Can the regulations prevent the unethical behaviours in accounting profession? A philosophical approach on the case of Turkiye

This exploratory research aims to determine the unethical behaviours encountered in the accounting profession in Turkiye and evaluate them from a philosophical point of view. An in-depth interview was applied to the accounting academics and accounting-related professionals in order to obtain unethical behaviours throughout accounting process. In this study, 44 unethical behaviours creating crucial unethical consequences were determined. The fields of unethical behaviours throughout accounting process from stage of acceptance of clients to tax examination stage were also determined and shown in the form of a table. The unethical behaviours are classified in terms of three criteria: 1) accounting professionals' relations with related parties; 2) the stages of the accounting process; 3) the ethics values. The findings indicate that the ethics values 'integrity' and 'professional behaviour' are the most suffered from violations. Unethical behaviours resulting from clients have considerable dominancy in the stages of documentation and recording of transactions. Accounting professionals violating ethics values are not conscious of negative consequences of their unethical behaviours and others who could be affected by their unethical behaviours.