Question- Ethical Issues
Suppose you are controller of a medium-sized gold exploration company in South Australia. You adhere to the standards for ethical conduct for management accountants. How would those standards affect your behaviour in each of the following situations?
1. Late one Friday afternoon you receive a geologist's report on a newly purchased property. It indicates a much higher probability of gold than had previously been expected. You are the only one to read the report that day. At a party on Saturday night, a friend asks about the prospects for the property.
2. A gold industry stock analyst invites you and your wife to spend a week in Broome free of charge. All she wants in return is to be the first to know about any financial information your company is about to announce to the public.
3. It is time to make a forecast of the company's annual earnings. You know that some additional losses will be recognized before the company prepares its final statements. The company's CEO has asked you to ignore these losses in making your predictions because a lower-than-expected earnings forecast could adversely affect the chances of obtaining a loan that is being negotiated and that will be completed before actual earnings are announced.
4. You do not know whether a particular expense is deductible for income tax purposes. You are debating whether to research the tax laws or simply assume the item is deductible. After all, if you are not audited, no one will ever know the difference. If you are audited, you can plead ignorance of the law.