Full Disclosure ACC/421 August 3, 2015 Full Disclosure The full disclosure principle was created to protect users of financial statements by requiring publicly held organizations to disclose pertinent information regarding transactions and details surrounding business operations. Full disclosure is increasing because of the need for more information in a timely manner. The necessity for full disclosure in financial statements brings consequences punishable by laws and fines and pushes organizations to act in honest and ethical manners when compiling their financial statements to the public. The Full Disclosure Principle in Accounting The full disclosure principle in accounting was created to protect investors who may be misled by businesses withholding crucial financial information. Without the full disclosure principle important negative financial information on company standings would likely be withheld from investors.
Under Section 404 of the act, these findings must detail any uncovered control deficiencies or instances of employee fraud, and must also be reviewed and attested by the registered accounting firm. The authors of the report must certify that the report does not contain any false information, misleading statements or significant omissions, and that the financial statements and information included in the report accurately represent the financial condition of the company. Under Section 401 of the act, this representation must account for both balance and off-balance sheet debts, obligations and transactions in order to facilitate maximum transparency for shareholders (Nikolas, Daniel. Nd Effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act). The act serves as a guideline and governs what an accountant should and should not do when reporting financial flows.
Sarbanes-Oxley Act is designed to make all personnel accountable for their action or inactions. For example, external, internal, and foreign attorneys are required to report violations to CEO/CFOs. If the officer(s) do not respond to the evidence provided by the attorney(s), they are obligated to report the evidence to the audit committee or another committee of the board. The act also provides protection to whistle blowers under Title VIII: Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002 (American Institute of CPAs,
E2-1 (a) Accounting rule-making that relies on a body of concepts will result in useful and consistent pronouncements. TRUE (b) General-purpose financial reports are most useful to company insiders in making strategic business decisions. FALSE. General-purpose financial reporting helps users who lack the ability to demand all the financial information they need from an entity and therefore must rely, at least partly, on the information provided in financial reports. However, an implicit assumption is that users need reasonable knowledge of business and financial accounting matters to understand the information contained in financial statements.
Why are CRAs (particularly, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s) so entrenched in financial markets? 3. What are the criticisms of CRAs and is it feasible for regulators to attempt to reduce the reliance of financial markets on CRAs? 4. The article refers to the various sovereign rating changes that have recently occurred.
BYP 1-6 (a) Who are the stakeholders in this situation? The stakeholders in this situation would be the vice-president of finance, the president of Robbin Industries, Wayne Terrago, and the users of Robbin Industries’ financial statements. Each of these stakeholders will be affected by any choices Robbin Industries make that affect the company’s financial statements. These individuals each have something to lose by the company providing falsified or inaccurate financial statements (Weygandt, Kieso, & Kimmel, 2010). (b) What are the ethical issues involved in this situation?
The responsibilities of an audit partner in an accounting firm is to review the accounting actions performed by their client and notify them of any corrections that are required. The CFO of a large public company should oversee all of the company’s finances so that it is steered in the right direction. The audit partners role is weighted heavier in that their responsibility is to the public, not just one company. If the CFO is unable to do his/her duties, then the audit partner should find and report those inaccuracies. The stress of the audit partner is tremendous and choosing that profession is one that I would prefer not to undertake.
● ● Requires codes of ethics for senior financial officers. In addition, Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires public companies to attest to the effectiveness of their internal controls over financial reporting. 29. Some major challenges facing the accounting profession relate to the following items: Nonfinancial measurement—how to report significant key performance measurements such as customer satisfaction indexes, backlog information and reject rates on goods purchased. Forward-looking information—how to report more future oriented information.
Evaluate the effectiveness of regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley Act over minimizing the corporate fraud and protecting investors and make one (1) suggestion for improvement. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is been very effective especially by protecting investors and improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures, and much of the law seeks to further this goal by imposing strict rules for audits and auditors of publicly traded companies, prevent insider trading and deals, requiring companies to adopt strict internal controls, and increasing the penalties for white collar crimes relating to investor fraud. As a matter of fact, the Act effects dramatic change across the corporate area to re-established investor confidence in the integrity
INTRODUCTION At times we may wonder what is meant by ethics, why accountants need ethics in their business life or even how they are related. As we may know, definitions of ethics vary with time but in most cases it is defined” With these definitions we can understand that basically ethics is knowing what is right (Mitchell 2009). Ethics in accounting and finance a global concern today (Onyebuchi, 2011). However, the accounting and finance sector has over the past years developed a culture of ethical misconduct (Gianneti & Yue Wang, 2014). According to Anup & Chadha (2005), Ethical misconducts often lead to corporate scandals that come with serious consequences e.g.