What principle of auditing emphasizes ethical conduct?

The principle of auditing that emphasizes ethical conduct is due professional care. This principle requires auditors to exercise diligence and skepticism in their work, ensuring that they act with integrity and uphold ethical standards throughout the auditing process. By exercising due professional care, auditors are responsible for maintaining a high level of objectivity and professionalism, which is essential for fostering trust and credibility in the auditing profession.

The focus on ethical conduct through due professional care involves not only adhering to technical requirements but also considering the moral implications of decisions made during the audit process. Auditors must be mindful of their responsibilities to stakeholders, ensuring that the information they provide is accurate and reliable.

While fair presentation, independence, and an evidence-based approach are also important principles in auditing, they do not specifically emphasize the ethical conduct aspect as directly as due professional care does. Fair presentation relates to the accurate representation of audit findings, independence addresses the necessity for auditors to remain unbiased, and an evidence-based approach focuses on the reliance on factual data to support audit conclusions. However, without the backbone of due professional care guiding these principles, the ethical integrity of the audit could be compromised.