...and processes that provide the strategies on how an organization directs and obtains its goals, the oversight process for implementing effective accountability from its directors and managers (Rittenberg, Johnstone, & Gramling, 2012). What are two of the principles that surround corporate governance? How do they tie into the recent legislation that was put into place to resolve ethical challenges and changes within the last decade? Two principles that surround corporate governance include “successful management and ethical corporate culture and independence and objectivity” (Creel, 2013). It is management’s responsibility to create a culture of “integrity and ethical behavior” (Rittenberg, Johnstone, & Gramling, 2012). In addition, it is imperative for board members to maintain their objectivity and their judgment must remain independent and in the best interest of its stakeholders. Corporate governance seemed to disappear when top management of Enron believed their accounting method of mark to market and their off balance sheet partnerships was in the best interest of the organization. Did the auditors from Arthur Andersen believe they had something to hide when CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 2 they erased computer drives and shredded documents during Enron’s collapse? In addition...
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...Bruno Auditing 1:00-2:15 Enron Case Due 2/10/05 1. What is auditor independence and what is its significance to the audit profession? What is the difference between independence in appearance and independence in fact? Auditor independence involves the auditor and the company being audited. It requires them to maintain separate business and personal relations. This is imperative because personal feelings can hinder the ability of an auditor to perform the required tasks. Expectations and assumptions can result from this as well. It is expected from an auditor that they be independent and unbiased. This is imperative when they are dealing with the financial statements because it is extremely important that they be impartial during the audit, which means that personal relations and former employees with strong relationships with there former employers would not concede to these standards. Independence in appearance is avoiding financial and managerial relationships with clients; this is necessary because this is the only portion that the public can actually see. The general public will only grant social recognition of professional status to auditors when they are perceived as independent. Independence in fact to the contrary from appearance is the ability for an auditor to remain unbiased during an audit of financials. Independence is the first aspect of an audit that the public sees. Although all stages of an audit are of equal importance, it is the independence...
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...internet. Page 1 1. Deontology deals with A. Emphasizes rights of others B. Consequences of actions C. Following prescribed virtue characteristics D. Following the law as an element of ethical behavior 2. Kant's categorical imperative principle suggests that: A. Only equals should be treated equally B. Everyone should be treated as a free and equal person C. Everyone should be treated unequally D. Only the elite are treated equally 3. Michael Josephson, founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, is credited for: A. Book of virtues B. Care and response orientation C. Six Pillars of Character D. Rights theory 4. Many critics say the biggest fault with utilitarianism is that it: A. Does not work in the real world B. Makes people appear helpless C. Makes everyone on equal footing D. It's impossible to foresee and measure all consequences 5. Virtue ethics emphasize development of good habits of character. What should be the greatest reward of practicing good habits of character, according to MacIntyre? A. External rewards B. Money C. Internal rewards D. Authority of rules 6. What is the number one virtue that people should want in a boss? A. Diligence B. Commitment C. Honesty D. Sense of humor 7. The best restatement of Kant's categorical imperative is: A. Do to others as you would have everyone do unto you. B. Consider others needs before you act. C. That those with a smaller stake should have a smaller say compared to those with a bigger stake. D. Don't be cruel until someone...
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...the effects of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act 2002 and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) on publicly traded companies (issuers). Finally, the changes in the auditing environment with respect to the additional responsibilities placed on auditors and PCAOB as a result of the enforcement of SOX Act 2002 is discussed in the paper. Generally Accepted Accounting Standards Paper The elements of GAAS In response to the McKesson & Robbins’ accounting scandal in 1938, the AICPA introduced the 10 Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) in 1939 to provide “guidance on the conduct of an audit” as well as an “overview of the timing of the different phases of an audit engagement” (Louwers and Ramsay et al., 2007). The 10 basic standards can be categorized into 3 broad groups: general standards, fieldwork standards, and reporting standards (Refer Figure 1). Together they allow auditors to follow a framework for carrying out high quality financial statement audits. Additionally, compliance with GAAS is mandatory for publicly traded companies. The general standards are in place to a) set mandatory requirements of a professional...
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...Risk Management Planning Carvella Bennett Everest University Risk management planning is the process of developing options and actions to enhance opportunities and reduce threats to project objectives. Risk management implementation is the process of executing risk management actions. Effective crisis response begins with effective decision-making. Good initial decisions can make even a catastrophe manageable; bad decisions can fatally exacerbate an otherwise small problem. In both cases, the window of opportunity for initial decision making is extremely small and closes rapidly. Once the moment for decision making has gone, it does not come back. Proper crisis response is about developing a range of emergency management options that can be exercised and that focus on what could happen, not what will happen. This is achieved through practice, and lots of it. It is no easy task getting a crisis management team together for the first time during an unfolding emergency. In all cases, the best crisis management results are delivered on-site and in the same time zone. However centralized a company may be, when it comes to crisis management, even local staffs need to sharpen their crisis management skills because ultimately, those are the ones that will be used when disaster first strikes. When actually organizing a live run-through of the crisis management plan, the scenario should ideally be one in which a business system is disabled. It is better to act this out in a real...
