Keller Graduate School of Management Characterizing the performance Essay

“You Decide” PaperScenario Summary
You have been invited to attend a meeting where your immediate supervisor will be presenting a
draft of detailed financial projections to the chief financial officer and a subsequent meeting with
the company president. You’ve not been involved in the preparation of the analysis thus far but
understand that you might have some tasks delegated to you after the meeting. In addition, you
realize that the company is at a critical juncture from issues such as high attrition of the accounting
staff, current economic conditions, and increased competition.
Your Role/Assignment
You have recently been hired in the small accounting department of a corporate business. The
department is so small, in fact, that you may be called on at times for tasks ranging from simple
bookkeeping to preparation of financial statements and projections, and even filling in on the
internal audit staff. One of your first responsibilities is to assist a senior level accountant with a
detailed financial projection after input from the chief financial officer and the president of the
company.
Activity
You need to draft a summary of how you will handle the situation. Specific questions that should
be addressed are as follows.
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Do you feel that there might be an ethical issue present? For the moment, assume that
no laws have been broken and just focus on any possible ethical issues.
If you were going to report a suspected ethical issue, how would you do so? For instance,
to whom would you report? Would you discuss the matter with anyone first?
Would the way you respond vary depending on whether this corporation was privately
held or publicly traded?
Does the fact that you have only been recently hired play into your decisions?
What possible sources of guidance might be available from a professional organization or
your state’s regulatory body overseeing the accounting profession?
Lastly, please assume that you suspect that some state or federal laws have been
broken. The problems might be beyond just a possible ethical issue. Would this change
your handling of the situation?
After reading through the You Decide activity and considering the questions listed here, please
prepare a paper in APA format. The paper should include responses to the specific questions
posed above but you may include other points if you so desire. The paper should be doublespaced, 11-point or 12-point type, and between 750 and 1,000 words (three to four pages).
Key Players
Key Players—
Image
Title/Role/Character
Jim Adotar
Script Text and Audio
We were up most of the night working on these
projections. It was sure nice to have some help with
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“You Decide” Paper
Senior Accountant
Stan Fazer
Chief Financial Officer
Lana Leal
Company President
Excel. As you can see, we’re projecting a return to
positive cash flow by early next year. We need to
refine some of the assumptions but hopefully we
have explained the key factors adequately.
It looks like the two of you have done a great job in
preparing the projections. We can go ahead and
discuss them with the company president. Just
remember to not mention any issues about our
accounts receivable and our allowance accounts.
We need new bank financing, and the less said
about past issues the better.
I’m glad the three of you are coordinating this
exercise. That’s one less item on my to do list. I’ve
promised the loan officer at the bank that I’ll have a
package to them by early next week. I’m relying on
you as a team to meet that deadline with a set of
projections that is realistic and achievable.
Grading Rubric:
Category
Points
Description
Understanding
20
Demonstrate a strong grasp of the problem at hand. Demonstrate
understanding of how the course concepts apply to the problem.
Analysis
20
Apply original thought to solving the ethical problem. Apply concepts from the
course material correctly toward solving the ethical problem.
Execution
10
Write your answer clearly and succinctly using strong organization and proper
grammar. Use citations, if any, correctly.
Total
50
A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements.
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