Ethics Journal Entries: Accounting Ethic Essay

An ethical dilemma is a situation in which there is a decision-making problem between two possible moral necessities which are not necessarily acceptable (Duska, Duska & Kury, 2018).

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Ethical Dilemma Encounters

Week 1

An encounter of ethical dilemma occurred to me on my holiday from school when I acquired a job at Juicy enterprises which are a local food company as a procurement agent. Work was going well until I took notice of a fellow cashier who wasn't making all sales entries. She was embezzling from the company by taking the money and hiding it by altering the records which are against the law and did up against the company profits. I had the option to either tell on her to the authority which would lead to her being fired or not to tell on her and she would continue with the fraud and affect everyone in the company, even future raises, bonuses or layoffs and she would also end up having hatred on me. It was an ethnic dilemma for me and I decided to report her to the manager and the board which lead to her being fired from the company for effective work purposes. The implication is that she was unemployed and had a poor work record on her name and had no understanding towards me but the workflow was on truck and profits were on the maximum.

Week 2

After a while there was a change in the manager's office and the new manager had misappropriation of assets, he charged a family dinner and a vacation to the business as a company expense. He also took the company's supplies for his family with the explanation of test sampling of the products. I could either report him to the board and he would have to pay for all he had taken and maybe even face the court of law for embezzlement and lose his job too and I could get promoted, or I could just pretend to not have taken notice of the situation which would have led to him taking more office supplies for personal use and decrease in company profits and if it spread to other officials it could even lead to closure of the company due to poor profits and mismanagement. I approached the board and told them of the problem and the manager was fired and made to pay for all he had taken as well as had to pay a fine. I got promoted and work was done as required for I follow the rules in accounting. In conclusion, I held a fiduciary position in the company and had integrity for acting ethically from within.

Week 3

There was another encounter of an ethical dilemma which involved the manager who was instructing me to record transactions in a wrong manner. The aim was for him to receive acknowledgment in forthcoming performance review by the board and receive a bonus for the boost in revenue made. I could either inform the board of his actions and he would have to face the penalties and I would be in best terms with the board or I could as well get involved with the manager and also take credit as well for the high revenue sales and get a raise too. It was an ethical dilemma which ended up on me reporting the manager who was demoted from the managerial office and I got a bonus for being an honest employee.

Week 4

I had a friend working at a local company in the accounting department and being a public company there was the need to succeed at high heights hence stress on the accountants. The ethical dilemma for my friend was a correct reporting of the company properties, profits and liabilities without giving in on the pressure placed on him by the management or corporate officers. If my friend was unethical he could easily alter the company's financial records and man oeuvre numbers to paint false images of the company's accomplishments. This may have led to short term prosperity and when the Securities and Exchange Commission accessed the company and discovered the fraud and altered financial records would lead to a complete downfall of the company. He decided to quit the job to get away from the excess pressure from the management of the company. He was unemployed for a while and took deep considerations of any opportunities he got not to go through the same management and authority pressures workplace.

Week 5

The company where my friend got employed and had a whistleblower hotline system was where my uncle was working as well. My uncle was not honest at his work for he made he took office equipment home for his personal use and not for the company which is against the rules. My friend noticed the issue but was in an ethical dilemma of whether to report my uncle to the Financial Accounting Standards Board and ruin our friendship and my uncle would have to face disciplinary actions from the board as well. At the same time, it was his duty to report such violations and the ramifications of the reporting. My friend reported my uncle to the board and he was charged for all he had taken from the company and lost his job too. We were no longer friends since we didn't meet in a while due to his guilt for telling on a friend's family. Though I tried to understand his situation for reporting my uncle.

Week 6

Another encounter of ethical dilemma was when I qualified as a manager at a local food processing company in my area. All was running well and the board and committee at the company were amused by my work and great lift in the profits made since the time I started working there. They all acknowledged my work and recommended to me. My brother was on holiday and got a chance as an accountant at the same company I was the manager. I discovered there was an omission or some information was being left out on financial figures from my brother's balance sheets. This would have been a bad picture to the public and investors. If any other officer informed the board before I did, I would seem not to do my duties as manager properly or favoring my brother. I was at an ethical dilemma whether to tell on my family or not which both had implications. I decided to inform the board which punished my brother by firing him and having pay a certain amount of fine. He did not understand my action of telling on him for being family even after explaining to him it was my role and duty and was just doing my job.

Week 7

Ethical dilemma also occurred to me when a fellow accountant at a local company was involved in fraudulent activities. The manager knew of the issue but did not adhere to the standards of earnings management ethics. The accountant had for a while altered the financial information of the company. The fellow accountant records were reported to the manager several times with no avail of an action by the manager. If I reported the issue to the board the manager could deny involvement in the fraud due to lack of evidence on him and would fire me for trying to tell on him. But it was my duty and obligation to do right and avoid mislead or deceitful acts. I decided not to report for I could be affected severely by losing my job or be unfairly treated by the manager.

Week 8

Another ethical dilemma was when I had reported a fellow accountant at a firm to the board for embezzlement of funds and later all other employees found out I was the one who reported the issue. The fellow accountant had been fired but he was not involved alone. The other accountants involved in the fraud were angry at me and seeking vengeance. I could either tell on them to the board of their hateful actions towards me and that would make the matters worse on my social life at the company or I could keep quiet and be treated unfairly by this few accountants. I decided not to report the issue to protect my social life and my work at the company. The consequences were led to enmity at the work place but it was for a good course.

References

Duska, R. F., Duska, B. S., & Kury, K. W. (2018). Accounting ethics. Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved from; https://www.aicpa.org/content/dam/aicpa/research/standards/codeofconduct/downloadabledocuments/2014december15contentasof2016august31codeofconduct.pdf/