ACC 695M Individual and Group Case Analysis ESSAY

ACC 695M Individual and Group Case Analysis
This is a group project with two separate steps. The rubrics for assessment of these cases are located in Course Resources. Step I below will be assessed by your professor following Rubric for Evaluating Written Assignments. Step II below will be assessed utilizing the Group Project Grading Rubric.

Step 1: Each group member will develop their answers separately and send them to their professor.

Step II: The combined group will consider all the group member’s analysis referred to in Step I and finalize the assignment submitting a group paper with responses to all case analysis questions from a group viewpoint collaboratively enhancing critical thinking for all members of the group.

The Cases – Ethics in Accounting
Ethical Analysis Framework

A Case Study in Ethical Decision-Making

Consider the following case. It provides a good example of the kinds of ethical dilemmas potentially faced by accounting professionals.

Oscar Gamble, Shields Corporation’s Controller is concerned that net income may be lower this year. As a result, he is afraid that upper-level management might recommend cost reductions by laying off accounting staff. Gamble knows that amortization is a major expense for Shields. The company currently uses the double-declining balance method, and he is thinking of changing to the straight-line method.

However, this change would be highlighted in the statement of retained earnings as a cumulative effect adjustment and management must prove that the new principle will give a reliable and more relevant financial presentation in the statements.

Instead, he is contemplating increasing estimated useful lives and residual values. That would decrease amortization expense (and increase income). Best of all, this change in estimate will be handled prospectively and not be highlighted in the current or future years’ financial statements. Oscar thinks this approach could save his job and those of his staff.

What would you recommend to Oscar Gamble? On the one hand, it would seem that opting for changes in residual values and useful lives could result in investors and creditors getting less useful information about Shield’s income. On the other hand, Gamble may feel he has an obligation to protect his staff.

Ethical Analysis Framework
Is there a right way to analyze an ethical issue? For students who have had an ethics or philosophy course, they know that ethics is a personal issue. The study of ethics does not tell you what to do but instead presents a framework that can be used to study the ethical dimensions of various issues. An approach that is commonly applied in the area of business decision making is referred to as stakeholder analysis. In stakeholder analysis, a business decision maker is asked to consider a broad set of constituencies in making business decisions. Instead of focusing only on shareholders and maximizing shareholder wealth, management is encouraged to consider both the moral and social implications of their decisions in terms of how the decisions affect all stakeholders of the company. This broader set of stakeholders includes shareholders as well as employees, suppliers, customers, the local community, and any other party that might be affected by the decision.

Why worry about these additional stakeholders? For one reason, it will help you develop a more complete analysis of the decision, not just the impact on the immediate parties. In the case above, Gamble appears to be focused on the profits of the company and keeping his and his staff’s jobs. A more thorough stakeholder analysis might suggest that misstating the amortization expense could lead to lack of confidence in Shield’s financial reports, that if detected, could lead to a higher cost of capital and maybe even fines or other penalties. In the long run, Gamble, his staff, and other employees could lose their jobs in this scenario.

Specific Analysis Steps
Here are some specific stakeholder analysis steps that you can apply in the process of ethical awareness and decision-making:

1. Recognize an ethical situation or ethical dilemma. The first step is to know when you have a problem. To do that, you must develop your own personal ethics or conscience. Your ethics are a subset of society’s values. They come from family, educational, and religious institutions as well as from social movements and from your own reactions to all of these inputs. Being sensitive to and aware of the effects (potential harm or benefit) of one’s actions and decisions on individuals or groups is a first step in resolving ethical dilemmas.

2. Move toward an ethical resolution by identifying and analyzing the principal elements in the situation. Seek answers to the following questions in this sequence:

a. What parties (stakeholders) may be harmed or benefited?

b. Whose rights or claims may be violated?

c. Which specific interests are in conflict?

d. What are my responsibilities and obligations?

3. These questions should help you identify and sort out the facts.

4. Identify the alternatives and weigh the impact of each alternative on various stakeholders. For instance, in financial accounting, which alternative methods are available to report the transaction, situation, or event? What is the effect of each alternative on the various stakeholders? Which stakeholders are harmed or benefited most?

5. Select the best or most ethical alternatives, considering all the circumstances and the consequences.

Some ethical issues involve one right answer. Other ethical issues involve more than one right answer; these require an evaluation of each and a selection of the best or most ethical alternative.

Summary
Robert Sack, a commentator on the subject of accounting ethics, noted that, “Based on my experience, new graduates tend to be idealistic…thank goodness for that! Still it is very dangerous to think that your armour is all in place and say to yourself, ‘I would have never given in to that.’ The pressures don’t explode on us; they build, and we often don’t recognize them until they have us.” These observations are particularly appropriate for anyone entering the business world. In accounting, as in other areas of business, ethical dilemmas are encountered frequently. Some of these dilemmas are simple and easy to resolve. Many, however, are complex, and solutions are not obvious.

