2025-26 Update: Ethics

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Ethics doesn’t stand still. This course explores how accountants can maintain integrity as AI, ESG, and global developments create new ethical risks and responsibilities.

£100 +VAT

4 CPD hours

120 days’ access

Use ACPD101 for 10% off any purchase.

2025-26 Update: Ethics

£100 +VAT

4 CPD hours 120 days’ access
Use ACPD101 for 10% off any purchase.

2025-26 Update: Ethics

This course is not currently available. To find out more, please get in touch.

This course will enable you to

  • Review the five ethical principles as defined in the IESBA Code of Ethics
  • Explore ethical threats and dilemmas currently challenging those principles
  • Discuss updates and changes to the IESBA Code and other ethical guidance
  • Recognise the ethical challenges posed by AI and other emerging technologies
  • Identify the causes of unethical behaviour and learn practical ways to prevent it

About the course

Ethics is constantly changing. New developments in technology, regulation and professional expectations mean accountants must adapt their approach to ethical standards. That’s why it pays to stay ahead of the curve – recognising what’s happening around you, as well as what’s on the horizon, so that you can work effectively, while remaining the conscience of your organisation.

This course considers the current challenges to our professional ethics, and how you can best deal with them. You’ll explore the IESBA Code and other relevant ethical guidance, and examine how updates, jurisdictional differences and recent developments – particularly in AI, ESG and cybersecurity – are shaping new ethical risks. The course also includes real-world case studies that illustrate the root causes and consequences of unethical behaviour in action.

You’ll come away with a clearer understanding of your ethical responsibilities, how to respond to new pressures with integrity, and how to maintain high ethical standards in a changing world.

Contents

Principles and threats

The principles
Integrity
Objectivity
Professional competence
Confidentiality
The importance of confidentiality
Professional behaviour

Standards and codes

Being a professional
Professional behaviour
Revised PIE definition
Technology-related provisions
Tax planning and related services
UK and Ireland
Audit and assurance work
USA
Canada
Australia
Private equity investment
Sustainability
Sustainability and ethics

Current challenges

Looking forward
AI and accounting
Ethical risks of AI
Tech troubles
Cybersecurity and confidentiality
ESG reporting

Ethics in the news

In the news
Exam misconduct
Something worse than negligence
Losing independence
Greenwashing
Ethical culture and financial reporting quality
Sexual harassment at a social event
When ads and data don’t match

How it works

Author

Anna Faherty & Julia Penny

Anna Faherty is an award-winning communicator and founder of Strategic Content, where she helps organisations explain complex ideas clearly. Julia Penny, former ICAEW President, is a leading voice on ethics, audit and financial reporting. Together, they bring expertise in communication, regulation and the evolving challenges facing today’s finance professionals.