Scenario:

imagine you are the assistant controller in charge of general ledger accounting at linbarger company. your company has a large loan from an insurance company. the loan agreement requires that the company’s cash account balance be maintained at $200,000 or more, as reported monthly. at june 30, the cash balance is $80,000. you give this update to lisa infante, the financial vice president. lisa is nervous and instructs you to keep the cash receipts book open for one additional day for purposes of the june 30 report to the insurance company. lisa says, “if we don’t get that cash balance over $200,000, we’ll default on our loan agreement. they could close us down, put us all out of our jobs! ” lisa continues, “i talked to oconto distributors (one of linbarger’s largest customers) this morning. they said they sent us a check for $150,000 yesterday. we should receive it tomorrow. if we include just that one check in our cash balance, we’ll be in the clear. it’s in the mail! ”

questions:

what is the accounting problem that the linbarger company faces?

what are the ethical considerations in this case?

what are the negative impacts that can happen if you do not follow lisa infante’s instructions to wait one more day to post the balance?

who will be negatively impacted if you do comply?

what is one alternative that you could pursue in this scenario?

1) Linbarger is facing a liquidity problem which arose from poor management of cash. Their loan obligation requires they maintain a minimum balance of $200,000 on a monthly basis but as at June 30, the company only has $80,000 which is less that half of the required amount.

2) This case poses an ethical dilemma for the assistant controller as the financial vice president requires a manipulation of the accounts also known as creative accounting by recognizing the check of $150,000 as cash balance to deceive the insurance company to think that the actual cash balance is $230,000 as opposed to the actual figure of $80,000.

This dilemma poses a threat to the integrity and objectivity of the financial controller and also to the financial vice president as the duty of preparation of the account lies within her purview.

3) Negative impact:

To the company: The company would be in breach of the loan agreement with the insurance company and can face certain penalties such as accelerated repayment plan i.e. repayment of principal and interest before the due date, non-renewal of the loan contract and reduction in credit rating score.

To assistant controller: Can face intimidation threats from the directors and co-workers. The assistant controller may also lose his job

4) All stakeholders would be negatively impacted. The company may still default on the loan repayment which would involve a takeover of the company assets as the company would be declared bankrupt which may lead to a loss of job for both the assistant controller and the financial vice president as well as other workers in the firm.

5) One alternative in this scenario is that the assistant controller can resign to maintain his integrity but the downside would be the loss of job

Explanation:

answerup to (3) three years;