BYP2-9 Sara Rankin is the assistant chief accountant at Hokey Company, a manufacturer of

computer chips and cellular phones. The company presently has total sales of $20 million. It is

the end of the first quarter. Sara is hurriedly trying to prepare a general ledger trial balance so

that quarterly financial statements can be prepared and released to management and the regulatory

agencies. The total credits on the trial balance exceed the debits by $1,000. In order to

meet the 4 p.m. deadline, Sara decides to force the debits and credits into balance by adding the

amount of the difference to the Equipment account. She chose Equipment because it is one of

the larger account balances; percentage-wise, it will be the least misstated. Sara plugs the difference!

She believes that the difference will not affect anyones decisions. She wishes that she

had another few days to find the error but realizes that the financial statements are already late.

Instructions

(a) Who are the stakeholders in this situation?

(b) What are the ethical issues involved in this case?

(c) What are Sara's alternatives?