As the outside CPA of a medical practice, you cannot help but notice cash receipts drop off to virtually nothing every December and then the first week of January cash collections are huge. You ask the office manager, who says that the doctor insists that any checks received after Thanksgiving be held until the first week of January, thus deferring the income to the following year. They justify the action by saying the cash gets into the bank, and the only real issue is the year it is shown as income.
What do you think about the ethical values of this organization? If you were a patient and knew this information, how might that change your feelings about the doctor? As the accountant, how should you approach this?