of an audit firm or give rise to doubts about its actual independence:

1) if the audit organization participates in financial and industrial

a group, in a group of credit institutions or a holding and provides professional auditing services to organizations included in this financial-industrial or banking group (holding);

2) if the audit organization arose on the basis of a structural unit

former or current ministry (committee) or with the direct or indirect participation of a former or current ministry (committee) and provides services to organizations previously or currently subordinate to this ministry (committee);

3) if the audit organization arose with direct or indirect participation

banks, insurance companies or investment institutions and provides services to organizations whose shares are owned, acquired or acquired by the above structures during the period for which the audit firm must provide services.

In cases where the auditor performs other services on behalf of the client (consulting, reporting, accounting, etc.), it is necessary to ensure that they do not violate the independence of the auditor. Auditor independence is ensured when:

1) auditor's advice does not develop into management services

organization;

2) there are no reasons and situations affecting the objectivity of the auditor's judgments;

3) personnel involved in accounting and compiling

reporting, is not involved in the audit of the client organization;

4) responsibility for the content of accounting and reporting

assumed by the client organization.

Professional competence of the auditor.

Auditors are required to provide a sufficient professional level of audit services required by the client.

The auditor is obliged to refrain from providing professional services that go beyond his competence, as well as those that do not correspond to his qualification certificate.

The audit firm can attract competent professionals to assist the auditor in solving specific tasks.

The professional competence of an auditor is based on general and specialized higher education, passing attestation exams, confirmed by relevant diplomas and certificates, as well as on the experience of continuous practical work in providing professional audit services together with other specialists of this profile and professional level.

To ensure the quality of professional services, the auditor must strictly follow Russian and international auditing standards.

Client confidential information.

Publication or other disclosure of clients' confidential information is not a violation of professional ethics in the following cases:

1) when it is done with the permission of the client, and also taking into account the interests of all

parties that may be affected:

2) when it is provided for by legislative acts or decisions

judiciary;

3) to protect the professional interests of auditors during the official

investigations or private proceedings conducted by managers or authorized representatives of clients;

4) when the client involved the auditor in actions contrary to

professional standards.

The auditor is responsible for maintaining confidential information by assistants and all personnel of the firm.

tax relations.

The auditor is obliged to inform the administration of the client and the audit commission of the joint-stock (economic) company about the facts of violation of tax legislation, errors in calculations and payment of taxes revealed during the statutory audit and warn them about the possible consequences and ways to correct violations and errors.

Recommendations and advice in the field of taxation, the auditor is obliged to provide the client only in writing. At the same time, he should not reassure the client that his recommendations exclude any problems with the tax authorities, and should also warn the client that the responsibility for the preparation and content of tax returns and other tax reporting lies with the client.

Professional service fee.

The auditor's professional fees are ethical if they are paid based on the scope and quality of the services provided. It may depend on the complexity of the services provided, qualifications, experience, professional authority and the degree of responsibility of the auditor.

The amount of professional fees for auditors should not depend on the achievement of any specific result or be determined by circumstances other than those specified above.

The auditor has no right to receive payment for professional services in cash in excess of the generally established norms of calculations. The auditor must refrain from paying or receiving commissions for acquiring or transferring clients or transferring third party services to anyone.

The auditor is obliged to agree in advance with the client and fix in writing the conditions and procedure for paying for his professional services. The auditor is not required to announce prices for services rendered in advance.

Doubts about the observance of professional ethics are caused by the situation when the payment of one client is all or most of the annual revenue of the auditor for the rendered professional services.

Relationships between auditors.

Auditors are required to treat other auditors kindly, to refrain from unreasonable criticism of their activities and other conscious actions that cause damage to colleagues.

The auditor should refrain from disloyal actions towards a colleague when the client replaces the auditor, assist the newly appointed auditor in obtaining information about the client and the reasons for replacing the auditor. Informing the newly appointed auditor is carried out in writing in compliance with the rules.

