You are an Accountant for the South Florida regional office of Maven Magazine Company. Jack Jones, your boss, is the Regional Manager of this office. As the Regional Manager, his pay package includes a base salary, commissions, and a bonus when his region sells new policies in excess of its quota. Jack has been under enormous pressure lately, stemming largely from two factors. First, he is experiencing mounting personal debt due to hospital bills of a sick family member. Second, compounding his worries, his region's sales of magazine subscriptions have dipped below the normal quota for the first time in years. You have been working for Jack for three years, and like everyone else in the office, you consider yourself lucky to work for such a supportive boss. You also feel great sympathy for his personal problems over the last few months. In your position as Accountant for the regional office, you are very aware of the drop in new subscription sales and the impact this will have on the Regional Manager's bonus. While you are working on the year-end financial statements, Jack stops by your office. Jack asks you to change the manner in which you are planning to account for a new large subscriptions sale made to a big customer. A check for the subscriptions, substantial in amount, came in the mail on December 31, the last day of the reporting year; however, the related magazines will not start to be delivered to the customer until January of the next year. Originally, you had planned to deposit this check and book an entry deferring the recognition of revenue until next year. But when Jack approaches you, he says, ?Hey, we have the money this year, so why not count it as revenue this year? I never did understand why you accountants are so picky about these things anyway. I'd like you to change the way you record this transaction. Instead, I want you to recognize the subscriptions revenue this year. And anyway, I've done favors for you in the past, and I am asking for such a small thing in return.? With that, he leaves your office. Instructions: Technical: In a thorough Case Analysis, first analyze the technical accounting issue here by identifying and explaining the effects of both transaction alternatives (the original way and the way proposed by Jack) on the overall Accounting Equation (on both specific accounts and on overall assets, liabilities, and stockholders? equity), and on both the Income Statement and Balance Sheet (on specific accounts and on overall net income and on assets, liabilities, and stockholders? equity). Then, explain how these Income Statement and Balance Sheet effects of both alternatives would be perceived by specific financial statement users, being sure to address their specific uses and related perception effects. Ethical: Then, explain why or why not you, the Accountant in this case, are faced with an ethical dilemma, describing the nature of any internal conflict you may be facing and the difficulty you may have making a decision given this conflict. Secondly, identify and explain any potential parties (including Jack and yourself) who could be impacted by your decision, and how these considerations affect your ethical dilemma. Recommendation: Lastly, based on these considerations, recommend and justify the course of action you would take as the Accountant in this case, making sure you cite the specific technical and ethical considerations that led you to this decision. ? 
ACT 2200 PROJECT: CASE IN TECHNICAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING For the following real world accounting case, you will provide a Case Analysis from the perspective of the Accountant that analyzes both the technical and ethical accounting issues present in the case and proposes a solution based on these considerations. BE SURE to read the instructions below the case thoroughly, as they lay out exactly what is required. Also, it is IMPERATIVE that you read the accompanying rubric, on which your project grade will be based, so that you understand the exact expectations set forth to achieve a high score. Keep in mind that I am looking for a WELL-WRITTEN, PROOFREAD, WELL-ORGANIZED, HIGH QUALITY report that shows a thorough understanding of the accounting issues faced. The report has no specific length requirement as long as you are sure to address all considerations of case. CASE INFORMATION: MAVEN MAGAZINE COMPANY You are an Accountant for the South Florida regional office of Maven Magazine Company. Jack Jones, your boss, is the Regional Manager of this office. As the Regional Manager, his pay package includes a base salary, commissions, and a bonus when his region sells new policies in excess of its quota. Jack has been under enormous pressure lately, stemming largely from two factors. First, he is experiencing mounting personal debt due to hospital bills of a sick family member. Second, compounding his worries, his region's sales of magazine subscriptions have dipped below the normal quota for the first time in years. You have been working for Jack for three years, and like everyone else in the office, you consider yourself lucky to work for such a supportive boss. You also feel great sympathy for his personal problems over the last few months. In your position as Accountant for the regional office, you are very aware of the drop in new subscription sales and the impact this will have on the Regional Manager's bonus. While you are working on the year-end financial statements, Jack stops by your office. Jack asks you to change the manner in which you are planning to account for a new large subscriptions sale made to a big customer. A check for the subscriptions, substantial in amount, came in the mail on December 31, the last day of the reporting year; however, the related magazines will not start to be delivered to the customer until January of the next year. Originally, you had planned to deposit this check and book an entry deferring the recognition of revenue until next year. But when Jack approaches you, he says, \"Hey, we have the money this year, so why not count it as revenue this year? I never did understand why you accountants are so picky about these things anyway. I'd like you to change the way you record this transaction. Instead, I want you to recognize the subscriptions revenue this year. And anyway, I've done favors for you in the past, and I am asking for such a small thing in return.\" With that, he leaves your office. Instructions: Technical: In a thorough Case Analysis, first analyze the technical accounting issue here by identifying and explaining the effects of both transaction alternatives (the original way and the way proposed by Jack) on the overall Accounting Equation (on both specific accounts and on overall assets, liabilities, and stockholders' equity), and on both the Income Statement and Balance Sheet (on specific accounts and on overall net income and on assets, liabilities, and stockholders' equity). Then, explain how these Income Statement and Balance Sheet effects of both alternatives would be perceived by specific financial statement users, being sure to address their specific uses and related perception effects. Ethical: Then, explain why or why not you, the Accountant in this case, are faced with an ethical dilemma, describing the nature of any internal conflict you may be facing and the difficulty you may have making a decision given this conflict. Secondly, identify and explain any potential parties (including Jack and yourself) who could be impacted by your decision, and how these considerations affect your ethical dilemma. Recommendation: Lastly, based on these considerations, recommend and justify the course of action you would take as the Accountant in this case, making sure you cite the specific technical and ethical considerations that led you to this decision. YOU WILL BE GRADED USING THE FOLLOWING RUBRIC, SO BE SURE TO COMPLETE YOUR PROJECT ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING POINT GUIDELINES TO MAXIMIZE YOUR SCORE: Name of Student: Course: Date: Lead Professor: Instructional Specialist: TITLE OF RUBRIC: Case in Technical and Ethical Issues of Accounting LEARNING OUTCOME/S: CC5: Recognize the impact of basic business transactions on accounts and financial statements; CC 7. Demonstrate effective written communication using proper organization, structure, grammar, punctuation and spelling including the use of appropriate technologies; CC8. Recognize ethical issues in business. PURPOSE: To utilize technical accounting knowledge and ethical considerations to critically assess a real world business scenario and generate an effective recommendation. VALIDITY: Critical assessment and recommendations based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles as promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board; Ethical assessments based on AICPA's Code of Professional Conduct; Writing criteria based on APA standards. COMPANION REFERENCES: ACT 2200 Course Textbook; APA Style Manual Performance Criteria Missing (0 points) Developing (2 points) Proficient (3.5 points) Accomplished (4 points) Exemplary (5 points) Earn ing maxi mum point s in each box in 'PR OFI CIE NT'
