The Ethics of Accounting and Finance: Trust, Responsibility, and Control Essay

The stakeholders in this case are Juliette, Katrina, Richard, James Hubert and Greg and all board members of both companies. The expectations they should have in this case are to ensure good accounting practices where reclassification of marketable securities should be done with every stakeholder’s knowledge failure to which it would be unethical. The stakeholders expect that the companies with which they do business are ethically oriented and ensure that their efforts and decisions meet the needs and wants of suppliers, consumers and business partners CITATION Jef12 l 1033 (Jeffery, 2012). The ethical obligations of Positive Accounting Solutions and its CPAs to the stakeholders are responsibility, transparency, honesty, fairness and respect. Transparency is a key component of good accounting in Australia. It involves building reliable relationships with stakeholders and giving them relevant information that they can use CITATION Hof04 l 1033 (Hoffman, 2004). Responsibility in accounting is concerned with building trust between an organization, its stakeholders, customers and the general public. The ethical attribute of responsibility ensures that companies in Australia take into consideration what is in the best interest of all stakeholders both in the short and long term. It is unethical to be profit driven in their ventures. Several ethical issues exist for Juliette, Katrina, Richard and Greg, and Positive Accounting Solutions. Legal and ethical issues are important elements of the general framework and well-being of the accounting industry. They are values and principles that govern an organization and the decisions and actions of individuals within the organization. They give a general guideline on how an organization and its employees should act in the event of a moral dilemma CITATION Hof04 l 1033 (Hoffman, 2004). In this case there was the ethical issue if transparency where Global contractors failed to inform Juliet Forbs and her company of the intended reclassification. This selective reclassification may affect vulnerable audiences in the emerging markets of developing regions of Australia. Such situations occur because the public does not have sufficient information about securities assets ploys. The action by Global contractors is unethical and may lead to a serious breach of ethical guidelines as the perpetrators step on safeguards in the disguise of making more money. It is essential that Hubert follows the ethical guidelines of financial reporting and not let acquiring more possession get in the way of their financial obligations. Hubert, who is more concerned with his company’s financial welfare compared to that of Positive Accounting Solutions and its CPAs is more likely to cause real accounting violations and become a liability to the business partnership CITATION Jef12 l 1033 (Jeffery, 2012). Accounting questions the incorrectness of financial statements through the use of features and indicators that show the degree of openness to risk. It also considers whether the sources of risk reside in corporate areas of accounting estimates and organizational culture. This places an accountant in an ethical dilemma where one wonders whether or not to report accounting violations to the authorities. Although it is the ethical duty of the accountant to report such fraudulent activities, the ethical dilemma lies in the ramifications of the reporting. Corporate officers and senior managers may face criminal prosecution that may lead to imprisonment and fines while the company may receive bad publicity and laying off of workers when the government reviews financial records CITATION Hof04 l 1033 (Hoffman, 2004). It is the responsibility of accountants to serve the best interests of the company that they are providing auditing and accounting services for, investors and society as a whole. This can be done by providing truthful and accurate financial records. Ethical guidelines require that accountants should be honest, concise, accurate and complete while recording financial data to ensure ethics are held to the highest degree. It is also the duty of an accountant to make wise, informed decisions about the future of a company. These decisions gave notable impacts on the companies as demonstrated by Enron. Auditor virtue plays an important role in determining what to do in this case. Auditor virtue bears the responsibility of preventing, detecting and investigating fraud through as system of internal auditing and internal control. Through this, auditors can perform a retrospective control on financial data with an aim of detecting any frauds or omissions and securing the credibility and reliability of financial statements. In this case, auditing is used to show the real picture that is obtained on the securities assets CITATION Jef12 l 1033 (Jeffery, 2012). Auditors have to provide expert evidence at the eventual trial. They utilize an understanding of auditing and accounting standards and procedures, financial reporting systems and business information, litigation processes and investigative and evidence gathering and investigative techniques to perform their work.The accounting rules for valuing so-called securitised assets that were designed using a package of outstanding mortgages came under attack in 2008- 2009 because their operation developed out of their internal dynamics instead of the context from which