The newly invited auditor, if such an invitation is not based on the results of a tender held by the client, before agreeing to the proposal, must send a written request to the former auditor and make sure that there are no professional reasons for refusing it.

A newly invited auditor who has not received a response from the previous auditor to his request within a reasonable time and, despite the efforts made, who does not have other information about the circumstances that prevent him from working with this client, has the right to give a positive response to the proposal received.

The auditor has the right, in the interests of his client and with his consent, to invite other auditors and other specialists to provide professional services. Relations with other auditors (specialists) involved additionally must be businesslike and correct.

Auditors (specialists), additionally involved in the provision of services, are obliged to refrain from discussing with the client's representatives the business and professional qualities of the main auditors, to show maximum loyalty to the colleagues who invited them.

Relations of employees with the audit firm.

Certified auditors who have agreed to become employees of an audit firm are obliged to be loyal to it, to contribute to the authority and further development of the firm with all their activities, to maintain business, friendly relations with managers and other employees of the firm, managers and staff of clients.

The relationship between employees and the audit firm should be based on mutual responsibility for the performance of professional duties, on devotion and open-mindedness, continuous improvement of the organization of audit services, their professional content.

A certified auditor, who often changes auditing firms or suddenly leaves it and thereby causes some damage to the firm, violates professional ethics.

The heads (employees) of an audit firm refrain from discussing with third parties the professional and personal qualities of their former employees and colleagues, except in cases where these former employees have caused significant damage to the profession and the legitimate interests of the firm by their actions.

At the request of the head of the audit firm in which the auditor is employed, the head of the audit firm, of which the auditor previously worked, may give a written recommendation indicating the professional and personal qualities of the auditor.

The auditor, for one reason or another, leaving the audit firm, is obliged in good faith and in full to transfer to the firm all the documentation and other professional information he has.

3 Accountant ethics

The Code of Ethics contains the following requirements. A professional accountant is required to observe the following basic principles of conduct:

a) honesty;

b) objectivity;

c) professional competence and due diligence;

d) confidentiality;

e) professional behavior.

Honesty

1.2. A professional accountant must act openly and honestly in all professional and business relationships. The principle of honesty also implies fair dealing and truthfulness.

1.3. A professional accountant should not deal with records, documents, communications or other information if there is reason to believe that:

a) the information contains materially false or misleading statements;

b) the information contains statements or data prepared carelessly;

c) the information contains omissions or distortions of necessary data where they may be misleading.

1.4. A professional accountant will not be considered in breach of clause 1.3 if he issues a report adjusted for the reasons given in that clause.

Objectivity

1.5. A professional accountant should not allow bias, conflicts of interest or other persons to influence the objectivity of his professional judgment.

1.6. A professional accountant may find himself in a situation that could damage his objectivity. It is not possible to identify and describe all such situations. A professional accountant should avoid relationships that may distort or influence his or her professional judgment.

Professional competence and due diligence

1.7. A professional accountant must constantly maintain his knowledge and skills at a level that ensures the provision of qualified professional services to clients or employers, based on the latest achievements in practice and modern legislation. In providing professional services, a professional accountant must act with due diligence and in accordance with applicable technical and professional standards.

1.8. The qualified provision of a professional service involves the formation of an informed judgment regarding the application of professional knowledge and skills in the process of providing a service. Ensuring professional competence can be divided into two independent stages:

a) achieving the proper level of professional competence;

b) maintaining professional competence at the proper level.

1.9. Maintaining professional competence requires constant awareness of relevant technical, professional and business innovations. Continuing professional development develops and maintains the capabilities that enable a professional accountant to perform competently in a professional environment.

1.10. Diligence is understood as the obligation to act in accordance with the requirements of the task (contract), carefully, carefully and in a timely manner.

1.11. A professional accountant should take steps to ensure that those working under him in a professional capacity are properly trained and directed.

1.12. When appropriate, a professional accountant should make clients, employers or other users of professional services aware of the limitations of those services in order to avoid construing a professional accountant's opinion as a statement of fact.

