Ethics and Professional Conduct in Business

Step 1 Review the scenario.

As the accountant of Planet Express, you discover a misstatement that overstated net income in the prior year's financial statements. The misleading financial statements appear in the company's annual report which was issued to banks and other creditors less than a month ago. You inform the president of the company, Hubert, of this error. Hubert states, We've already given out the financial statements! It's going to look bad on us and be very costly to have to reissue them all over again! We'll just adjust next year's financial statements to account for the overstated net income. We're not lying- we'll show it- just next year.

Step 2 Post to the discussion board.

Respond to the following questions and, if appropriate, include personal experience as part of your answers.

• Who are the stakeholders in this situation?
• What are the ethical issues in this situation?
• What would you do as a controller in this situation?
• What would be the appropriate steps to take, if any?