Hamilton Wong, In-Charge Accountant, Case 6.3
1. Place yourself in Hamilton Wong’s position. Would you report all of your time worked on the Wille & Lomax audit? Why or why not? Do you believe that Lauren Hutchinson behaved unethically by underreporting the time she worked on that engagement? Defend your answer.
If I was in Hamilton Wong’s position, I think I would report all of the time I spent working on the Wille & Lomas audit, even if it exceeded the budget. As an accountant, my ethical responsibility is to be honest and have integrity and by not reporting the actual amount of time I worked on the audit, I would be lying. I will be losing my honesty and integrity if I was not to report the actual amount of worked I did. I would first have to evaluate why it is that I am spending a large amount of time on that part of the audit; is it because I am not managing my time efficiently or because a situation arise with regards to the examination or the documents. I would then talk to my manager and let them know the reasons for which I will be going over the budget. The manager would be able to find a solution to not go too much over budget or he or she will be able to talk to the client about the situation. The second reason why I would report all of the time I spend working on the audit will be because if an inquiry was to arise, I would be able to demonstrate all the worked I did on the engagement. Documentation and paper trail is a big part of the audit, therefore it will be very important to keep proper tacking of who worked on what and how much time was spend working on the engagement.
Although Lauren Hutchinson is not doing anything illegal, I do believe that she behaved unethically by underreporting the time she worked on the Willie & Lomax engagement. Lauren is lying about the spent time working on the engagement and therefore is not been honest, which is a responsibility of an accountant and auditor. Lauren was lying to her managers and to the client. The manager will be under the perception that
If I was in Hamilton Wong’s position, I think I would report all of the time I spent working on the Wille & Lomas audit, even if it exceeded the budget. As an accountant, my ethical responsibility is to be honest and have integrity and by not reporting the actual amount of time I worked on the audit, I would be lying. I will be losing my honesty and integrity if I was not to report the actual amount of worked I did. I would first have to evaluate why it is that I am spending a large amount of time on that part of the audit; is it because I am not managing my time efficiently or because a situation arise with regards to the examination or the documents. I would then talk to my manager and let them know the reasons for which I will be going over the budget. The manager would be able to find a solution to not go too much over budget or he or she will be able to talk to the client about the situation. The second reason why I would report all of the time I spend working on the audit will be because if an inquiry was to arise, I would be able to demonstrate all the worked I did on the engagement. Documentation and paper trail is a big part of the audit, therefore it will be very important to keep proper tacking of who worked on what and how much time was spend working on the engagement.
Although Lauren Hutchinson is not doing anything illegal, I do believe that she behaved unethically by underreporting the time she worked on the Willie & Lomax engagement. Lauren is lying about the spent time working on the engagement and therefore is not been honest, which is a responsibility of an accountant and auditor. Lauren was lying to her managers and to the client. The manager will be under the perception that