Question

Sandy Sucker, manager and owner of an advertising company in Port Hope, Ontario, had arranged a meeting with Bill Confused, the chief accountant of a large, local competitor. The two are lifelong friends. They grew up together in a small town and attended the same university. Bill was a competent, successful accountant but currently was experiencing some personal financial difficulties. The problems were created by some investments that had turned sour, leaving him with a $25,000 personal loan to pay off just at the time his oldest son was scheduled to enter college. Sandy, on the other hand was struggling to establish a successful advertising business. She had recently acquired the rights to open a branch of a large regional advertising firm headquartered in Windsor, Ontario. During her first two years, she had managed to build a small, profitable practice; however, the chance to gain a significant foothold in the Port Hope advertising community hinged on the success of winning a bid to represent the province of Ontario in a major campaign to attract new industry and tourism. The meeting she had scheduled with Bill concerned the bid she planned to submit. Sandy: “Bill, I'm at a critical point in my business venture. If I can win the bid for the state’s advertising dollars, I'll be set. Winning the bid will bring $750,000 to $1,000,000 of revenues into the firm. On top of that, I estimate that the publicity will bring another $350,000 to $400,000 of new business.” Bill: “I understand. My boss is anxious to win that business as well. It would mean a huge Increase in profits for my firm. It's a competitive business, though. As new as you are, I doubt that you'll have much chance of winning." Sandy: "You may be wrong. You're forgetting two very important considerations. First, I have the backing of all the resources and talent of a regional firm. Second, I have some political connections. Last year, I was hired to run the publicity side of the governor's campaign. He was impressed with my work and would like me to have this business. I am confident that the proposals I submit will be very competitive. My only concern is to submit a bid that beats your firm. If I come in with a lower bid and good proposals, the governor can see to it that I get the work." Bill: "Sounds promising. If you do win, however, there will be a lot of upset people. After .. all, they are going to claim that the business should have been given to local advertisers, not to some out-of-state firm. Given the size of your office, you'll have to get support from Atlanta. You could take a lot of heat." . Sandy: "True. But I am the owner of the branch office. That fact alone should blunt most of the criticism. Who can argue that I'm not local? Listen, with ·your help, I think I can win this bid. Furthermore, if I do win it, you can reap some direct benefits. With that kind of business; I can afford to hire an accountant, and I'll make it worthwhile for you to transfer jobs. I can offer you an up-front bonus of $25,000. On top of that, I'll increase 2 your annual salary by 20 percent. That should solve most of your financial difficulties. After all, we have been friends since day one and what are friends for?" Bill: "Sandy, my wife would be ecstatic if I were able to improve our financial position as Quickly as this opportunity affords. I certainly hope that you win the bid. What kind of help can I provide?" Sandy: "Simple, to win, all I have to do is beat the bid of your firm. Before 1 submit my bid, I would like you to review it. With the financial skills you have, it should be easy for you to spot any excessive costs that I may have included. Or perhaps I included the wrong kind of costs. By cutting excessive costs and eliminating costs that may not be directly related to the project, my bid should be competitive enough to meet or beat your firm's bid."

Required: a) What would you do if you were Bill Confused? Explain the reasons for your decision and apply the code of ethics to the proposal given, to Bill assume that Bill is a member of a professional accounting body.

Answer 1

Hi…

Being a member of any professional body, it is the responsibility of every member to follow the code of ethics.

In the given case study (a) if I was in place of Bill Confused, I will not accept the offer.

(b) Being a member of professional accounting body, I must follow the code of ethics i.e. Integrity, Objectivity, Professional competence and due care, Confidentiality and Professional behavior.

Therefore, in the given case study if the offer is accepted then it will lead to unethical decision by not following the Integrity – not being honest in the bidding process by ageing to look into the Sandy Sucker bid before she submit, confidentiality – indirectly or directly disclosing the information of your employer to the competitor for the personal advantage by accepting up – front bonus of $25,000 and increase of annual salary by 20% and objectivity – favoring your company’s competitor i.e. Sandy Sucker.