Business Ethics: Financial Reporting | Larry S Gunter, MBA
October 6, 2011 Category :excellent 0
This post is a practical example of how to handle unethical requests for financial reporting in a business environment. The world of business demands decisions like this one almost daily.? What response is given will determine the way a small business and its employees are perceived and rated in the industry and in the community.
John Smith is the new controller at a pencil manufacturer. The economy has taken a downturn, and jobs like Allen?s are hard to find. After several months he notices a high inventory of outdated, high priced cutting tools. Allen looks at the books and notices a big discrepancy between the book value of the inventory and its real value.
He makes an appointment with the company owner and is told to wait and see if the auditors notice the problem. If they do, he is told to find a way to explain that the items are selling. ?John should ask the owner why he wants him to lie to the auditors.
There is a conflict of integrity with this company president?s request as given.? It opens up Allen to (AllBusiness: A D&B Company, 2010)?liability?? which ??can exist for officers and directors when they cause financial harm to the corporation, act solely on their own behalf and to the detriment of the corporation, or commit a crime or wrongful act?.
As bad as the economy is, a request to lie to auditors could jeopardize Allen?s future integrity as a financial officer in any company.? If the president is a person of integrity, then the request would be rescinded and a meeting with the company sales manager could be called to discuss how to move this outdated hardware either as parts or in a wholesale purchase to a client.
A revision of the financial books would have to be reviewed with legal counsel and any penalties assessed so the true value of the inventory in question could be determined and the financial books balanced again for the auditors.
AllBusiness: A D&B Company. (2010, February 15). Liability Issues for Officers and Directors. Retrieved February 15, 2010, from www.allbusiness.com: http://www.allbusiness.com/business-planning-structures/business-structures/513-1.html
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Source: http://larrysgunter.com/2011/10/04/business-ethics-financial-reporting/
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