Question: Discount Computers is in its second year of business providing computer repair services in the local community and reselling used computers on the Internet. The company is owned by 10 investors, each investing $100,000. Justin Lake was hired as president and CEO, with one stipulation: He would receive no salary unless the company achieved annual operating cash flows exceeding $200,000. If the $200,000 was achieved, Justin would receive a $100,000 bonus, and each of the 10 investors would receive a dividend of $10,000. At the end of the year, Justin had Nicole Roberts, one of the business interns from the local college, calculate a preliminary statement of cash flows. Operating cash flows were $185,000. Justin carefully looked over the calculations that night and then met with Nicole in the morning. Justin starts out: "Nicole, you did an excellent job in preparing the statement of cash flows. The only change I could find is that we need to move the $25,000 increase in notes payable to the bank from financing activities to operating activities. We borrowed that money three months ago and plan to pay it back within a year. After you finish the changes, round up the rest of the interns. Lunch is on me."
Required: Do you agree with the change recommended by Justin Lake? Is there anything unethical about his actions? What should Nicole do in this situation?