Businesses’ concentration on “maximizing the bottom line,” “facing the challenges of competition,” and “stressing short-term results” places accountants in an environment of conflict and pressure. Basic questions such as: “Is this way of communicating financial information good, or bad?” “Is it right, or wrong?” “What should I do in the circumstance?” cannot always be answered by simply adhering to GAAP or following the rules of the profession. Technical competence is not enough when ethical decisions are encountered. Doing the right thing or making the right decision is not always easy. Right is not always evident. And, the pressures “to bend the rules,” “to play the game,” or “to just ignore it,” can be considerable. Sometimes, doing things for the “good of the firm” may be at odds with your own moral compass. For example, “Will my decision affect my job performance negatively?” “Will my superiors be upset?” “Will my colleagues be unhappy with me?” are often questions faced in making a tough ethical decision. The decision is more difficult because a public consensus has not emerged to formulate a comprehensive ethical system to provide guidelines. This whole process of ethical sensitivity and selection among alternatives can be complicated by pressures that may take the form of time pressures, job pressures, client pressures, personal pressures, and peer pressures.

Ethical considerations are presented in the following section for the purpose of sensitizing you to the types of situations you may encounter in the performance of your professional responsibility.

Ethics in Accounting: Ethics Cases
Ethics Case 1
Health Corporation has several notes receivable reported as current assets on its year-end balance sheet. While collection seems certain, it may be delayed beyond one year. Because of this, the controller wants to reclassify these notes as non-current. Health’s treasurer also thinks that collection will be delayed but does not favor reclassification because this will reduce the current ratio from 1.5:1 to 0.8:1. This reduction in current ratio is detrimental to company prospects for securing a major loan.

Instructions

Answer the following questions:

· Should the controller reclassify the notes? Give your reasons.

· Does the treasurer’s position pose an ethical dilemma for the controller? Explain your answer.

Ethics Case 2
The WGN Company has a bonus arrangement that grants the financial vice president and other executives a $15,000 bonus if the net income exceeds the previous years by $1,000,000. Noting that the current financial statements report an increase of $950,000 in the net income, Vice President Jack Brickhouse asks Louise Boudreau, the controller, to reduce the estimate of warranty expense by $60,000. The present estimate of warranty expense is $500,000 and is known by both Brickhouse and Boudreau to be a fairly “soft” amount.

Instructions

Answer the following questions:

· Should Boudreau lower her estimate?

· What ethical issue is at stake? Would anyone be harmed by the change in estimate?

· Is Brickhouse acting ethically?

Ethics Case 3
Shenandoah Furniture Company is a small publicly traded company. The Company pays annual bonuses based on a percentage of net income. Randolph Hundley, the controller of Shenandoah Furniture Company, has noticed that the Company holds equity securities in a variety of companies that were purchased as strategic investments. A few of these securities are currently valued above cost, but most are valued below cost at the current time. Hundley suggests to his assistant, Todd that they should treat the securities with unrealized gains as trading securities and those with unrealized losses should be treated differently—with the unrealized losses being reported in other comprehensive income.

Instructions

Answer the following questions:

· Will Hundley’s suggestion, improve the company’s net income (loss)?

· Is there anything unethical about Hundley’s suggestion?

· Who are the stakeholders that would be affected by this decision?

Ethics Case 4
The HVAC Company specializes in the installation of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in large projects such as domed stadiums, military bases, airports, and multi-storied buildings. Its contracts usually take two to three years to complete and, at any fiscal year end, this percentage of work completed represents a sizable percentage of its assets. The company is privately held and has a senior management group whose compensation is based almost entirely on the earnings results for the year. As the CFO, you have been reviewing the year-end estimated percentage of completion figures, which have been provided to you by the project managers responsible for the completion of the various contracts. This year has not been as successful or as active as previous ones, and the two senior founders of the company have asked you to bring in a net income figure at least equal to the last couple of years. In your mind you know that the project managers’ estimates are somewhat fluid, and you have been contemplating making the requested adjustments.

Instructions

Answer the following question:

· How would you handle the request of the two senior partners?

Additional Resources
To learn more, explore the following resources:

Professional Organizations
· Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA)

· CMA Canada

· CGA Canada

· Centre for Accounting Ethics, School of Accountancy, University of Waterloo

Companies with Ethics Programs
· Bell Canada

· Hydro One Inc.

· Dupont Canada

· Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited

Professional Services Firms
· Deloitte LLP

· Ernst & Young LLP

· Grant Thornton LLP

· KPMG LLP

· PricewaterhouseCoopers

ACC 695M Individual and Group Case Analysis ESSAY

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