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Capital budgeting is another area of planning which is ripe with ethical dilemmas. Since many companies have elaborate mechanisms to evaluate capital budgeting requests, CPAs may confront pressures from divisional managers to circumvent the formal process. This could take the form of breaking up a large expenditure into smaller components. The smaller requests, in turn, might not need to comply with as formal and rigorous guidelines as larger projects do. In both the generation of the projections and the framing of the amount of the capital budget expenditure, the CPA in industry could refer to the objectivity principle of the Code. The principle of objectivity suggests that all CPAs must be unbiased in their work and be firm in expressing their subjective professional judgment.

The last activity we explore is the role of accountants in helping control and motivate employees' performance. One major accounting technique used to evaluate and subsequently reward performance is the ubiquitous ROI. To artificially boost ROI a manager could defer discretionary expenditures such as R&D, maintenance, advertising, and employee development. In addition, the manager could raise ROI by keeping the asset base low as a result of not investing in new and perhaps needed long-term operating assets.

These actions constitute an ethical problem for accountants because an accounting tool is being distorted to promote a favorable evaluation of a manager. Two of the principles of the AICPA's Code of Conduct, "The Public Interest" and "Due Care," are particularly relevant here. The CPA in industry should strive to develop multiple criteria that could more effectively evaluate and control the performance of the company's managers. Therefore, the objective of acting ethically, which translates (in this case) into improving one's competence and acting in the general public's best interests, will also result in the greater long-term profitability of the employer.

Conclusion

By its very nature, any discussion of ethics is subjective. There are no easy answers to ethical questions and situations that confront the professional. This does not mean this topic can be ignored. Ethical questions have to be answered and the situations have to be addressed. It is critical that accountants take an active role in helping the company begin the process of consciousness raising and establishing an appropriate corporate value system. This will offer all employees, including the accountants, an institutional ethic within which these dilemmas can be resolved. Regardless of whether there are clear answers, there should be a clear process.

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