Corporate Ethics for Financial Managers: Navigating with Case Studies and Practical Solutions

CPAs today are faced with increasing responsibility for compliance with all manner of financial reporting requirements. As the number of financial restatements has grown and questions about management integrity have shaken investor confidence, the roles of financial managers and accountants have taken on both more importance and greater risk. Against this backdrop, financial managers and accountants must maintain and enhance their decision making skills within a values-driven environment or may suffer the consequences of their failure to do so.

Corporate Ethics for Financial Managers: Navigating with Case Studies and Practical Solutions is designed to provide a series of nine case studies that illustrate real world ethical dilemmas and application of values consistent with the high standards of the profession. The case studies:

• are drawn, in most instances, from facts reported in actual court cases and disciplinary proceedings involving financial managers and accountants;
• put the CPA in the central decision making role using "You Are the CFO" and "You Are the Audit Partner" hypotheticals;
• include analyses that consider various outcomes and a discussion of the courses of action;
• reference the implementation and design of ethics training strategies and programs found in the appendices.

In addition, the cases require you to analyze the fact scenarios and determine how to apply accounting pronouncements and policy statements covering many of today's most important accounting and audit issues like:

• revenue recognition;
• critical accounting policies;
• consolidation of variable interest entities (VIEs);
• disclosure in management's discussion and analysis (MD&A);
• market risk;
• pro forma earnings;
• transfer payments;
• loan loss reserves;
• materiality;
• related party transactions; and
• insider trading.

Table of Contents
Case 1— Superlative Software Corp.: You Are the CFO
Case 2—Pointer Electronics, Inc.: You Are the Audit Partner
Case 3— BAN&K Advisory Services LLC: You Are the Audit Partner
Case 4— Forensic Review Services LLC: You Are the Forensic Auditor
Case 5— Department of Enforcement: You Are the Accounting Investigator
Case 6— Megatron Corp—You Are the Corporate Controller
Case 7— AA&C LLC: You are a Member of the Practice Development Committee
Case 8— Precious Mining Inc.: You are the Audit Committee Chair
Case 9—Incisive Lasers Corporation: You are the Outside Counsel
APPENDIX A: Implementing an Ethics Strategy
APPENDIX B: Designing an Ethics Training Program