Confidentiality

1.13. A professional accountant should maintain the confidentiality of information obtained from a professional or business relationship and should not disclose that information to unauthorized third parties, unless the professional accountant has a lawful, professional law or obligation to disclose such information. Confidential information obtained as a result of a professional or business relationship should not be used by a professional accountant to obtain any advantage for them or third parties.

1.14. A professional accountant must maintain confidentiality even outside their professional environment. A professional accountant must be aware of the possibility of inadvertent disclosure of information, especially in the context of maintaining long-term relationships with business partners or their close relatives or family members.

1.15. A professional accountant must maintain the confidentiality of information disclosed to him by a potential client or employer.

1.16. A professional accountant must maintain the confidentiality of information within his or her organization or with employers.

1.17. A professional accountant should take all reasonable steps to ensure that those under his supervision and those from whom he receives advice or assistance respect his obligation to maintain the confidentiality of information with due respect.

1.18. The need to respect the principle of confidentiality continues even after the end of the relationship between a professional accountant and a client or employer. When changing jobs or starting work with a new client, a professional accountant has the right to use previous experience. However, a professional accountant should not use or disclose confidential information obtained from a previous professional or business relationship.

1.19. A professional accountant should or may be required to disclose confidential information when:

a) the disclosure is legally permitted and/or authorized by the client or employer;

b) disclosure is required by law, for example:

when preparing documents or presenting evidence in a different form during the trial;

when reporting the facts of violation of the law that have become known to the appropriate authorities state power;

c) disclosure is a professional duty or right (unless prohibited by law):

when checking the quality of work of an organization - a member of a professional organization or the professional organization itself;

upon inquiry or investigation by a member body, professional body or supervisory authority;

when a professional accountant defends his or her professional interests in legal proceedings.

1.20. In deciding whether to disclose confidential information, a professional accountant should consider the following:

a) whether the interests of any of the parties, including third parties whose interests may also be affected, will be harmed if the client or employer has permission to disclose information;

b) whether the information is sufficiently known and reasonably substantiated. In a situation where there are unsubstantiated facts, conclusions, incomplete information or unreasonable conclusions, professional judgment should be used to determine in what form information should be disclosed (if necessary);

c) the nature of the expected message and its addressee. In particular, a professional accountant must be satisfied that the persons to whom the communication is addressed are the intended recipients of the communication.

professional behaviour.

1.21. A professional accountant must comply with relevant laws and regulations and avoid any action that discredits or may discredit the profession or is an action that a reasonable and knowledgeable third party with all the necessary information would consider to be detrimental to the good reputation of the profession.

1.22. In offering and promoting its candidacy and services, a professional accountant should not discredit the profession. A professional accountant must be honest and truthful and must not:

a) make claims about the quality of the services he can provide, his qualifications and experience gained;

b) make disparaging remarks about the work of other professional accountants or make unwarranted comparisons of their work with those of other accountants.

Conclusion

Accountants and auditors of public, charitable, non-profit organizations in their work are guided by ethical standards adopted in the independent sector as a whole.

1) devotion to the cause, the desire to fulfill the mission of the organization

2) voluntariness and disinterestedness

3) commitment to the public good

4) respect for the value and dignity of the individual

5) tolerance and striving for social justice

6) responsibility to society

7) openness and honesty

8) frugality in relation to means

9) compliance with laws.

Basic principles of everyday ethics:

1) Be a model of personal behavior

2) In the process of work, act in accordance with the values \u200b\u200band purpose of their profession

3) Serve your profession for the benefit of others

4) Do not participate in cases related to lies, deceit, forgery

5) Strive to improve their professional knowledge and practical experience, put the call of duty above all

6) Do not use professional relationships to achieve personal goals

7) Maintain the confidentiality of the information received

8) Direct efforts to prevent inhumane or discriminatory actions directed against one person or groups of people.

Professional organizations develop detailed codes of professional ethics for accountants and auditors, trying to provide for all possible nuances of their behavior.