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... |Checkpoints |and Simulations | | | | | |Understand general ethics and a series of steps for making ethical |1, 2, 3, 4 |54 | |decisions. | | | | | | | |Reason through an ethical decision problem using the imperative, | |55, 56, 57 | |utilitarian and generalization principles of moral philosophy. | | | | | | | |Identify the different entities that make ethics rules for CPAs and |5, 6 | | |public accounting firms. | | | |...
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...geographies to attain sustainable growth. With the world becoming more borderless, it is then imperative that a strong financial planning must be made available for universal adoption. The international business environment relies on unbiased, clear, consistent, relevant and high quality standards. The task to develop and review internationally accepted standards was given to accounting councils and organizations such as IFRS Advisory Council and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). With the shared thoughts for a better and universally applicable accounting, accounting-related boards and councils, managers and accountants all over the world constantly review existing standards and examine its implementation. One issue that has been a hot topic of recent debates is the concept of Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation that was released by the PCAOB (TYSIAC, 2012). The Issue The conception of mandatory firm rotation is not fresh and was even considered by the U.S. Congress in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Congress however dismissed the concept in favor of the mandatory engagement partner rotation (Point of View, 2012). However, years after the conception of mandatory firm rotation was revived. Last August 16, a concept release was issued by the PCAOB to express ideas and the PCAOB began a discussion in order to enhance auditors’ principles, recommending Mandatory Audit Rotation as the means to attain such goals (PCAOB, 2011). While the PCAOB agreed to issue the...
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...C. Support the rights theory D. All of the above 3. Ethical relativism can best be described as a: A. Point of view that morality is relative to the norms of one's culture. B. Concept that holds that integrity should be maintained in the face of pressure by others. C. An ethical reasoning method that holds one should always act out of self-interest. D. An ethical reasoning method that holds one should always consider the effect of one's actions on others. 4. When is it appropriate to contact the audit committee about a difference of opinion with the CFO over an accounting or financial reporting manner? A. If the CFO does not agree to correct the financial statements B. The CEO supports the CFO and does not agree to correct the financial statements C. The external auditors support the CEO and do not agree to correct the financial statements D. The audit committee should always be the first to be informed about such a difference of opinion 5. An internal accountant should always take the following step after exhausting all avenues of appeal within the organization when there is a difference of opinion with top management on an accounting or financial reporting matter: A. Inform the SEC B. Terminate employment with the entity C. Seek legal advice before taking any action D. All of the above...
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...public reputation. Ensuring the security and privacy of data assets is a crucial and very difficult problem in our modern networked world. There is an increase in concern over Database Security, evidenced by an increase in the number of reported incidents of loss of or unauthorised exposure to sensitive data, not only here at YONS, but across the world. As the amount of data collected, retained and shared electronically expands, so does the need to understand database security. Unfortunately no organisation can ever be 100% safe from a security breach. However, I am happy to report that according to the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) in 2013; more than 97% could have been prevented by implementing simple steps and following best practices and internal controls (Imperva 2013).It is in my opinion that if we at YONS Ltd. remain vigilant by briefing all members of staff across the company, as well as incorporating a dedicated CSIRT team to know how to respond once an incident is spotted. Such a cross industry incident response strategy could maximise our effectiveness with any such security issue once it...
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... Not subordinating professional judgment to others 2. Ethical relativism can best be described as a: A. Point of view that morality is relative to the norms of one's culture. B. Concept that holds that integrity should be maintained in the face of pressure by others. C. An ethical reasoning method that holds one should always act out of self-interest. D. An ethical reasoning method that holds one should always consider the effect of one's actions on others. 3. When is it appropriate to contact the audit committee about a difference of opinion with the CFO over an accounting or financial reporting manner? A. If the CFO does not agree to correct the financial statements B. The CEO supports the CFO and does not agree to correct the financial statements C. The external auditors support the CEO and do not agree to correct the financial statements D. The audit committee should always be the first to be informed about such a difference of opinion 4. An internal accountant should always take the following step after exhausting all avenues of appeal within the organization when there is a difference of opinion with top management on an accounting or financial reporting matter: A. Inform the SEC B. Terminate employment with the entity C. Seek legal advice before taking any action D. All of the above 5. The Public Interest Principle in the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct recognizes: A. The importance of integrity in decision making B. The primacy of stakeholder...
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...assisted audit techniques (CAATs). A CAATs audit is focused on testing the computer systems for data integrity and security of the company’s information data processing. CAATs provide a 10 step process made available to the auditor for use as guidelines in conducting an efficient audit. The guidelines will reduce the time to complete the audit, save money and ensure a high degree of confidence in the audit results. The CAATs audit will provide the owner of Kudler Fine Foods with assurance that the systems are operating with accuracy and the data is secure. To initiate the audit procedure, the auditor will first collaborate with the owner of Kudler Fine Foods to define the intents and desired end results of the audit. The auditor will review the computer systems, processes, types of data and process controls with Kathy Kudler to ensure that she thoroughly understands the system. Through this collaboration, the auditor will determine the best strategies for assessing the risks associated with the system and current processes. He or she will also determine the optimal strategy for collecting and testing data. Once the auditor determines the best strategies for conducting the audit, he or she will begin collecting and testing data in the most time efficient and effective manner. Kudler Fine Foods will benefit from the CAATs audit in the company’s growth and expansion by having a high level of confidence in the accuracy and security of the system. The CAATs audit will...
