Osama is gone but is the threat of terrorism????

So yesterday Obama's administration successfully trumped Osama's administration......That sounds kind of weird to say it like that. It is true though, or so the media is reporting. There are many things to take away from this,  first off it seems that Americans do not have to fear the threat of a terrorist attack as much as we did yesterday (to tell the truth, I haven't been afraid of an attack since September 11, 2002), secondly, we see that what America sets out to do, it will accomplish, or spend years trying to accomplish. Thirdly we see that Obama has permanently set himself up to be one of the greatest Presidents of our time, by killing the biggest threat to our freedom, he shall always be remembered for this, years and ages and history books from now......


There are a few things that I feel challenge ethical behavior, on such a mass, scale we have to ask ourselves the question, is it okay to seek out and destroy someone who hurt you or offended you or threat your family and freedom?? It appears the answer to that question is yes. Is this killing going to promote violence or limit it?? I would not be surprised if we see an influx of violence in the U.S. and also to the U.S from foreign enemies. I just had to get that out of my system, I will be back later to add some more to this.....

Learning a lot....

My drive to become a CPA is growing and this class has really expanded my view on ethical issues that I will be faced with once I pass the exam and begin to practice. I am actually anticipating the challenges that I will be faced with. As far back as I can remember I have done my best work in challenging situations. I view the CPA exam and day to day activities the same way.....This ethics class is one that ought to be required for CPA's to take on a recurring basis.......its really opens your eyes and makes you dig deep inside yourself to ask some and ask some challenging questions........

Is the government serious???

I think I just need to vent in this entry so forgive me if I begin to ramble or end up not making sense........I haven't paid as much attention to it as I should have been, but I have seen stories on the internet surrounding a government shutdown.......and all I can think to myself is "where are we, what country am I in, is this really a topic of discussion????? Our government helps regulate everything in our society as we know it..........How the HELL CAN THEY SHUTDOWN??? Who and what is shutting down??? The military?? The postal service?? The financial aid division?? Are the governor and mayor leaving office?? Is this over money?? Are city councils taking a leave of absence?? Who is going to be around to delegate medicaid?? Food stamps?? Living assistance?? Child support?? We depend on the government more that we realize......They are the reason we do not have any "real" monopolies in the US, the reason we feel safe from terrorists, they bailed out these big companies that almost collapsed the economy, they do so much for us??/ How unethical is it that they are even contemplating a shutdown??? The government is responsible for so many lives, millions upon millions of lives..........are they are seriously considering any type of shutdown??? Whatever it is they can not agree upon this should not even be an option??

Was it worth it???

I need to apologize for not blogging for so long.....I have been extremely busy with work and other things. I have been planning my proposal to my girlfriend for almost 2 months now and I finally asked her to marry me this past weekend..... All of my effort paid off but now its time to get back to work.......


This week I want to talk about some very interesting things I found out while working this week..........We have talked about many unethical cases in class and now I have actually been able to witness this unethical behavior firsthand......On my audit this week, I have discovered the owner of a business has been using the store's operating funds as his personal bank account..........He literally has been paying his personal living expenses with the money he makes from store sales. He is even making alimony payments to his ex wives........The funds are setup to automatically come out of the store's bank account each month. So we wouldnt be able to notice the missing funds, he has been booking bogus accounting entries on his financial statements for the last year. The situation has gotten so bad that he now owes us $4 million dollars and the store only has about $700k.  When we asked him about the missing money and fraudulent financial statements he simply told us to ask his accountant........The sad part is that this guy is a millionaire 50 times over.....his family is very wealthy and for him money should be no object.......The situatuion is so bad that the store may end up closing and all the employees will be out of a job..........My question is.... did this guy ever think about his employees?? That they may end up losing their means of living behind his actions. Some of them have been there for more than 20 years....what are they supposed to do now???

Should she have taken the money???

I want to step outside the scope of business ethics for a second and raise aquestion in regards to ethics in general........


Well all this uprising going on in foreign countries has caught my attention and has mad me start to question a few things. The first thought that comes to my head is will it ever happen over here???? Of course this is the last place I expect that to happen, but as different nations rise up against there government, it seems as if they are doing the "wave" at a baseball game and it is only a matter of time before its gets right next to you and before you know it, it'll be your turn to stand up............Most recently Moammar Gadhafi has been all over the news for his nations' latest attempt to over power him.........There are several unethical issues going on here, but i want to focus on some new information that has recently been spread all over the news.......Lately Gadhafi name has been all over the news in regards to his dictatorship style of governing, his well known record of violence and his families consistent misbehavior and run in with the law........Until his nations' current uprising a lot of people were unfamiliar with him and his actions........Its not uncommon that the news outlets will paint n ugly picture and broadcast negative publicity as often as it gets a chance to.......