The Code of Ethics for Accountants and Auditors summarizes the ethical norms of professional behavior, defines the moral, moral values that the community affirms in its environment, ready to protect them from all possible violations and encroachments.

Compliance with universal and professional ethical standards is an indispensable duty and the highest duty of every accountant and auditor, manager and employee of the company.

Much is said about the ethics of professional auditors, but little is done to educate authoritative highly qualified specialists. Ethical problems are encountered daily in the professional path of an accountant and auditor. They need to be resolved with dignity, and for this you need to know the norms of professional behavior, prepare yourself for their strict observance.

List of sources used

Code of Ethics for Members of the Institute of Professional Accountants of Russia

(approved by the decision of the Presidential Council of the IPBR, protocol No. 08/03 dated 26.09.07)

Code of Ethics for Russian Auditors (approved by the Audit

activities under the Ministry of Finance of Russia, protocol No. 56 dated May 31, 2007)

ethics

special rules

ethics

auditors

Ethico legal mechanisms of the audit business
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Code of Professional ethics auditors RK approved by the Audit Chamber. Ethics professional conduct auditors defines moral ... possible violations and encroachments. Code ethics auditors Code ethics auditors includes 12 basic rules...
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Codes ethics professional accountants and auditors. The purpose of the work is to study the professional ethics professional accountants and auditors with... every accountant and auditor, manager and employee of the company. About ethics auditors-Professionals talk a lot...
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In an effort to implement the large-scale task of developing and implementing coordinated and interrelated standards of professional ethics for auditors, the Audit Council under the Ministry of Finance Russian Federation with the active participation of professional audit associations accredited by the Ministry of Finance of Russia, a Code of Ethics was developed professional activity auditors and adopted by the Council on August 28, 2003.

Code of Ethics for Auditors is a detailed official list of values and principles that Russian auditors are guided by in their professional activities.

In accordance with the terms of the code, it must be recognized that the main goal of the audit profession is the activity of specialists at the highest professional level, ensuring the quality of the performance of tasks and the satisfaction of public interests.

Compliance with ethical standards of professional behavior is achieved by the high responsibility of auditors. Compliance with universal and professional ethical standards is an indispensable duty and the highest duty of every auditor, manager and employee of an audit firm.

Principles to be followed by every auditor

The Code of Ethics for Auditors sets out the fundamental principles that every auditor must comply with: honesty, independence, objectivity, professional competence and due diligence, confidentiality, management of regulatory documents and other principles.

Under honesty not only truthfulness is understood, but also impartiality and reliability. In accordance with the principle of objectivity, all auditors must act fairly, honestly and have no conflict of interest.

Auditors must exercise objectivity in the performance of their functions. Objectivity means open-mindedness, impartiality and not subject to any influence when considering professional matters and the formation of conclusions and conclusions.

Subject to ethical requirements objectivity should:

avoid relationships that allow bias, partiality or the influence of others to the detriment of objectivity;
not accept or offer gifts or hospitality that can reasonably be expected to have a material and inappropriate effect on auditors' professional judgment.

When expressing consent to the provision of services, the auditor must be sure that he will perform the work at a high professional level. The auditor should refrain from providing services in an area where he is incompetent unless he is assisted by appropriate specialists. Auditors must perform audit services with due diligence, competence and diligence. It is their responsibility to constantly improve their knowledge and experience at a level that gives both management and the client confidence in high quality professional services based on constantly updated information in the field of legislation, methodology and audit practice.

Professional Competence- Possession of the necessary amount of knowledge and skills, allowing the auditor to provide professional services in a qualified and high-quality manner.

Auditors should not exaggerate their knowledge and experience.

Confidentiality- one of the audit principles, which is that auditors (audit organizations) are obliged to ensure the safety of documents received or compiled by them in the course of audit activities, and are not entitled to transfer these documents or their copies (both in full or in part) to any either to third parties or to disclose the information contained therein orally without the consent of the owner (manager) of the audited entity, with the exception of cases provided for by legislative acts of the Russian Federation.

