SANCHEZ, LOUISE MELODY GLYDELLE L EUTHENICS

BSA 1400-1500

HONESTY AND INTEGRITY

“People of integrity and honesty not only practice what they preach, they are what they
preach.” – David A. Bednar

The above quotation tackles the importance of integrity. Integrity if defined, is the
quality of being honest and having strong principles. As future professionals, youth must
enculcate this quality to theirselves. We must be upright at all times to avoid conflicts in which
our morals will be wavered.

There are several factors, however, that affects one’s integrity or objectivity. One is his
personal need. A person might do something that is unethical because of monetary need or the
need to prove himself. If given the choice to do the right thing or to receive an amount which he
can use to provide for his family or buy his wants, one might give up the former for the latter
reason. Another rationale might be the need to prove himself. As what Ms. Padilla, discussed in
the previous lesson, honor goes with pride. The more recognition one gets, the larger his pride
is. One might do things that can discredit his colleagues for him to get all the recognitions that
feed his ego.

Another factor that might affect a person’s integrity is peer pressure. If you are going to
do something, be sure that you are independent. Your emotion should be separated and guarded
from your judgement. CPAs need to have independence in auditing. An opinion from an external
audit will reflect how honest a company is in reflecting their financial statements. You can’t give
an unqualified opinion because one of your family/friends is the accountant of the company your
auditing. You must set aside that relation for you to give a fair opinion because there are other
stakeholders depending on the opinion that you are going to release.

As have discussed above, integrity is very important. You can have all the honor that you
want but be sure that you received those credits in an honest way. What good is it if you’re on
the top but people know that you’re dishonest and cunning. You are just deceiving yourself. And
something achieved by fraud won’t give you the satisfaction and happiness. Don’t worry if it
takes you a long time to achieve your goals. As long as you achieved it with the right process
then every waiting and sacrifice will be worth it.