Competencies
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:
- Contrast various ethical frameworks and their impacts on accounting processes and professional behaviors
- Apply ethical models to accounting and financial reporting situations
Scenario
You are an accounting associate assisting a compliance officer of a large private company. The compliance officer recently investigated concerns about accounting irregularities in journal entries posted by an accounting manager. The complaint accuses the manager of manipulating results to increase net income.
The compliance officer confirmed that the manager (who is a licensed CPA) did the following:
- Moved expenses to prepaid assets
- Changed depreciation methods
- Moved deferred revenue to standard revenue on the income statement
The accounting manager was both the preparer and reviewer of the journal entries under investigation. It was also noted during the investigation that the accounting manager receives an annual bonus tied to the financial performance of the company.
The compliance officer has asked you to prepare a draft of a report that will be used to explain and document the issue for their boss, the CFO. In addition to the CFO, the report will be provided to human resources and other non-finance executives who are unfamiliar with accounting procedures or ethical frameworks.
Directions
For this project, you will submit a 5- to 10-page compliance report to present to the compliance officer about ethical standards that were not followed. Please include the following in your summary:
- Describe what accounting framework violationoccurred.
- Describe which ethical accounting frameworkscould apply to this reporting situation.
- Provide rationale for your decision of which ethical accounting framework applies.
- Explain the manager’s potential motivations to depart from ethical behavior.
- Describe the potential consequences for the manager who committed the reporting violation.
- Evaluate how the manager’s adjustments created an ethical reporting violation.
- Explain how unethical behavior should influence changes in ethical standards and models for the company.
- Determine ethical strategies for creating or maintaining accounting processes within the company.
- Analyze what ethical framework the complainantfollowed.
- Recommend actions leadership should do to make changes that will prevent this from occurring again.
What to Submit
To complete this project, you must submit the following:
Compliance Report
Submit your report as a 5- to 10-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style.
Project One Rubric
| Criteria | Exemplary (100%) | Proficient (90%) | Needs Improvement (70%) | Not Evident (0%) | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Framework Violation | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner | Describes what accounting framework violation occurred | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include adding details related to what accounting framework violation occurred | Does not attempt criterion | 9 |
| Ethical Accounting Frameworks | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner | Describes which ethical accounting frameworks could apply to this reporting situation | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include adding details related to which ethical accounting frameworks could apply to this reporting situation | Does not attempt criterion | 9 |
| Rationale | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner | Provides rationale for the decision of which ethical accounting framework applies | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include adding details related to the rationale for the decision of which ethical accounting framework applies | Does not attempt criterion | 9 |
| Potential Motivations | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner | Explains the manager’s potential motivations to depart from ethical behavior | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include adding details related to the manager’s potential motivations to depart from ethical behavior | Does not attempt criterion | 9 |
| Potential Consequences | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner | Describes the potential consequences for the manager who committed the reporting violation | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include adding details related to the potential consequences for the manager who committed the reporting violation | Does not attempt criterion | 9 |
| Ethical Reporting Violation | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner | Evaluates how the manager’s adjustments created an ethical reporting violation | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include adding details related to how the manager’s adjustments created an ethical reporting violation | Does not attempt criterion | 9 |
| Influence Changes | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner | Explains how unethical behavior should influence changes in ethical standards and models for the company | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include adding details related to how unethical behavior should influence changes in ethical standards and models for the company | Does not attempt criterion | 9 |
| Ethical Strategies | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner | Determines ethical strategies for creating or maintaining accounting processes within the company | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include adding details related to ethical strategies for creating or maintaining accounting processes within the company | Does not attempt criterion | 9 |
| Complainant | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner | Analyzes what ethical framework the complainant followed | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include adding details related to what ethical framework the complainant followed | Does not attempt criterion | 9 |
| Leadership | Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner | Recommends actions leadership should do to make changes that will prevent this from occurring again | Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include adding details related to actions leadership should do to make changes that will prevent this from occurring again | Does not attempt criterion | 9 |
| Clear Communication | Exceeds proficiency with an intentional use of language that promotes a thorough understanding | Consistently and effectively communicates in an organized way to a specific audience | Shows progress towards proficiency, but communication is inconsistent or ineffective in a way that negatively impacts understanding | Shows no evidence of consistent, effective, or organized communication | 5 |
| Citations and Attributions | Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with few or no minor errors | Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with consistent minor errors | Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with major errors | Does not use citations for ideas requiring attribution | 5 |
| Total: |