the public shared its perceptions CITATION Jef12 l 1033 (Jeffery, 2012). Thus, the so called securitized assets became socially irresponsible and their contributions to the market rose from their personal definitions rather than from a reciprocal engagement with the stakeholders. Accounting rules for investments in securities changed following criticisms that the accounting rules were, at least in part, responsible for the financial crisis. Current accounting techniques are run by computers and therefore do not have any inner sense of normality. Scripts and queries in financial statements do exactly what they have been programmed to do and as a result a fraud hypothesis testing approach has been proposed to accommodate this limitation. This approach is a proactive or deductive approach used by accountants in fraud investigations. Accountants obtain a concise understanding of the business processes, environment and controls CITATION Hof04 l 1033 (Hoffman, 2004). This understanding helps them to have a proactive picture and predict the possibility of any frauds occurring. The team of forensic accountants brainstorms the possible frauds that may exist in the business environment that they are investigating and this may result in fifty potential schemes. Once the re has been the identification of possible schemes, the team of forensic accountants outlines how these schemes would show up in the available data. These indicators, often referred to as red flags, are the major indicators of the occurrence of fraud in an enterprise. Given each indicator, the team of forensic accountants looks for corporate databases through the use of queries and scripts by applying accounting principles. Any anomalous transactions are set aside for further investigations and this often perceived as a sample that is to be looked into closely. Accountants analyze the results of the query in order to determine potential explanations for the anomalies which may possibly be weak controls or fraud among other reasons. Once the team has established the potential explanations to be fraud, they follow up on them and conduct further investigations by employing additional queries in order to determine the cause of the anomalies. This hypothesis testing approach has been suc cessfully in quite a number of case studies including university environments, alcohol sales and healthcare in Australia. Once the financial statements have been analyzed, continuous investigation is possible. Unlike the normal testing on historical data, the tests are then programmed into live corporate systems so as to provide progressive monitoring of transactions. This progressive monitoring uses information technology which has been successfully used in several companies. Accounting rules should not be influenced by Political pressure, as was the case with the changes in accounting for investments. It is ethical to maintain the right to the truth while practicing accounting and financial reporting. Those who use financial statements have the right to accurate and truthful information when engaging in investment strategies. Clients have a legal right to receive competent and professional services from accountants who have a legal obligation to perform their responsibilities within the constraints of their skills CITATION Hof04 l 1033 (Hoffman, 2004). It is often argued that most accountants lack ethical ability to recognize and solve ethical dilemmas. This has necessitated the need to include ethics education as a major component of the accounting profession. The development of professional ethics and values should be initiated early in the accounting profession and be emphasized throughout the career. Teamwork and leadership are two important componen ts that must be in alignment so as to provide effective high quality and efficient accounting services. A strategic human resource management model provides guidance to accounting teams and leaders to deliver high-quality services in a timely manner. Accounting operates within a performance measurement that tolerates no errors. Therefore, a state-of-the-art investigation requires scientific leadership working with major stakeholders as a team to provide the best accounting services to a fraud investigation CITATION Hof04 l 1033 (Hoffman, 2004). The new techniques of accounting are significant steps in the right direction and they require leaders with skills and business tools to apply concepts such as efficiency, cost benefit analysis, economies of scale and cost-effectiveness analysis that will measure continuous improvement on a regular basis. Effective leadership is needed to develop, design and implement a solution that would resolve the core competency of an organization. Strat egic leadership in fraud investigations provides quality and timely accounting services to a company. Such leadership brings together a fragmented system consisting of thousands of accountants working within a fragmented system of organizations. Effective teamwork and leadership in accounting shows the way through the development of new innovative fraud investigations for the future CITATION Jef12 l 1033 (Jeffery, 2012). References BIBLIOGRAPHY Hoffman, W. M. (2004). The Ethics of Accounting and Finance: Trust, Responsibility, and Control. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group. Jeffery, C. (2012). Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting. New York: Emerald Group Publishing. Source document

