An accountant's Integrity is a crucial component of his worth in the industry. Integrity is what public trust is built upon. Without adherence to the strict moral and ethical guidelines of the profession, there is no value to the accountant's work. He can have all the skill, knowledge and experience in the world, but without Integrity, and therefore trust, his work becomes questionable and is worth less than the paper his figures are printed on. For this reason, it is important for clients, and the public in general that rely on this financial data for decision making, to assess an accountant's Integrity.
             To have Integrity, an accountant must not only being willing to ethically do the right thing, but must also maintain his skills to ensure he does the best job possible. As such, assessing an accountant's Integrity must not only involve investigating his moral conduct, in the past, but how conscientious he is about staying current with new pronouncements and authoritative guidelines. As Kinsella (2007) notes, the term caveat emptor refers to determining the Integrity of an accountant, just as it does in determining the value in any other item, and any assessment must include looking at the accountant's experience and education, as well as their continuous learning.
             The AICPA, beginning in 1990, required continuing professional education (CPE) requirements for its members. In addition, most state regulatory bodies have mandated CPE requirements, in order for an accountant to maintain their active licenses (Clay & Clay, 2007). Investigating an accountant's CPE participation, and their general practices of keeping current with the ever-changing guidelines and pronouncements can help determine how willing an accountant is to ensure he provides the best service possible to his clients, and serves to emphasize his Integrity.
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