"Eating time" is one of those taboo subjects among public accountants. Empirical research suggests that auditors, particularly individuals near the bottom of the employment hierarchy of major accounting firms, commonly underreport the time that they spend working on their assigned audit tasks. But, this subject is apparently not an acceptable lunch time topic among auditors. Why do auditors underreport the time they work? No doubt, to impress their superiors. In fact, so-called "impression management" has been a major topic of research in the organizational behavior field in recent years.
This case allows students to identify and discuss the key issues related to the underreporting of time by auditors. Hamilton Wong is currently working on the audit of Wille & Lomax, the largest audit client of his office-his employer is one of the major accounting firms. Among his responsibilities on the engagement is collecting the time worked by each member of the audit team and preparing a weekly progress report for his superiors. Hamilton's friend, Lauren Hutchison, is also assigned to the Wille & Lomax audit. Both Hamilton and Lauren are in their second year in public accounting and both have their "eye on" the expected vacancy in the senior slot for next year's Wille & Lomax audit. Some tension has recently developed between the two in-charge accountants. Hamilton is convinced that Lauren is significantly underreporting the time that she works on her Wille & Lomax assignments. In Hamilton's mind, Lauren is attempting to impress the audit manager and audit partner on the engagement to persuade them that she is the right person to assume the soon-to-be-open senior position on the job. As the case ends, Hamilton is wrestling with the decision of whether he too should begin underreporting the time that he has worked on his Wille & Lomax assignments.