As a professional accountancy body, it is important to ACCA to ensure all our students

irrespective of which qualification they are studying for and to which level they wish to
take their career in accountancy and finance understand what it means to work and act
professionally and ethically in the workplace.
That is why all our students are required to complete Foundations in rofessionalism
which is an online, interactive module designed to help you develop and understand what
it means to act professionally and ethically in the work you carry out.
!ou can complete Foundations in rofessionalism before or after completing your e"ams
and you only need to successfully complete the module once, even if you decide to
complete one or more of our qualifications. #owever, please note you will also be
required to complete our rofessional $thics module if you decide to continue your
studies on the ACCA %ualification.
There is no set time allocated to completing Foundations in rofessionalism. &e
encourage you to complete the module at your own pace to allow you to reflect on what
you have learnt.
Structure of the module
This module is structured in a particular way to help you in your 'ourney towards
professional status.
(ection ) of this module defines professionalism, distinguishing a profession from other
occupations, and e"plains what professionalism means at work.
(ection ) also briefly e"plains the origin and development of accounting as a profession*
it identifies the professional and regulatory bodies relevant to accountancy and their
purposes* and it e"plains the principle of +acting in the public interest,.
The rest of the module contains the following four broad themes-
.aw and regulation /(ection 01
rofessional ethics /(ection 21
ersonal effectiveness /(ection 31
ersonal values /(ection 41
The professional and ethical behaviour Decision filter
The first level of the filter is about understanding how to comply with the law in all areas
where the accountant works. This means ensuring that nothing is done that is illegal or
contravenes any regulations, and making sure that all legal requirements are complied
with. .egal obligations include preventing theft, fraud, bribery, corruption and money
laundering. They also involve complying with data protection, security, health and safety,
record keeping, financial reporting, audit and filing requirements.
As a professional it is not enough to behave in accordance with law alone. 5any of the
decisions that must be made may not be affected by the law or regulation, so how should
the accountant act in these situations6
7f the law or accounting regulation is silent or unclear, the behaviour of the accountant
should be guided by a professional code of conduct. The relevant code of conduct will be
based on compliance with the following fundamental ethical principles-
7ntegrity
8b'ectivity
rofessional competence and due care
Confidentiality
rofessional behaviour
These fundamental principles are embedded into the ACCA Code of $thics and Conduct,
and should act as a framework to guide your actions and decisions at work.
Acting within the law, and behaving in accordance with these fundamental professional
ethics, you may encounter situations when a further choice e"ists.
Figure 1: Professional behaviour decision filter
8nce behaviour complies fully with the law and is consistent with fundamental principles
of professional behaviour, further choices are still available, but the scope becomes much
narrower. For e"ample there may be a choice to do something in one way or another,
such as how to communicate with someone, or whether to act immediately or delay a
decision. The choices that you make at this level of the filter require you to consider your
personal values and use your own individual 'udgement.
This is where your personal ethical values come in.
The figure opposite can also be presented as a simple flow chart to guide your decision9
making.
The decision flowchart below is a systematic way of thinking about how you act and
behave at work and the sequence in which you, as a professional, should normally filter
your decisions.
Figure 2: Flowchart of the professional and ethical decision-making process
The Foundations in rofessionalism module will help you put this decision9making filter
into practice. :ow complete this quick qui; to test your current understanding.