Ethics are the most crucial elements of an accountant, similar to other professions. To become an accountant, one must fulfill various requirements, formal education, professional qualification standards, and attitude standards. In addition, there are also professional organizations housing accountants.

With the current rapid technological advancements, ethics are becoming more important for accountants. The digital transformation from various sectors inflicts an emergence of new challenges for accounting companies, particularly in using technology to manage financial matters. For that reason, an accountant must keep exploring and underlining the importance of ethics in their job.

Bambang Minarso, S.E., M.Si., Ak., an accounting expert from Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) commented on how technological development affects the accounting sector significantly, as well as the changes in the ways of work in accounting companies. According to him, one of the most challenging aspects faced by accountants was maintaining their ethics amidst the rapid technological advancements.

“The rapidly evolving technology can be a challenge for accountants in upholding their ethics. Ethics are essentially friends of accountants in running their professions. By upholding their ethics, an accountant can garner public trust, maintain integrity, be honest, and abide by the rules, as well as the law,” Bambang uttered.

He also emphasized that in the digital era, an accountant must be more careful and wiser in managing data and financial information. The misuse of data and unlawfulness may cause legal problems and damage the company’s reputation.

Therefore, sustainable training and education about professional ethics are important for accountants to adapt to the changes. “Ethics are the main foundation every accountant must hold. Without ethics, it would be difficult for an accountant to gain public integrity and trust,” Bambang emphasized.

Thus, in the midst of constantly developing digital transformation, it is important for accountants to uphold their ethics in every aspect of their job. Not only is it to maintain reputation, but also to ensure that financial management is done transparently and responsibly (Humas Udinus/Alex. Foto: Humas Udinus)