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Chapter 1: Question 27Q (page 23)
What are some of the major challenges facing the accounting profession?
Some of the major challenges faced in the accounting profession include items such as nonfinancial measurement, forward-looking information, soft assets, and timeliness.
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The chair of the FASB at one time noted that “the flow of standards can only be slowed if (1) producers focus less on quarterly earnings per share and tax benefits and more on quality products,and
(2) accountants and lawyers rely less on rules and law and more on professional judgement and conduct.” Explain his comment.
ETHICS (Financial Reporting Pressures) Presented below is abbreviated testimony from Troy Normand in the
WorldCom case. He was a manager in the corporate reporting department and is one of five individuals who pleaded guilty. He is
testifying in hopes of receiving no prison time when he is ultimately sentenced.
Q. Mr. Normand, if you could just describe for the jury how the meeting started and what was said during the meeting?
A. I can’t recall exactly who initiated the discussion, but right away Scott Sullivan acknowledged that he was aware we had
problems with the entries, David Myers had informed him, and we were considering resigning.
He said that he respected our concerns but that we weren’t being asked to do anything that he believed was wrong.
He mentioned that he acknowledged that the company had lost focus quite a bit due to the preparations for the Sprint
merger, and that he was putting plans in place and projects in place to try to determine where the problems were, why the
costs were so high.
He did say he believed that the initial statements that we produced, that the line costs in those statements could not
have been as high as they were, that he believed something was wrong and there was no way that the costs were that
high.
I informed him that I didn’t believe the entry we were being asked to do was right, that I was scared, and I didn’t want
to put myself in a position of going to jail for him or the company. He responded that he didn’t believe anything was wrong,
nobody was going to be going to jail, but that if it later was found to be wrong, that he would be the person going to jail,
not me.
He asked that I stay, don’t jump off the plane, let him land it softly, that’s basically how he put it. And he mentioned that he
had a discussion with Bernie Ebbers, asking Bernie to reduce projections going forward and that Bernie had refused.
Q. Mr. Normand, you said that Mr. Sullivan said something about don’t jump out of the plane. What did you understand him
to mean when he said that?
A. Not to quit.
Q. During this meeting, did Mr. Sullivan say anything about whether you would be asked to make entries like this in the future?
A. Yes, he made a comment that from that point going forward we wouldn’t be asked to record any entries, high-level late
adjustments, that the numbers would be the numbers.
Q. What did you understand that to be mean, the numbers would be the numbers?
A. That after the preliminary statements were issued, with the exception of any normal transaction, valid transaction, we
wouldn’t be asked to be recording any more late entries.
Q. I believe you testified that Mr. Sullivan said something about the line cost numbers not being accurate. Did he ask you to
conduct any analysis to determine whether the line cost numbers were accurate?
A. No, he did not.
Q. Did anyone ever ask you to do that?
A. No.
Q. Did you ever conduct any such analysis?
A. No, I didn’t.
Q. During this meeting, did Mr. Sullivan ever provide any accounting justification for the entry you were asked to make?
A. No, he did not.
Concepts for Analysis 27
Q. Did anything else happen during the meeting?
A. I don’t recall anything else.
Q. How did you feel after this meeting?
A. Not much better actually. I left his office not convinced in any way that what we were asked to do was right. However, I did question myself to some degree after talking with him wondering whether I was making something more out of what was really there.
Instructions
Answer the following questions.
(a) What appears to be the ethical issue involved in this case?
(b) Is Troy Normand acting improperly or immorally?
(c) What would you do if you were Troy Normand?
(d) Who are the major stakeholders in this case
CA1-7 WRITING (Need for GAAP) Some argue that having various organizations establish accounting principles is wasteful and inefficient. Rather than mandating accounting rules, each company could voluntarily disclose the type of information it considered important. In addition, if an investor wants additional information, the investor could contact the company and pay to receive the additional information desired.InstructionsComment on the appropriateness of this viewpoint.
Some accountants have politicization in the development and acceptance of generally accepted accounting principles (i.e., rule-making) is taking place. Some use the term “politicization” in a narrow sense to mean the influence by governmental agencies, particularly the securities and Exchange Commission, on the development of generally accepted accounting principles. Others use it more broadly to mean the compromise that results when the bodies responsible for developing generally accepted accounting principles are pressured by interest groups (SEC, American Accounting Association, businesses through their various organizations, Institute of Management Accountants, financial analysts, bankers, lawyers, and so on).Instructions
(a) The Committee on Accounting Procedure of the AICPA was established in the mid-to late 1930s and functioned until 1959, at which time the Accounting Principles Board came into existence. In 1973, the Financial Accounting Standards Board was formed and the APB went out of existence. Do the reasons these groups were formed, their methods of operation while in existence, and the reasons for the demise of the first two indicate an increasing politicization (as the term is used in the broad sense) of accounting standard setting? Explain your answer by indicating how the CAP, the APB, and the FASB operated or operate. Cite specific developments that tend to support your answer.
(b) What arguments can be raised to support the “politicization” of accounting rule-making?
(c) What arguments can be raised against the “politicization” of accounting rule-making?
Briefly describe the FASB/ IASB convergence process and the principles that guide their convergence efforts.
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