Question

Think about yourself as a future accounting professional and whether you think there may be situations where you may feel challenged to tell the truth and whether you feel equipped to handle from the accounting ethics perspective. Be specific.

Answer 1

Answer: truth must be followed always.

Accounting professional invariably faces ethical issues – such as manipulating accounting figures and amounts, suppressing information in reports, etc. But, an accountant must not forget what he/she has been taught – that is, true and fair accounting, so that stakeholders’ interests are protected. Stakeholders are shareholders, suppliers, lenders, employees, and bankers; they need protection because they invest (may be money or time or labor) in the organization. Since so many interested groups are there, ethics must be maintained and whatever be the truth must be followed. There should not be any compromising motive.

Feel challenged: if the top-boss insists to do some unethical work (like a limit on actual profit), telling the truth may be difficult (since the person is working under him). In that case it is better to leave the organization.

Feel equipped: this situation is mostly expected, since there is a rule there are number of ways to escape. The ways are so equipped that no one can catch the culprit. But, still this should not be done and ethics should be entertained always.