Ethical Dilemma Bad budget system or unethical behavior?
Clarence Cleaver is the budget director for the Harris County School District. Mr. Cleaver recently sent an urgent e-mail message to Sally Simmons, principal of West Harris County High. The message severely reprimanded Ms. Simmons for failing to spend the funds allocated to her to purchase computer equipment. Ms. Simmons responded that her school already has a sufficient supply of computers; indeed, the computer lab is never filled to capacity and usually is less than half filled. Ms. Simmons suggested that she would rather use the funds for teacher training. She argued that the reason the existing computers are not fully utilized is that the teachers lack sufficient computer literacy necessary to make assignments for their students.
Mr. Cleaver responded that it is not Ms. Simmons’s job to decide how the money is to be spent; that is the school board’s job. It is the principal’s job to spend the money as the board directed. He informed Ms. Simmons that if the money is not spent by the fiscal closing date, the school board would likely reduce next year’s budget allotment. To avoid a potential budget cut, Mr. Cleaver reallocated Ms. Simmons’s computer funds to Jules Carrington, principal of East Harris County High. Mr. Carrington knows how to buy computers regardless of whether they are needed. Mr. Cleaver’s final words were, “Don’t blame me if parents of West High students complain that East High has more equipment. If anybody comes to me, I’m telling them that you turned down the money.”
Required
- a. Do Mr. Cleaver’s actions violate the standards of ethical professional practice shown in Exhibit 10.19 of Chapter 10?
- b. Explain how participative budgeting could improve the allocation of resources for the Harris County School District.
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 14 Solutions
Survey Of Accounting
- Dorothy Koehl recently leased space in the Southside Mall and opened a new business, Koehl’s Doll Shop. Business has been good, but Koehl frequently runs out of cash. This has necessitated late payment on certain orders, which is beginning to cause a problem with suppliers. Koehl plans to borrow from the bank to have cash ready as needed, but first she needs a forecast of how much she should borrow. Accordingly, she has asked you to prepare a cash budget for the critical period around Christmas, when needs will be especially high. Sales are made on a cash basis only. Koehl’s purchases must be paid for during the following month. Koehl pays herself a salary of $4,800 per month, and the rent is $2,000 per month. In addition, she must make a tax payment of $12,000 in December. The current cash on hand (on December 1) is $400, but Koehl has agreed to maintain an average bank balance of $6,000—this is her target cash balance. (Disregard the amount in the cash register, which is insignificant because Koehl keeps only a small amount on hand in order to lessen the chances of robbery.) The estimated sales and purchases for December, January, and February are shown in the following table. Purchases during November amounted to $140,000. Prepare a cash budget for December, January, and February. Suppose that Koehl starts selling on a credit basis on December 1, giving customers 30 days to pay. All customers accept these terms, and all other facts in the problem are unchanged. What would the company’s loan requirements be at the end of December in this case? (Hint: The calculations required to answer this part are minimal.)arrow_forwardBoxes-and-Stuff, a box-packing and mailing company in a small town along the Gulf Coast, lost a key employee last month when its accounting manager was fired for embezzling company money. Now, the owners of Boxes-and-Stuff, Jerome and Natalia, need to find another accounting manager fast. But as they hurry to fill the position, they don't want to select a dishonest or incompetent employee. They need to be cautious. Fortunately, the police chief found the embezzled funds in a bank account set up by the former employee and authorized the return of the money. This means that Boxes-and-Stuff will not lose the embezzled amount, after all. However, Jerome and Natalia are already thinking of ways to protect their company from other risks. They want to be prepared for risky situations in the future. Questions: 1. Which risks do you think Boxes-and-Stuff might face?arrow_forwardDuring lunch, the director of the Streets and Parkways Department of the city Torrance made the following comment: “For the past 10 years, I have deliberately overstated my labor and equipment needs by 20 percent when preparing my budget request. I figure that the city council will cut it by 10 percent, and I can use the other 10 percent as slack. If there is money left over, I can always find a way to spend it.” Do you consider this behavior to be ethical? If not, what steps might you, as budget director, take to cut down on this “padding”?arrow_forward
- Boxes-and-Stuff, a box-packing and mailing company in a small town along the Gulf Coast, lost a key employee last month when its accounting manager was fired for embezzling company money. Now, the owners of Boxes-and-Stuff, Jerome and Natalia, need to find another accounting manager—fast. But as they hurry to fill the position, they don’t want to select a dishonest or incompetent employee. They need to be cautious. Fortunately, the police chief found the embezzled funds in a bank account set up by the former employee and authorized the return of the money. This means that Boxes-and-Stuff will not lose the embezzled amount, after all. However, Jerome and Natalia are already thinking of ways to protect their company from other risks. They want to be prepared for risky situations in the future. 