I need a brief synopsis, Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Feuerbach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Feuerbach - Essay Example In this era, many people had already said popular words, thoughts and quotes which could influence and flare up the interests and emotions of mankind. Such sayings could either influence man for the better or for the worst. The quotes written above where the words spoken by the famous German philosopher and anthropologist, Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach, of whom, as a child was very religious, but while attending the Gymnasium in Ansbach, he was introduced by his tutor to the speculative Christian theology propounded by the Hegelian theologian Karl Daub at Heidelberg University. (Harvey) Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach, was born in Landshut, Bavaria. His family was one of the prominent people in their district. While studying at the Heidelberg University, he was greatly influenced by the Hegelian philosophy of which, George Frederick Hegel, philosopher and historian has often searched for the truth. As a philosopher of history, Hegel's concerns were primarily focused upon the finding of basic truths regarding the nature of reality. Because he seeks metaphysical "first principles" of nature, his results cannot judged through outside sources or objective facts, but only through individual reflection and inspiration. In contrast, the philosopher of history is expected to rely almost wholly upon facts, and to avoid the contamination of "bias." (Burell) In his youth, Feuerbach was enchanted by Hegels theory and was associated with the group known as the "Young Hegelians". While studying masters in Berlin, he still was not able to reconcile in his belief of the personal deity with the pure Vernunft of Hegelian philosophy and when the Hegelian influence begins to slacken, he then later rejected Hegels philosophy of idealism. Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach completed his education at Erlangen at the Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuremberg with the study of natural science. His first book, published anonymously, Gedanken ber Tod und Unsterblichkeit (1830), contains an attack on personal immortality and an advocacy of the Spinozistic immortality of reabsorption in nature. These principles, combined with his embarrassing manner of public speaking, debarred him from academic advancement. After some years of struggling, during which he published his Geschichte der neueren Philosophie (2 vols., 1833-1837, 2nd ed. 1844), and Abelard und Heloise (1834, 3rd ed. 1877), he married in 1837 and lived a rural existence at Bruckberg near Nuremberg, supported by his wife's share in a small porcelain factory.(Wikipedia) In his works, he had always attacked religion by saying that; "That Christianity has in fact long vanished not only from the reason but from the life of mankind, that it is nothing more than a fixed idea" His attacks to religion were then followed up by his most popular and important work written last 1841 entitled Das Wesen des Chrisantemums. It was the translated into English by George Eliot in 1853 which is now entitled "The Essence of Christianity". The Essence of Christianity was divided into two parts; Part 1: The True or Anthropological Essence of Religion and Part 2: The False Theological Essence of Religion. In the first part, Chapter 15, he speaks about the mystery

