The analysis of disciplinary penalties received by members of accounting profession: Between the years of 2016-2021

The history of the accounting dates back to ancient times and the accounting profession has changed and developed over those years. With the globalization of accounting and the development of overseas trade, it has become necessary to establish a union for the profession. In this context, standards and institutions such as the International Financial Reporting Standards and the International Accounting Standards Board have been created and established. Accounting profession has a critical importance as it serves as a bridge between the state and companies. Since the financial information influences the decisions of its users, accountants should act in accordance with ethical principles and standards in the best way required by their profession. Efforts have been made to preserve and develop ethical values, which are extremely important for the accounting profession, through the development of principles, standards and regulations over time. Accounting profession in Turkey has gained legal assurance with the Law no. 3568 enacted in 1989. The reputation of the profession has been promoted by evaluating the actions of accounting professionals not complying with ethical principles and standards within the scope of the "The Disciplinary Regulation on the Law of Certified General Accountancy, Certified Public Accountancy and Sworn-in Certified Public Accountancy" prepared based on Article 50 of the Law No. 3568 on Accounting Profession. In this study, taking the actions of professional accountants which are not in compliance with ethical principles and standards as a basis, content analysis is made for the penalties published on the TÜRMOB website, except for the warning and reprimand from the warning, reprimand, temporarily retention from professional activities, removal of the Sworn-in CPA title and dismissal from the profession penalties stated in the fourth article of the Disciplinary Regulation of the Law on Certified Public Accountant and Certified Public Accountant. In the study, statistical differences are evaluated in terms of variables such as the type of punishment given to the member of the profession, the year when the punishment is given, the title of the member of the profession, the geographical region where the member of the profession is registered, the number of punishments given at once and the periods before and after the Covid 19 pandemic. According to the results of the study, a minor difference is found between the number of penalties given in the years 2020-2021, after the Covid-19 pandemic, and 2016-2017, before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is also determined that the number of penalties given between these years is higher when compared to the years 2018-2019. Statistically, it is found that there is a significant difference in terms of the frequency of disciplinary punishments given to the professionals and the period when they are given, and also between the Marmara region, which is the geographical region where the Chamber of professional members is located, and other regions.