Ethical Issues In Accounting Essay

Improved Essays
Abstract. The article reviewed was Creative Accounting: Some Ethical Issues of Macro- and Micro-Manipulation. The abstract emphasizes the manipulative behavior of regulators and company management. The macro- and micromanipulation is considered as attempts to modify financial statements (p. 55).
Introduction. The authors studied ethical considerations and manipulative behavior of prepares of financial statements. Financial statements should be reliable so interested parties can make adequate economic decisions. Using the figures, prepares of financial statements send the message to shareholders and other users. The activities of financial statement prepares may alter the message that will be transmitted to users. This behavior is known as
…show more content…
The system of accounting regulation is divided between the corporate law and promulgated standards. Over the years, non-government organizations had a significant influence on accounting settings. One of their responsibilities is to address technical issues of accounting activities, enforce adequate auditing mechanisms, and build ethical standards to guarantee the fairness of financial reporting (p. …show more content…
The entities’ profitability has substantial effect on the nation income and budget. There are cases when preparers misled regulators. It happens under the weak regulation. When the accounting regulation does not allow the prepares to achieve the goal, then they ignore rules or alter financial statements (p. 58). The weak regulation provides incentives to preparers for financial manipulations. The authors explained a manipulation as one of the types of creative accounting. Creative accounting refers to management that does not provide true accounting information, and lack of ethical standards.
The researchers selected twenty-seven relevant sources published between 1972 and 2004 Nine of these references were primary sources. Among those are the studies of Amat, Gowthorpe, and Perramon (2003), Cairns (2001), Dechow and Skinner (2000),

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    There can be numerous reasons as to why accountants act unethically. The most common reason being the personal financial issues. Many of the accounting scandals that have occurred in the past showed how an individual, by exercising unethical practices gained a good amount of money. Moreover, in a pressure to deliver good results, some organizations implement these unethical practices. Some organizations also do this so that they do not have to pay large amount of…

    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Disclosures about significant accounting policies are important for users of financial statements such as investors, creditors, and vendors to understand how the accounting policies were used while preparing the financial statements. For example, investors would like to know what kind of depreciation method was used so they can compare it to other companies, this will be useful for them while they are making a decision to invest in a company or not. Companies should disclose these significant details that are important in determining their financial position and the changes in the financial position. Some examples of what can be included in a significant accounting policy are goodwill, operating cycle, intangible assets, inventory valuation (LIFO, FIFO, or weighted average). Overall it is useful to disclose significant accounting policies for outside…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this essay I will consider why Accounting Conceptual frameworks have been devised; what are the main principles to be considered when drawing up any accounting statements and who uses them. I will also consider what different financial statements can be produced and what the key elements are in these statements. Finally I will discuss some issues arising from the use of accounting conceptual frameworks. Accounting Concepts and Principles are conventions that give a structure for financial reporting. Financial reporting uses the professional judgments of accountants to stop its users from being misled.…

    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Historical cost accounting can cause misleading as well. Take cases of McKesson and Robbins in 1938 as examples, figures at historical cost misleads investors and creditors. Dichev (2008) states that income statement approach can better represent the operation of companies. However, there are some limitations of historical cost accounting. First, it…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The organizational behavior influences the ethical behavior of accounting professionals. Bobek, Hageman, and Radtke (2015) studied reasons of potential discrepancies between the leaders and non-leaders of the accounting firms. The firm’s ethical norms directly influence the behavior of its members. The researchers indicated that it is important to identify and understand the factors that affect ethical norms in the organization (p. 125). The firm’s leaders should play a meaningful role in building and supporting the ethical environment.…

    • 1441 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Case 11.1: Accounting/Finance Ethics Scenarios Main Ethical Issue(s) Financial professionals are often confronted with fiduciary issues which challenge their integrity, honesty, and ability to be transparent with stockholders and customers. They may be pressured to make decisions or participate in accounting practices that are clearly against company policy, financial or accounting rules, regulations, and code of ethics. In all three scenarios, employees are asked to make such decisions. Concepts and Theories Relevant to Case Economics and the bottom line are often the driving force behind decisions that are made within the organization. In an effort to make the bottom line appear better than it might actually be, finance and accounting employees…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    • Predict that organization seeks to be perceived by the community as legitimate and that accounting information can be used as a means of gaining, maintaining or regaining the legitimacy to the organization (i.e. Legitimacy Theory) Chapter 1 – Financial Accounting Theory 1.2 A brief overview of theories of accounting Different researchers have different perspectives of the role of accounting theory. a. Some researchers believe that the principal role of accounting theory should be to “explain and predict” particular accounting-related phenomena. b.…

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Operational risk is a financial institution's exposure to losses arising from mistakes (such as computer fail-ure or breach of regulations) and conspiracies (including loan fraud and em-bezzlement) that affect its day-to-day business. Banks generally calculate their operational-risk cover by estimating the prob-ability that a particular event might occur and the resulting financial loss — such as the fine for breaking a rule or the sum pocketed by an embezzler. But operational crises also upset shareholders and can lead to a decline in mar-ket value. Few institutions, however, factor such potential market losses into their risk-cover calculations or operational-risk-management plans. New research sug-gests that they should.…

    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Unethical Behavior Paper

    • 1281 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Unethical Behavior in The Financial Industry Research Paper 2 Danyell Knox Financing 505 Professor Wendy Achilles University Of Bridgeport December 6, 2015 Unethical Behaviors In The Financial Industry Research Paper 2 Unethical behaviors of financial professionals both old, and young still seem to affect the financial industry despite the new policies, and regulations surrounding the financial industry. Enron was an example of how unethical behaviors of employees will not only affect employees, but also stakeholders, and the economy in general. According to an article on Investopidia, and written by Chris Seabury, “CEO Jeffrey Skilling had a way of hiding the financial losses of the trading business and other operations…

    • 1281 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Financial Statement Fraud Company financial statements provides information that is utilized by investors to evaluate the conduct of managers and to compose economic arrangements (Chinniah, 2015, p. 1). The consumers of the financial statement may consider the financial information received as dependable and appropriate for its function (p. 1). Chinniah indicates accounting standards and regulations have been put in place to try to certify the financial information provided is consistent with these standards, regulations, and is reliable and dependable for its consumers (p. 1). Nevertheless, as the world has seen in the past, employees, managers, or even stockholders could intentionally misrepresent the financial statements and change the…

    • 1706 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays