Cambridge 0452 and 0985 · Sub-topic 7.2
Ethical considerations
The 3 skills the syllabus asks for, the slips that cost marks, and how our teachers explain it.
What students must be able to do
- Explain why accounting needs an ethical framework.
- Know the fundamental principles: integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour.
- Explain why applying an ethical framework matters to stakeholders and society.
Official wording: Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for 2027-2029 (Version 1), page 20. See all sources.
How our teachers teach it
This is new ground for past-paper practice, so our teachers build original scenarios: an accountant asked to adjust figures, or to share client information. Each of the five principles becomes a question the student asks, and the answer links the principle to who would be harmed if it were ignored.
Mini-example: a request to move an expense
A business owner asks the accountant to record RM50,000 of year-end expenses in the next year, so the profit shown to a bank looks higher. Each fundamental principle gives the accountant a question to ask.
Integrity: would the statements be straightforward and honest if the expense moved? Objectivity: is the accountant letting the owner's wishes override a fair judgement? Professional competence and due care: do the matching rules say the expense belongs in this year? Confidentiality: may the accountant tell the bank about the owner's other affairs? Professional behaviour: would this reflect well on the profession?
The affected stakeholders are the bank, which could lend on misleading profit, the owner, who could face harm if the loan fails, and other users of the accounts. Linking the principle to who is affected is what turns a list of five names into an answer.
Note that a legal rule might allow a choice while ethics still says no. Compliance and ethics overlap but are not identical, which is a frequent source of lost marks.
If any of these slips sound familiar, we can help. A teacher can mark your child's answers on ethical considerations line by line and show where the marks go. Book a trial class.
New in the 2027 to 2029 syllabus
New in the 2027-2029 syllabus. It does not appear in the 2026 syllabus, whose 7.2 covers accounting policies instead.
Where it is examined
Ethical considerations can appear in either paper, as a short question or as part of a longer task. Cambridge bases both papers on the whole syllabus. See the guides to Paper 1 and Paper 2 for the format.
Sources: Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for 2027-2029 (Version 1), pages 9, 22. See all sources.
Practise it
Other sub-topics in topic 7
Ethical considerations: questions
Is this in the 2026 exams?
Does the 0985 (9 to 1) syllabus cover ethical considerations too?
Which syllabus numbering should I use?
Get help with ethical considerations
The trial class works through Cambridge IGCSE Accounting questions with a teacher, so you see how the paper is approached. One-to-one and online, from RM75/hr.
One-hour paid trial · Same-day reply