That brings me to this point...........World famous superstar Beyonce (Knowles-Carter) has been drug in to this Gadhafi mess along with other well known entertainers. It has been reported that Beyonce performed at a private party for Gadhafi and his family in St. Bart's for New Years eve.....She was reportedly paid $1,000,000 for her performance.....in the past few days she has been highly criticized for her actions and is now being listed as as supporter of Gadhafi and his regime?????????? All because she performed for him at a party?? Is that unethical??? Performing for a a dictator or known terrorist?? Is this showing any dis loyalty to your native country?? Does it show the rest of the world that you support  rulers who believe in violence and chaos?? Should she have stood up for what she believed in and not collected a paycheck???  Is there an unwritten code of conduct for us Americans not to receive funds for services provided if the funds come from a terrorist??  Where do we draw the line with our ethical decision making?? Do we leave it up to corporations or law firms and government entities?? How do we hold ourselves accountable for our actions when there is no written code of ethics for life outside of work?? There is no SEC for life outside the boardroom.......

Stealing from the church.......

I've had a long week to say the least....So I apologize for this blog coming so late. Monday was Valentines Day and Tuesday I was stuck at the airport from 8 til 8 and I just finished my audit for this week and this is my first opportunity to share some information with you guys.....

Just recently got assigned to a group project in class and my case study is more interesting than I imagined......Here are a few of the details........There is an executive committee at First Street church....This committee is repsonsible for all the finances that come in and out of the church....welll someone has been stealing. Every Sunday. For over a year!!!! How much did they take??????? Lets say north of $23k....Finally the head of the church decides to do something about it and confronts his committee....The thief is on the committee and she is feeling a lot of pressure from the head of the church, so she lies and throws an absent committee member under the bus......All this time she has been purposely having someone else record a lower amount on the books and she would take the excess and go down the street and give the money to a homeless shelter.......Now isnt this a trip!! You're stealing money from the church to give to the poor!!!!!!! That almost sounds like and oxymoron!!!! Anyhow the case ends right there but asks a few questions, that I want to ask you.......

She calls up the man she accused and tells him no to show up to the next meeting because she is going to come clean.....My question is........ would you show up???

Second question.....Lets say she does actually come clean, (just because she is a thief doesnt mean she is a liar too...yeah right) and gets fired from her position and is ordered to pay the money back.....Is this fair?? What do you think??

Since this is ethics I have to say that her intentions were good but obviously the way she went about doing things were all wrong......Most of the time this is always the case when you have to make an ethical decision. Someone will be hurt for a greater good, or implied good. Who is to say that the outcome is good, or just not the lesser of two evils?? Lets say she asked for the money to give to the church but was turned down. The homeless shelter would still need it, she has been taking it for a year so obviously the church didn't need it. So why would she have to pay it back?? Is that greed on the churches behalf?? Is that ethical??

?????????

Did she make the right decision??

So its been a few days since my last blog, and it has been rough in between. Dallas has basically been covered in a blanket of snow for 6 of the last 9 days. The Super Bowl was in town, and my team lost. So its been rough for me.....The last time I wrote, I touched on employers asking their workers to come in under treacherous driving conditions. I brought this up in class on Monday I received quite a few different responses. Most of the class thought that companies should value their employees lives more than making a buck. For they truly are the glue that holds the company together. Someone made a valid statement when they said that if everybody stayed at home during bad weather the worst could happen.......Lets dig into that a little more.....Lets say the nurse at the local hospital didn't show up for work last week.....at all. Is she wrong for not putting her own life at risk for the sake of others?????? Is this an unethical decision?? Lets say she lives 30 miles from the hospital...and another nurse lives 3 miles away. Does the nurse who lives further have a valid excuse for not showing up?? Should the nurse who stays closer and shows up to work be rewarded?? Is that ethical?? Is that fair to the other nurse who lives further??  Or is she just doing here job?? How do you make this fair for all involved?? Obviously the patients who don't have a nurse suffer, but lets say the nurse does leave her house and slides off an overpass, and loses her life?? Did she make the right decision??  Di her ethics cost her, her life?? Should our drive to do whats right lead us to displacing our own self interest?? Sometimes it will and most of the time this is exactly what happens......

