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The foregoing difficulties can find their way into all aspects of our life. The accountancy profession is at the present time in difficulties because of the reprehensible behaviour of some of its members; not merely slips, but deliberate cover ups resulting in misleading accounts being published with shareholders and others losing money as a result. The question thus becomes acute: "Should we tighten up the rules to an extent that professional judgement is left in the background, or should we stress the principles that should be followed, that is, that accounts should give a true and fair view of an enterprise's profits and the state of its affairs". Rules in themselves can often be circumvented and lead to the making of more rules to plug the loopholes as we have indicated above. What is important are features such as honesty in the persons who prepare or audit (check) accounts. Without such features being present no amount of rules will stop accounts that are misleading being published. |
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Finally one would quote the verse: "Here lies the body of Walker Jay, who died maintaining his right of way. He was right, dead right, as he tripped along, but he is just as dead as if he'd been wrong". Saying that I have complied with the rules when preparing accounts is not enough, one must ensure that the accounts are a true and fair reflection of the facts. The same principles apply to all walks of life and also in spiritual and moral matters. |
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February 2003 |
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