Data obtained in the course of an audit conducted on behalf of the body of inquiry, prosecutor, investigator, court and arbitration court may be made public only with the permission of these authorities and in the form in which the said authorities recognize it as possible.

The principle of confidentiality must be strictly observed, even if the disclosure or dissemination of information about the inspected economic entity does not cause material or other damage to it.

In accordance with the terms of Article 8 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On Auditing Activities”, audit organizations and individual auditors are required to keep secret about transactions in organizations where audits were carried out or to which services related to the audit were provided. Confidentiality includes a duty to keep information from being disclosed and includes a requirement for an auditor who receives information in the course of performing professional services not to use that information for personal purposes or for the benefit of a third party.

The Code of Ethics for Auditors stipulates the following basic professional requirements for confidentiality, which include non-disclosure of information of the following nature:

information about facts, events and circumstances privacy a citizen, allowing to identify his personality (personal data), with the exception of information to be disseminated in the media in cases established by federal laws;
information constituting the secret of the investigation and legal proceedings;
official information, access to which is restricted by public authorities in accordance with federal laws and regulations (official secret);
information related to professional activities, access to which is restricted in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws (medical, audit, notarial, lawyer secrets, privacy of correspondence, telephone conversations, postal items, telegraphic or other messages, and so on);
information related to commercial activities, access to which is restricted in accordance with federal laws and regulations (commercial secret);
information about the essence of an invention, utility model or industrial design before the official publication of information about them.

Independence- this is a mandatory lack of interest (financial, property, related or any other) from the auditor when forming his opinion in the affairs of the audited organization or dependence on third parties.

It is in the public interest that all auditors and audit firms should be independent of audited entities and third parties.

The most effective audit is carried out by independent auditors. AT current legislation(Article 12 of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Auditing") there are restrictions that stipulate the conditions for the independence of audits. The following table indicates the main requirements for legal and individuals in the limitations during the audit:

Reputation of the audit firm

In their activities, auditors must comply with a number of prerequisites or basic principles that not only allow you to create a good reputation for the audit firm and its employees, but also are generally accepted ethical standards of conduct in this area. These principles include Integrity and Professional Conduct.

good faith- involves the provision of professional services by the auditor with due diligence, promptness and proper use of their abilities. At the same time, the diligent and responsible attitude of the auditor to his work should not be taken as a guarantee of error-free auditing.

professional conduct— observance of the priority of public interests and the obligation of the auditor to maintain the high reputation of his profession, refrain from committing acts incompatible with the provision of audit services

The professional ethics of the auditor is not limited to these few rules of conduct. The concept of professional conduct extends to all areas of the auditor's activity. Ethics and its disciplinary influence are the basis of self-regulation of their activities. Auditors must keep the interests of others in mind at all times. No matter how difficult their solution is, it is necessary, given the technical details, to remember the essence of the problem. It is impossible to overestimate the importance for accountants and auditors of understanding the very spirit of the profession that influences other people.

Auditor Code of Ethics establishes standards of conduct for auditors, defines the fundamental principles that must be observed by him in the course of the performance of his professional functions.

To develop professional ethics, the provisions of general ethics are used. Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the systematic study of the problem of human choice, the concepts of good and bad that a person is guided by, and the meaning that ultimately has. The need to regulate the ethical behavior of professional groups arose in connection with the responsibility of its representatives to society.

Auditors have a responsibility to society, including to all who rely on their objectivity, honesty, independence, which helps to maintain normal functioning commercial activities.

Professional ethics includes code of practice, which are of a framework nature, however, even if they exist, the problem of choice in a particular case remains with the professional:

imperative- is based on strict rules that should be followed, the disadvantage is that only compliance with the rules is considered, and not the consequences of actions;
utilitarian- the consequences as a result of actions are studied, and not compliance with the rules (i.e. exceptions to the rules are allowed), the disadvantage is that this approach gives a positive effect if everyone else follows the norm, if not, then the exception to the rules becomes the rule for everyone and the norm of behavior are not respected;
generalization- a reasonable combination of imperative and utilitarian approaches, involves solving the problem of choice, answering the question: "What would happen if everyone acted the same way in the same circumstances?" If the results of actions are undesirable, then such actions are unethical and should not be carried out.