Its safe to day that ethics is not cut and dry and will not always make the right decision, depending on who is affected. We have to think ethically everyday and ask ourselves simple question like...."would I want to be treated this way?? If someone did this to me how would it make me feel?? Could I justify my actions if I had to explain them to someone else" 

Profit or Safety......

So yesterday, I get to class and we are moving right along into the 2nd chapter when the teacher decides to give us our first case study and research paper. I can tell this is gonna be a long semester but I will make the best of it. Moving along, the case study involved a scenario that is played out all over the world, so it really caught my attention. I myself have been victim to this situation before but never looked at it from a CPA's point of view. Though we have only had two classes we are being drilled to look at every situation we encounter and decide the best outcome based from an ethical viewpoint. So here we go......You have a classic scenario where there are supposed to be two people closing a store at night and one decides to leave early. Then makes it a habit and leaves the other employee who happens to be female to close by herself and tend to customers by herself.  I don't have to tell you all of the things that could go wrong with only one person to close and handle customers at the same time. There are quite a few things that are at risk by not having adequate coverage at a store........We had to identify all of the potential things that could be at jeopardy in this scenario.....I wont bore you with the details, but since we CPA's are supposed to look at every business case ethically lets me give you all a case study and you tell me the ethical issues at play.......I want you guys opinion to see if we are thinking along the same lines.....

Today, February 1, 2011, we had record low temperatures in the Dallas metroplex and a lot of precipitation had accumulated overnight. When I awoke this morning the city was covered in a blanket of snow and ice. Texas is not prepared for situations like this as it does not snow here regularly. We have a designated hotline at my job to call in inclement weather to let us know if operations will be shut down or not.....Fortunately, I did not have to go to work today......but I know someone who did. They got a call from their supervisor this morning when they did not show up for work.......The supervisor stated that they could not afford to lose money by not opening today and that they had an obligation to their customers to fulfill. They also stated that If they had to be there they were gonna make sure everyone else did too......The roads here are undriveable at best and there were reported accidents everywhere in the city, some fatal, some not. There were people who had been stranded for hours and had run out of gas so the car quit and they had to sit in 20 degree weather with no heat........how difficult would it be for the employee to make it to work in these types of conditions??? You tell me what company values its customers business more than the safety of its employees?? Do you see the ethical dilemma???? Do I ask my employee to risk his life to help me generate profit?? Or am I looking at it the wrong way?? There were plenty of people who needed supplies in case this weather stuck and they'd be trapped inside for days.....Did the store owe it to the customers to be open to service them?? What decision should the manager have made???? Profit?? or Employee??

This is the beginning of my dream....

Well this is officially my first blog....I don't know where to start but I will begin with my reason for starting one. In my pursuit of a better life, I have decided to embark upon the challenge of becoming a CPA. While my urge for becoming one was greater immediately after college.....I pushed it aside in the pursuit of MONEY!!! Money comes and goes I have learned, and while it has provided me with a few things i want in life it has not satisfied all or my requirements. I want more out of life and it has become clear to me that I must demand more of myself if I want more. I want to be free to do what I want when i want and how I want. That day will arrive when I own my own business. An accounting firm. A great one. First I have to build from the ground up and that starts with my CPA license. For me to acquire that I first have to fulfill the requirements of the state of Texas and take the required courses to solidify my knowledge of accounting.....That brings me to this........Ethics in Accounting. They do not always go hand in hand, and many people have suffered from the lack of it and the demonstration of it. So how do we determine right from wrong?? Good from bad??  Ethical from Unethical????????? That is what we are going to explore this semester at Mountain View College.

The first day of class was definitely interesting to me as I saw people from all walks of life, pursuing the same thing I am in search of. Our instructor is also very interesting. I can tell that he has a good grasp on the mental philosophy that we accountants have to have when making decisions. I can tell this class will be beneficial as well. I took business ethics in undergrad and so I am curious on the differences that will present themselves this semester (I hope). I see unethical behavior from time to time as an auditor. I have looked at to many general ledger accounts and financial statements not to have seen a few "enhancements" over the last 3 years. Some large (million dollars or more) and some small (around $100k) but all were falsely input and intentionally misleading. That is not always the case in the real world and in the big scheme of things some of this unethical behavior goes on for years and years.....We saw what happen with Bernie Madoff.......He put together the most elaborate, successful, unethical string of activity the U.S. has ever seen. Only to get caught and spend the rest of his life behind bars...........Does the crime fit the punishment????  This is probably the best example of how one persons unethical behavior can affect so many people........I do believe that ethics is the most important asset in accounting. Period.