Accountants Trail Many of the Other Professions
The Gallup Poll on Honesty and Ethics in Professions reveals significant insights into public perceptions. Gallup has gauged the public’s views of the honesty and ethical standards of a variety of occupations since 1976. In the latest survey, military veterans ranked second in terms of honesty and ethical standards, following nurses, who continue to lead as the most trusted profession. This marks the first time veterans were included in this ranking.
Key Findings:
- Nurses are consistently viewed as the most ethical profession, with a majority rating their honesty as high.
- Veterans are now recognized for their integrity, coming in second.
- Overall, ratings for many professions have declined, with only a few, like labor union leaders, maintaining stable ratings.
Public Trust Trends:
- The 2023 poll indicated that perceptions of honesty across nearly all professions have decreased compared to previous years.
- Professions such as members of Congress are viewed as among the least ethical, with a significant percentage rating their honesty as low or very low (71%).
In addition to the seven professions with record-low ratings, eight others are statistically close to their lowest points. These include accountants, advertising practitioners, bankers, members of Congress, nurses, building contractors, car salespeople and real estate agents.
Just one profession, labor union leaders, enjoys its highest ethics rating; however, it remains low in an absolute sense, at 27%.
The ratings below are a concern for all of society including accountants.
Ratings of Accountants
It is disappointing that accountants received only 35% rating of high or very high in ethics and honesty.
Here are some of the reasons for the relatively low ratings for accountants:
- The never-ending instances of financial fraud that hasn’t been caught by the accountants during their annual audits or were rationalized away.
- Consistent lack of independence in performing professional services, much of which is due to the tension between audit and consulting services from an ethical point of view.
- Private equity acquistions that create conflicts of interest betwee providing audit and nonaudt services.
- Ethical lapses such as using insider information to bid for competitive audit services.
- Disconnect between what the public expects of accountants–to find financial fraud–and the accounting profession’s own view–to look for fraud but that’s no guarantee of finding it.
Accounting is a profession that prides itself on serving the public good, yet over 60% rate their ethics as only average or low. While it’s true they are rated at the top of business professions, that’s not good enough. The accounting profession needs to take a hard look at why that it. My concern is it is a trust issue. If the public stops trusting accountants, the very foundation of its ethical standards may collapse.
Blog posted by Dr. Steven Mintz, professor emeritus from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, o September 10, 2026. You can contact Steve at: smintz@calpoly.edu. Visit his website to find out more about his activities.