"Can you imagine accountants as American cowboys of the Wild, Wild West in the 1800s? I can. And they can be dangerous. Yeehaw! Yippee-i-o-i-a!"

(Cokins, 2013)

One of the readings this week is an article published in a blog by Business Finance which compares managerial accountants to cowboys in the Wild West. The main argument provided by the author stems from the many rules imposed on financial accountants and the comparative lack of rules for managerial accountants. In BUSI 1043 (Financial Accounting) you may have learned about the effects of Enron, World Com, and Arthur Anderson as well as many other companies who committed fraud and the resulting impact/creation of governing bodies. As a result of such scandals, many accounting standards were created with the purpose of trying to mitigate the risk of fraud occurring in the future. However, there are very few rules and regulations for managerial accountants (similar to the cowboys of the Wild West).

Do you agree or disagree with the author's arguments? Please provide your thoughts and analysis in class during the discussion. The instructor may split the class into two groups (an "Agreeing" group and a "Disagreeing" group), so prepare to take a position that may be different than your initial opinion.

Article

Cokins, G. (2013, January). Cowboy accountants - The lawless frontier.TRG International.http://blog.trginternational.com/bid/172474/Cowboy-Accountants-The-Lawless-Frontier.