Allocate international, national and domestic codes of professional ethics for auditors.

International Code professional ethics adopted by the IFAC. It contains norms both in general for all professional accountants and separately for independent professional accountants (auditors).

Code of Professional Ethics for Russian Auditors as a national one was approved by the Council for Auditing under the Ministry of Finance of Russia on August 28, 2003 by protocol No. 16 and agreed with the Coordinating Council of Russian professional associations auditors and accountants. It was prepared taking into account the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation on the basis of the recommendations of the IFAC Code of Ethics with the maximum preservation of its conceptual approaches and sections. This code establishes the rules of conduct for Russian auditors and defines the basic principles that must be observed by them in the exercise of their professional activities. Since 2001, accredited professional audit associations in Russia have been obliged to establish requirements for professional ethics and systematically monitor their observance. The code of ethics in force in a professional association belongs to the group internal codes. In accordance with the rules of succession, its norms should not contradict the national code and contain requirements below the national one.

Before the entry into force of Federal Law No. 119-FZ of 07.08.2001 “On Auditing Activities”, some Russian audit associations themselves developed and adopted an internal code of professional ethics for the auditor. In particular, such a code was approved in December 1996 by the Audit Chamber of Russia. It summarized the ethical standards of professional conduct of independent auditors, united by the Audit Chamber of Russia, on the basis of international ethical standards of the IFAC.

Existence of codes of ethics different levels may lead to certain inconsistencies. The international code regarding this problem provides the following: if any provision of the national code of ethics contradicts the provision of the international code of ethics, then the national requirement must be met. When providing services in another state, one should be guided by the code of ethics, which defines more stringent (strict) requirements.

For non-compliance with the code of ethics is determined by a professional audit association.

The Code of Professional Ethics for Auditors establishes the standards of conduct for auditors, defines the fundamental principles that must be observed by them in the course of performing their professional functions. The need to regulate the ethical behavior of professional auditors arose in connection with the responsibility of its representatives to society.

Auditors have a responsibility to society, including to all who rely on their objectivity, honesty, independence, which contributes to the maintenance of the normal functioning of commercial activities. Professional ethics includes a set of norms that are of a framework nature, however, even if they exist, the problem of choice in a particular case remains with the professional. It defines the moral, moral values that the audit community asserts in its environment, ready to protect them from all possible violations and encroachments. Compliance with universal and professional ethical standards is an indispensable duty and the highest duty of every auditor, manager and employee of an audit firm. Characteristics of the order of observance of the basic norms of audit ethics are given in table 3.2.

Allocate international, national codes of professional ethics of auditors and codes of professional ethics of self-regulatory organizations.

The International Code of Professional Ethics has been adopted by the IFAC. It contains norms both in general for all professional accountants and separately for independent professional accountants (auditors).

Table 3.2.

Characteristics of the procedure for compliance with the basic standards of audit ethics

