ETHICS IN ACCOUNTING IN THE CONTEXT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The dynamic changes taking place in the economy of the 21st century force organizations to assume responsibility for the adverse social effects of their operations, such as pollution of environment or elimination of jobs. A company is expected primarily to operate in a socially responsible manner and take into account needs of society. One of the most important elements of the concept of CSR is ethics. This translates directly into accounting as a system responsible for generating useful economic information about a business entity. Ethics is a prerequisite for the smooth functioning of the accounting system. Recipients of financial statements expect that information contained in the financial statements accurately reflects the economic reality, are reliable, accurate, prospective and understandable. The overriding principles of true and fair view applies also in this case. The paper presents a synthetic presentation of the concept of corporate social responsibility and presents the most important areas of ethical dilemmas of contemporary accounting.