The Standards of Ethical Conduct for Practitioners of Management Accounting and Financial Management states that significant ethical issues should be discussed first with an immediate superior unless the superior is involved. If satisfactory resolution cannot be achieved when the problem is initially presented, then the issues should be:
a. submitted to the next higher managerial level.
b. submitted to the chief executive officer of the firm.
c. submitted to the audit committee, executive committee, board of directors, or owners.
d. submitted to outside legal counsel.