Application of Organizational Managerial Theories in Law Enforcement Term Paper

Application of Organizational Managerial Theories in Law Enforcement - Term Paper Example Managerial strategy, the component that manages and guides the organization toward its missions and visions, has been and remains a crucial element to police administration. For decades, the police administrator has been held accountable for the weaknesses of law enforcement agencies. Nevertheless, recently, it is simply stated that police administrators have turned out to be and continue to be highly qualified in comparison to their forerunners (Dantzker, 1999). However, in spite of the idea that police administrators nowadays may be more trained, experienced, and knowledgeable than those of the earlier periods, subordinate police managers and police executive nowadays perhaps perform a much more challenging task than earlier administrators. Due to the greater issues and challenges that confront present-day law enforcement, like a constantly changing workforce, an overstrained criminal justice system, and an overwhelming set of tasks, the police administrator’s job keeps on d emanding for more progress (Champion, 2002). This essay discusses how the three major organizational managerial theories, namely, classical or traditional, human relations, and systems have been applied in law enforcement managerial procedures and their impact on police administration. Classical Management Theory Classical theory, or also referred to as the ‘scientific management’ model, is the groundwork for American police administration, but this theory in law enforcement is quite difficult and unfavorable when it is rigidly applied. Above all, it tries to put into practice dominant, dictatorial standards to manage people who normally abide by egalitarian principles (Cordner & Scarborough, 2010). According to Gaines and Worrall (2011), more difficulties are produced as agencies have implemented policing principles, which involve empowering subordinates for them to gain more control over policing issues, criminal activities, and their tasks. The progress toward such managerial technique tends to burden and pressure classically managed agencies. Primarily, the traditional police administration and the classical organizational theory have been applied to police administration successfully. Even though the classical organizational model was conceptualized a century ago, it is stil l the main organizational design for law enforcement agencies and other governmental departments. Police administrators have relied on this model to lead them in managing their divisions and completing the police task (Allen & Sawhney, 1999). In spite of this, there has been considerable strain on law enforcement agencies to change the traditional police managerial framework. First, the general public has criticized police conduct and outcomes. Citizens trust law enforcers in terms of preventing criminal activities and resolving crime issues when they take place. At present, the public criticize police conducts like the maltreatment of civil rights and racial profiling (Allen & Sawhney, 1999). This has encouraged law enforcement agencies to build stronger and better rapport with community organizations and the general public, mostly by adopting community policing. According

The effects of fluency, vocabulary, and language development on Research Paper

The effects of fluency, vocabulary, and language development on comprehension - Research Paper Example In addition, different factors such as phonemic awareness, alphabetic understanding, fluency, genre consideration, vocabulary and language development affects comprehension. Effects of fluency on comprehension Fluency refers to the speed, accuracy and expressions that an individual applies while reading a text. It also involves the application of varied skills while reading a text. It is vital to conduct an accurate assessment that will analyze readers’ speed, accuracy and expression. Fluency is fundamental in literature because it influences comprehension. Lack of fluency affects an individual’s performance because an individual usually applies cognitive skills while trying to identify words. It also influences students’ comprehension because when the material and volume of work in school increases, the students who are not fluent face many barriers when trying to keep up with schoolwork (Nagy, 2008). Students who are not fluent also have trouble comprehending t exts. Furthermore, they usually shun oral and silent reading because they do not want to fail. This affects their comprehension. Fluency is vital in comprehension because it connects with decoding and reading of comprehension. Therefore, fluency acts as a connector between decoding and comprehension; furthermore, it highlights the capability of an individual to decode varied words from a given text. If an individual moves quickly and accurately through the words in a given text, then the individual’s decoding skills are perfect. This implies that the person can comprehend the text easily. Finally, it is important for students to practice fluency in their reading because it enables them to increase their reading speed and comprehension skills; thus, improving their performances (Nagy, 2008). Effects of vocabulary on comprehension Vocabulary refers to the study of different concepts including the meaning of words as each word has a different meaning. It also determines the appl ication of the words, the root words, analogies, prefixes and suffixes. There is a very strong relationship between vocabulary and comprehension (Wagner, Andrea & Kendra, 2007). This is because; vocabulary acts as a predictor of reading capabilities of an individual. An individual who is knowledgeable about vocabulary has an advantage when it comes to comprehension (Wagner, Andrea & Kendra, 2007). Vocabulary knowledge is also essential to students because it helps them in decoding, which facilitates comprehension. In addition, vocabulary knowledge is fundamental to learners because it allows them to comprehend their first and second language. This is because students with less information concerning vocabulary are unable to comprehend the given texts. Inadequate knowledge on the vocabulary affects the performance of students in their test passage and questions because they encounter problems while trying to comprehend the texts. Therefore, it is important for students to vocabulary because it helps them in determining the meaning of varied words; thus, increasing their comprehension level. Vocabulary is important to children because its absence leads to comprehension problems especially when they find new words in a given text. Therefore, knowledge on vocabulary is beneficial as it helps a

Reflection paper on a five-hour kindergarten observation Essay

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Cancer Nanotechnology Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

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