1. Which risks do you think Boxes-and-Stuff might face? 2. How do you think the company should handle the risks you’ve identified?arrow_forwardACME Corp cannot afford to staff the storeroom in the plant during the 3rd shift. Maintenance personnel will need parts, but sometimes do not fill out the paperwork. Management installs cameras to see who is taking parts from the storeroom and check it against the paperwork. What type of control does this situation describe? Group of answer choices Preventative control Corrective control Out of control Detective control ACME Corp cannot afford to staff the storeroom in the plant during the 3rd shift. Maintenance personnel will need parts, but sometimes do not fill out the paperwork. Management installs cameras to see who is taking parts from the storeroom and check it against the paperwork. Where is this control is located on the COSO Cube? Group of answer choices Storeroom - Monitoring - Reporting Storeroom - Control Environment - Compliance Storeroom - Control Activity - Operations Storeroom - Control Environment - Reportingarrow_forwardMrs. Paul the owner of several supermarkets across the country is concerned about the errors being made by the cashiers while carrying out their daily duties. Customers are constantly complaining about being overcharged for items and this has significantly affected customer service. Mrs. Paul is very worried and has sought your help on this matter. Her inventory and the cashiering system only carry prices that are stuck to each item, which then needs to be manually entered to calculate the final price. what is the underlying problem as it relates to the errors being made and recommend a solution, incorporating technology, to avoid a reoccurrence of this going forward?arrow_forward
- > Frau Drew Castello, general manager of Sunflower Manufacturing, was frustrated. He wanted the budgeted results, and his staff was not getting them to him fast enough. Drew decided to pay a visit to the accounting office, where Jeff Hollingsworth was to be working on the reports. Jeff had recently been hired to update the accounting system and speed up the reporting process. supposed appear to be "What's taking so long?" Drew asked. "When am I going to get the variance reports?" Jeff sighed and attempted to explain the problem. "Some of the variances way off. We either have a serious problem in production, or there is an error in the spreadsheet. I want to recheck the spreadsheet before I distribute the report." Drew pulled up a chair, and the two men went through the spreadsheet together. The formulas in the spreadsheet were correct and showed a large unfavorable direct labor efficiency variance. It was time for Drew and Jeff to do some investigating. After looking at the time…arrow_forwardSystems Planning A new systems development project is being planned for the Reindeer Christmas Supplies Company. The invoicing, cash receipts, and accounts payable modules are all going to be updated. The controller, Kris K. Ringle, is a little anxious about this project. The last systems development project that affected his department was not very successful,and the employees in the accounting department did not accept the new system very well at first. He feels that the systems personnel did not interact sufficiently with the users of the systems in the accounting department. Prepare a memo from Ringle to the head of the information systems department, Sandy Klaus. In this memo, provide some suggestions for including the accounting personnel in the systems development project. Give some very persuasive arguments why prototyping would be helpful to the workers in the accounting department.arrow_forwardBudgeting is important not only for businesses. Also in our personal lives we have scarce resources, especially money and time, but also other resources like for example cell phone data, use of the family computer or family TV set, access to childcare etc. Our college prepares annual budgets as well. please look at line items 18 and 21. What do these dollar amounts tell you? What are your conclusions for the college? Share your observations with the class and discuss possible reasons for your observations.arrow_forward
- Making ethical decisions Sue Peters is the controller at Vroom, a car dealership. Dale Miller recently has been hired as the bookkeeper. Dale wanted to attend a class in Excel spreadsheets, so Sue temporarily took over Dale’s duties, including overseeing a fund used for gas purchases before test drives. Sue found a shortage in the fund and confronted Dale when he returned to work. Dale admitted that he occasionally uses the fund to pay for his own gas. Sue estimated the shortage at $450. Requirements What should Sue Peters do? Would you change your answer if Sue Peters was the one recently hired as the controller and Dale Miller was a well-liked, longtime employee who indicated he always eventually repaid the fund?arrow_forwardDiscuss this comment by a small-town bank president:“Budgeting is a waste of time. I’ve been running this business for 40 years. I don’t need to plan.”arrow_forwardThe county of Edgerton is facing a General Fund deficit in 2018 because actual tax collections are lagging behind estimates. At a staff meeting, the village manager tells the chief of public works that the chief will need to terminate one employee in April to help keep the budget in balance. The chief of public works says: “I have a better idea. You know that state grant the finance commissioner put into a Special Revenue Fund because it could be used only for planting trees along the highways? Why don’t I just tell one of my boys to fill out his timesheets so that the time he spends changing street light bulbs is charged against the Special Revenue Fund? Neither our finance commissioner nor the state will ever know the difference.” How should the village manager respond?arrow_forward
- Intermediate Financial Management (MindTap Course...FinanceISBN:9781337395083Author:Eugene F. Brigham, Phillip R. DavesPublisher:Cengage LearningBusiness Its Legal Ethical & Global EnvironmentAccountingISBN:9781305224414Author:JENNINGSPublisher:Cengage
- Managerial AccountingAccountingISBN:9781337912020Author:Carl Warren, Ph.d. Cma William B. TaylerPublisher:South-Western College PubBusiness/Professional Ethics Directors/Executives...AccountingISBN:9781337485913Author:BROOKSPublisher:Cengage