What is the ethical issue?
In every institution, professionalism is pertinent during the execution of duties in accordance with the acceptable code of ethics. The issue here is that the hotel manager Clay Murry asked Terry to alter the financial records of the budget so that she could allocate for something that had not been included in the statement. As a manager, she is required to exhibit a very high standard of ethical behavior because she has a responsibility to observe transparency and integrity at all times ( Jeffrey, 2018 ). This is a fraudulent activity that is based on the self-interest of the manager. Since the master budget affects the hotel’s performance, the bonuses gained will affect the company’s decisions and as such, the figures presented are vital for performance evaluation. It is evident that the manager wants to benefit from the increment and as such, she has gone against the ethics of her profession which requires her to produce credible and reliable information.
What are the options?
My option here would be not to accept these instructions because, at the end of the day, I will be the one who would be liable for the adjusted budget. My first option would be to inform the manager that this is not an ethical practice and as such, we should not alter the budget to cater for expenses that had not yet been incurred. She should incorporate these in the budget so that the company headquarters can have a clearer picture of the budget at the chain. If she still persists to go on with the increment, then I would have no choice but to report the issue to the company headquarters so that they can act from their end.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
What are the possible consequences?
The consequences here may be very harsh because the increment is a fraudulent activity committed against the company. Whenever one goes against the ethical standards of their profession they can be convicted of fraud or terminated from work as a result of such actions ( Klein, 2015 ). If I decide to report her, then the management may sit down and discuss her actions to see whether she is acting accordingly or she does this to benefit her self-interests. Depending on their judgments, she may either be terminated or reported to the authorities for justice t prevail.
What should you do?
I believe that my best course of action would be to report her to the company headquarters because this is a very serious issue that may land me in deep trouble if I tell the bookkeeper to increase the allocation.
References
Jeffrey, C. (2018). Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting . West Yorkshire : Bingley Emerald Publishing Limited
Klein, G. L. (2015). Ethics in accounting: A decision-making approach . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc
