Rule 20-12-.01 - Introduction(1) This Code of Professional Conduct is promulgated under the authority granted by Code Section 43-3-8(a)(2), which delegates to the Board the power and duty to prescribe rules of professional conduct for establishing and maintaining high standards of competence and integrity in the profession of public accountancy.(2) The Rules of Conduct set out below rest upon the premises that the reliance of the public in general, and of the business community in particular, on sound financial reporting, and, on the implication of professional competence which inheres in the authorized use of a legally restricted title relating to the practice of public accountancy, impose on individuals engaged in such practice certain obligations both to their clients and to the public. These obligations, which the Rules of Conduct are intended to enforce where necessary, include the obligation to maintain independence of thought and action, to strive continuously to improve one's professional skills, to observe where applicable generally accepted accounting principles and generally accepted auditing standards, to promote sound and informative financial reporting, to hold the affairs of clients in confidence, to uphold the standards of the public accountancy profession, and to maintain high standards of personal conduct in all matters affecting one's fitness to practice public accountancy.(3) Acceptance of licensure to engage in the practice of public accountancy, or to use titles which imply a particular competence so to engage, involves acceptance by the licensee of such obligations, and accordingly of a duty to abide by the Rules of Conduct.(4) The Rules of Conduct are intended to have application to all kinds of professional services performed in the practice of public accountancy, including tax and management advisory services, and to apply as well to all licensees, whether or not engaged in the practice of public accountancy, except where the wording of a Rule clearly indicates that the applicability is more limited.(5) A licensee who is engaged in the practice of public accountancy outside the United States will not be subject to discipline by the Board for departing, with respect to such foreign practice, from any of the Rules so long as his or her conduct is in accordance with the standards of professional conduct applicable to the practice of public accountancy in the country in which he or she is practicing. However, even in such case, if a licensee's name is associated with financial statements in such manner as to imply that he or she is acting as an independent public accountant and under circumstances that would entitle the reader to assume that United States practices are followed, he or she will be expected to comply with Rules 20-12-.08 and 20-12-.09.(6) In the interpretation and enforcement of the Rules of Conduct, the Board will give consideration, but not necessarily dispositive weight, to relevant interpretations, rulings and opinions issued by the Boards of other jurisdictions, and by appropriately authorized committees on ethics of professional organizations.Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 20-12-.01
O.C.G.A. Sec. 43-3-8.
Original Rule entitled "Introduction" adopted. F. Feb. 9, 1978; eff. Mar. 1, 1978.Amended: F. June 11, 1985; eff. July 1, 1985.Amended: F. Feb. 4, 2015; eff. Feb. 24, 2015.