The following is a fictitious case

Drake A. currently works as an accountant at ABC Corp. a manufacturing firm in the GTA. He runs a department of four employees and is ultimately responsible for creating the companys monthly, quarterly and year end financial statements which include the income statement and balance sheet.

The company had some challenges during the pandemic but recent results have shown an increase in profitability in each of the last four quarters. However, this past quarter Drakes boss Puffy A. wasnt particularly happy with ABCs results. In particular Puffy noted that the sales revenue were down and that net income was much lower than hed forecasted though the company was still profitable.

One day Puffy walked into Darkes office and asked if there was anything that could be done about the net income. Drake answered unfortunately not, and that that hed followed all CPA and IFRS standards in producing the financial reports. The following week Drake received a call from Puffy again asking if the net income could be changed and Drake double checked the reports and again said no and provided the same reasoning as before.

Just this morning Drake bumped into Puffy in the elevator and Puffy requested that Drake take a closer look again at the results for this quarter and to find some accounting way to revise the net income. Puffy noted that not doing so would mean that no one (including Drake, Puffy and senior management) would be eligible for a quarterly bonus as the company did not meet its net income target. As he was leaving the elevator Puffy also mentioned to Drake that hed received many resumes recently from very qualified people who were looking for accounting positions at ABC. It should be noted that in these though economic times many jobs have been eliminated (including those at ABC) as a result of automation and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). However, most qualified accounts (CPAs etc.) appear to have very successful careers including those at ABC.

Background

Drake graduated from GBC then went to Higher Ed. University where he earned his BCom. and later his CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) designation. Hes been at ABC for 3 years, is married and has 2 young children. The family lives in a Toronto suburb where they own a car, and a home (on which they have a large mortgage). Drakes wife recently lost her job and this has impacted their relationship as the family is dealing with some financial hardships. Last year when one of Drakes children was ill Puffy allowed him to take additional time off with pay (above and beyond company policy) so that he could be home to support his family.

Puffy is a senior manager and has been at ABC for 15 years. He has an MBA and the talk is that if the company continued to do well financially he would be promoted to Vice-President and this would result in a huge pay increase! Puffy is not a CPA but has many years of experience in the accounting and finance field mostly in the manufacturing sector. He was also directly responsible for hiring Drake and the two have a good working relationship. They wouldnt consider each other as friends and dont spend time together outside of work. Note that Puffy reports to Beyonce K. who is a senior vice-president and is a CPA. It is well known that Beyonce and Puffy have both a strong professional and personal friendship.

Your Task

Write a 2 to 4 page (double spaced) report to address how Drake should deal with this situation In your response you can consider the following.What is (are) the ethical issue(s), what are his options, what are the possible consequences, what should he ultimately do?