Pretend that you are a brand new staff auditor in the KPMG Houston office during the time these events occurred in the 2019 Administrative Order. Your Senior Manager drops off a copy of the answers to the new GAAP Leasing training course for staff members and instructs you to complete the training by the end of the week. You already have more than enough audit work to keep you busy for the rest of the week and reach your billable hours.

Part 1: What issues go through your mind as you try to decide what to do? Do you have an organized way of resolving this dilemma? Do you use the materials from the senior manager? Do you give the training materials back and not use them? Are there other actions that you might take in this situation? As a CPA candidate or newly licensed CPA could you be violating any of the ethics rules in the Texas Administrative Code? If so, which rules apply in this situation?

Part 2: Compare and contrast the KPMG (2019) and EY (2022) cases. How are these cases similar and how are they different? What do you think this says about the corporate culture at the Big 4 firms? Would you expect similar actions at smaller CPA firms?