The Accountant as the Conscience of Business

Accountants are routinely placed in the middle of competing forces and are called upon to sort out the ethical and regulatory priorities while at the same time providing technical and financial expertise. This workshop discusses the accountant/client & and accountant/employer & dynamics that often include serious ethical questions.

Accounting and finance professionals and managers

• Gain a better understanding of the idea of "conscience" and how conversation and discourse animate ethical awareness
• Review and think about the common tensions between accountants and their clients or employers arising from compliance requirements, including tax, NOCLAR and accounting issues
• Observe and analyze real-world cases involving accountants who come under pressure from clients and employers while the accountants are simply doing their job with diligence and integrity

• Background: Integrity, Conscience and Discursive Ethics
• NOCLAR, and Conversations that can Backfire
• Whistleblower "Protection" & from the Backfire?
  o Case: Dig. Realty Tr., Inc. v. Somers
  o Case: Thomas v. Tyco Int'l Mgmt. Co., LLC
  o Case: Halliburton, Inc. v. Admin. Review Bd
  o Case: Mabry v. Andrus

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