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...Assainment on Bangladesh Telecommunication 1 . Southeast University, Banani, Dhaka. . . Assignment . On . “Telecommunication Operator Grameenphone Ltd. . . Course Title: Organizational behaviour Course Code:---- . Assignment Submitted . T) . . . . INTRODUCTION . . 1. It was a talk 2000 years ago. A soldier of ancient Greece was seen running taking the challenge of his life. He started form war field ``MARATHON`` and had the destination, the city of `` ATHENCE`` which was 20 miles away. The soldier continue his running and before death he could reach with the message `` we won the Rose day life had to sacrifice to convey one massage within a distance of 26 miles. Today path finder has sent its message from 8 x 107 miles away from mars about its successful journey and this was re-broadcasted throughout the world within a fraction of second. All those were possible for the development of telecommunication system. . . 2. Now a days standing on the street or siting in a vehicle we communicate each other which require to press only few buttons , But few years back the communication system was so critical a matter that in Rose days people had to wait a hour long endorsing their mane in manual exchange resister for trunk communication in home and abroad , But at present with the help of mobile cellular telecommunication technology it is just within our finger tips. Grameenphone is the pioneer in this sector in Bangladesh...
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...AN EVALUATION OF THE INTERNAL CONTROLS SYSTEM FOR CASH FOR THE CASE OF NAIROBI SMALL BUSINESSES BY CLEOPHAS MUSINGA A Management Research Project Submitted In Partial Fulfillment For The Requirements Of The Award Of Bachelor Of Commerce (BCOM), School Of Business, University Of Nairobi JULY, 2008 DECLARATION This research project is our own original work and has not been submitted for academic purposes in any institution of higher leaning. Name Number Sign CLEOPHAS MUSINGA D33/6646/05 ………………………….. This research project has been submitted for examination with my approval as the university supervisor Signed……………………………. Date…………………………………………. Mr. Abdulatif Essajee Lecturer University of Nairobi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i CHAPTER ONE 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background of the study 1 1.2 Statement of the problem 5 1.3 Objectives of the study 6 1.4 Research questions 6 1.5 Scope of the study 6 1.6 Justification of the study 7 CHAPTER TWO 9 LITERARURE REVIEW 9 2.1 Evolution of internal controls 9 2.2 Components of Internal Controls 12 2.4 Relationship between a firm’s age and internal control 18 2.6 Internal controls in small businesses 19 CHAPTER THREE 21 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 21 3.1 Research design 21 3.2 Population 21 3.3 Sample and Sampling Technique 21 3.4 Data collection methods 22 3.5 Data analysis 22 CHAPTER FOUR 23 DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 23 4.1 Introduction...
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...Table of Contents Abstract 2 1. Introduction 2 2. Background 3 3. Statement of Purpose 3 4. Literature Review 4 5. Scope of the Research 4 6. Methodology 5 6.1 Research Design 5 6.2 Sources of Data 5 6.2.1 Secondary Data 5 6.2.2 Primary Data 5 6.2.2.1 Population 5 6.2.2.2 Working Population 5 6.2.2.3 Sampling Design 5 6.2.2.4 Data Collection Method 6 6.2.2.5 Data Survey and Scaling Techniques 6 6.3 Data Analysis 7 7. Time Scale/Research Planning 7 8. Timetable 9 9. Problems of the Fact 10 10. Conclusion 10 11. Reference 11 12. Appendix 12 Abstract Commercial Banks are the most dominant financial institutions in the domain of commerce and industry. The efficiency of commercial banks is dependent on their ability to mobilize fund profitability, which can enhance their corporate value. There can be few, if any, parts of the economy in which risk management is more important than the financial sector. Financial institutions account for a sizeable number of the world's leading companies and have a critical role to play in the economics of every country and thus in world economic order as a whole. The research will be focusing on the case study method by interviewing the concerned person that will provide detailed analysis of such Bangladeshi commercial banks of the country as their business operation is being centered on taking risks in conditions of uncertainty. The process with such focus on how outcomes relate...
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...Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act), and, the provisions of the Act are significant enough that it is considered by many to be the most significant change to federal securities laws in the U.S. since the New Deal. It is best understood, however, not as a piece of legislation centered on a new concept of regulation, but as a process which mandated that many major reforms be implemented as soon as possible (in some cases, within 30 days) on the precise schedule specified by Congress. In that sense, the Enron and WorldCom debacles provided the impetus of public outrage that forced into effect some of the most readily available reform proposals for publicly traded companies, many of which had existed for years without sufficient political imperative to be enacted.[1] The Act provides for new levels of auditor independence; personal accountability for CEOs and CFOs; additional accountability for corporate Boards; increased criminal and civil penalties for...
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