Final Project: Solving Ethical Dilemmas in the Accounting Profession

November 4, 2011

ACC/260

Dan’s Dilemmas

In this assignment we will evaluate the ethical dilemmas of Daniel Potter. Dan is an accountant at Baker Greenleaf. He has been assigned a special audit in which his dilemmas occur. We will discuss many factors that led to the issues Dan is facing. We will describe the dilemmas and give a step-by-step account of how a solution can be reached.
Background:
While studying for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam, Dan paid close attention to the professional guidelines and code of ethics for accountants. Being of a religious background, ethics was a particularly firm belief for him. He took pride in knowing about ethical situations that could make decisions difficult. Dan also understood that the professional guidelines were to be used as a tool to help in the decision-making process. He believed strongly that “every independent auditor was obligated to maintain professional integrity, if what he believed to be the best economic system in the world was to survive” (Brooks, 2007, p. 285). Baker was receiving a new assignment for a special audit, which was shared with another “Big Eight accounting firm” (Brooks, 2007, p. 286). If all went according to plan, Baker Greenleaf hoped to obtain the account exclusively. The company assigned the best in the company to prepare the audit. Dan was on of the team members chosen. A special one year promotion could be in his future. Gene Doherty was also chosen to help Dan in the assignment. Oliver Freeman, the project manager, assigned Dan to work on the company that gave them problems in the past. He was given one month to provide a clean opinion. Shortly into the audit, Dan discovered how inflexible Oliver could be to work with. Gene had worked with him in the past and already knew how