Objective - Practical Application of the AICPA Code of Conduct:
From the following scenario:
You are a new staff accountant in your first year of training within a small practice. An in charge accountant with 2 1/2 years of experience has been ill and been home on sick leave. You are due to go on a short leave to study for the CPA exam. You have been told by your manager that, before you go on leave, you must complete some complicated reconciliation work, begun by the in charge accountant. The deadline suggested appears unrealistic, given the complexity of the work. You feel that you are not sufficiently experienced to complete the work on your own. You would need additional supervision to complete the work to the required standard, and your manager appears unable or unwilling to offer the necessary support. If you try to complete the work within the proposed timeframe but fail to meet the expected quality, you could face repercussions on your performance evaluations. You feel slightly intimidated by your manager, and also feel pressure to do what you can for the practice in what are challenging times.
Requirements:
1. Identify the issue(s) you are facing as a new staff member.
2. Identify the alternatives available in the given situation.
3. Choose the alternative from the identified choices that best meets the AICPA Code of Conduct standards of due care and scope and nature of services. Explain your choice.
4. What issues in this situation, if any, make you uncomfortable due to your knowledge of the AICPA Code of Conduct, particularly the sections regarding due care and scope and nature of services?
5. What are the acceptable alternatives in this situation under the AICPA Code of Conduct?
6. What will you do? Why?