Norm	Compliance procedure
Objectivity and attentiveness of the auditor	An objective basis for the conclusions, recommendations and conclusions of the auditor can only be a sufficient amount of required information. Auditors should not knowingly present facts inaccurately or biased. When providing any professional services, auditors are required to objectively consider all emerging situations and real facts, not to allow personal bias, prejudice or outside pressure to affect the objectivity of their judgments.
Auditor Independence	Auditors are required to refuse to provide professional services if there are reasonable doubts about their independence from the client organization and its officials in all respects. Auditors are required to provide a sufficient professional level of audit services required by the client. When accepting an obligation to provide certain professional services, the auditor must be confident in his competence in this area. The auditor is obliged to constantly update his professional knowledge in the field of accounting, taxation, financial activities and civil law, organization and methods of auditing, legislation, Russian and international accounting and auditing standards and standards.
Confidential customer information	The auditor is obliged to keep confidential information about the affairs of clients obtained in the course of providing professional services, indefinitely and regardless of the continuation or termination of direct relations with them. The auditor should not use confidential information of the client, which became known to him in the performance of professional services, for his own benefit or for the benefit of any third party, and also to the detriment of the client's interests.
Tax relations	Auditors are required to strictly comply with the legislation on taxation in all aspects; they must not knowingly hide their income from taxation or otherwise violate tax laws for their own benefit or for the benefit of others. When providing professional tax services, the auditor is guided by the interests of the client. At the same time, he should not contribute to falsifications in order to evade the client from paying taxes and deceive the tax service. The auditor is obliged to inform the client administration and the audit commission of the joint-stock company about the facts of violation of tax legislation, errors in calculations and payment of taxes revealed during the statutory audit and warn them about the possible consequences and ways to correct violations and errors.
Professional service fee	An auditor's professional fee is ethical if it is paid based on the scope of services rendered. It may depend on the complexity of the services provided, qualifications, experience, professional authority and the degree of responsibility of the auditor. The amount of the auditor's professional fees should not depend on the achievement of any specific result or be conditioned by other circumstances.
Relationships between auditors	Auditors are obliged to treat other auditors kindly, refrain from unreasonable criticism of their activities and other conscious actions that cause damage to colleagues in the profession, assist the newly appointed auditor in obtaining information about the client and the reasons for replacing the auditor. The newly invited auditor, if such an invitation is not based on the results of a tender held by the client, before agreeing to the proposal, is obliged to request the previous auditor and make sure that there are no professional reasons for refusal.
Employee relations with the audit firm	Certified auditors who have agreed to become employees of an audit firm are required to be loyal to it, to contribute to the credibility and further development firms, maintain business, friendly relations with managers and other employees of the firm, managers and staff of clients. The audit firm is obliged to develop methods of professional activity, to generalize regulations, to supply their employees with them, to constantly take care of improving their professional knowledge and qualities. Professionals who have moved to another audit firm are required to refrain from condemning or reinstating their former managers and colleagues, from discussing with anyone the organization and methods of work in the former firm. They must not disclose confidential information known to them and documents of the audit firm with which they have terminated their employment relationship.
Public information and advertising	Public information about auditors and advertising of audit services may be presented in the media, special editions of auditors, in address and telephone directories, in public speeches and other publications of auditors, managers and employees of audit firms.
Auditor inconsistent actions	The auditor should not, simultaneously with the main professional practice, engage in activities that affect or may affect his objectivity and independence, respect for the priority of the public interest and are not compatible with the provision of professional audit services.
Audit services in other states	Regardless of where the auditor provides professional services, in his country or in another, the ethical standards of his behavior remain unchanged. To ensure the quality of professional services provided in other states, the auditor must know and apply in his work the international auditing standards and standards in force in the state in which he carries out professional activities.

The Code of Professional Ethics of Auditors of Russia as a national one was approved by the Audit Council under the Ministry of Finance of Russia on August 28, 2003 by protocol No. 16 and agreed with the Coordinating Council of Russian professional associations of auditors and accountants. It was prepared taking into account the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation on the basis of the recommendations of the IFAC Code of Ethics with the maximum preservation of its conceptual approaches and sections. This code establishes the rules of conduct for Russian auditors and defines the basic principles that must be observed by them in the exercise of their professional activities. Also, each self-regulatory organization of auditors adopts a code of professional ethics for auditors approved by the audit council. The self-regulatory organization of auditors has the right to include additional requirements in the code of professional ethics of auditors adopted by it. The code of ethics in force in the self-regulatory organization of auditors belongs to the group of internal codes. In accordance with the rules of succession, its norms should not contradict the national code and contain requirements below the national one. The responsibility of auditors for non-compliance with the code of ethics is determined self-regulatory organizations auditors

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