DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS DISCIPLINED FOR UNPROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR

This paper presents the results of an empirical investigation of the characteristics of CPAs, disciplined by six state boards, which distinguish them from a control group of practicing CPAs. The study included 208 CPAs who had been disciplined for three categories of work-related ethics violations: due care violations, violations of state regulation, and criminal violations. The control group consisted of 271 CPAs randomly selected from the general population of practicing CPAs in the six states. The variables studied included gender, years of experience, firm size, membership in a state CPA society, and population. Data for the disciplined group were obtained from the public record; data for the control group were obtained by questionnaire. The LOGIT results were that CPAs disciplined for work-related ethics violations were most likely to be males who were practicing in small firms.