Have to read the article and answer the questions

• Read the following four brief reference articles on Ethics by clicking on the link below OM 340 Ethics Articles.docx download There are 18 points of reference regarding ethics and accounting within these reference articles
• Step 2 Locate two articles of your choice from any electronic source that applies to the subject matter such as the unethical behavior of Enron, The unethical behavior of Bernie Madoff, etc. Label your two picks as Article One and Article Two.
• Step 3 Article OneFormatTyped – 12font – Times New RomanList the title of the article and provide the URL (web link)Use APA formatting Describe the article in two paragraphsUse nine of the 18 reference points and explain how each applies to the articleIf knew this information ahead of time, would you have been a whistle blower? Why or Why Not?
• Step 4 Article Two FormatTyped – 12font – Times New RomanList the title of the article and provide the URL (web link)Use APA formatting Describe the article in two paragraphsUse nine of the 18 reference points and explain how each applies to the articleIf knew this information ahead of time, would you have been a whistle blower? Why or Why Not?please let me know if you are unable to access the link to the article and i will copy and paste it for you

The following was copied and pasted from CHRON News Letter
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/ethical-issues-facing-accounting-profession-18307.html
Article One Title: Ethical Issues Facing the Accounting Profession
When you run a business it is easy to think of your accounting staff as glorified mechanics,
people with specialized skills needed to keep your company’s financial machinery running
properly. That is true to a point, but accountants also play a role as the watchdogs of the
business world. They are responsible for making sure that businesses report their finances
clearly and according to recognized standards, and that often puts them in situations that can
be ethically or even legally dubious.
Pressure to Manipulate the Figures
Running a business puts you under a great deal of pressure, especially when things are not
going well, or at least not as well as you need them to go. When that happens, the temptation
to lean on your accountant to fudge the numbers can be hard to resist. It is a real problem for
accountants, whether they are employees or an outside firm you have hired.
They have a clear ethical – and legal – obligation to report your financial situation accurately,
and failing to do that can open them to civil or criminal liability, bringing their careers to a
sudden stop. On the other hand, they also have to make a living and may fear losing their jobs,
or clients, if they do not play along.
Sins of Omission
An accountant might also feel pressure to simply leave things out of financial reports if they had
cast a shadow over the company. This is the other side of actively misrepresenting numbers,
and psychologically it might feel easier. It is the equivalent of a child choosing between outright
lying to Mom and simply leaving room for her to stay happily unaware of some bad behavior. At
the end of the day, though, both are equally wrong.
An investor who buys into your company without knowing about a potential problem is not in a
position to assess the risks accurately. Such was the recent case with Theranos founder
Elizabeth Holmes who misrepresented the effectiveness of her medical devices by
demonstrating the technology of other companies when pursing high-level investors. In much
the same way, an accountant who is telling you what you want to hear can leave gaps in the
management information you need to run your company effectively. That can come back to
haunt you if you make a major business decision based on incomplete information.
Access to Information and Confidentiality Issues
Like doctors and lawyers, accountants naturally spend much of their time dealing with
confidential information. Using that information inappropriately, or failing to protect
confidential information properly, are both ethical issues for an accountant. Insider trading –
use of confidential information to take advantage of an upcoming growth or drop in the
company’s value – is one of the most obvious issues. The high profile cases involving Martha
Stewart and more recently Rep. Chris Collins are examples of insider trading.
Sharing knowledge of your company with a competitor, or making it possible for outsiders to
steal your information through negligence, are two others. Ironically, taking a principled stand
on an ethical issue can also be a breach of confidentiality. If your accounting team leave
abruptly at a sensitive moment for your company, and everyone remains tight-lipped about the
reasons, outsiders might infer that you have been up to something.
Conflicts of Interest
Conflicts of interest can be an especially difficult ethical issue to recognize. If your senior
accounting staff receives bonuses based on the stock price, for example, they are motivated –
consciously or unconsciously – to make decisions that favor higher stock prices, even if they are
not good for the company or its investors in the longer term. For similar reasons, accountants
doing audits of your company’s financials might follow the folk wisdom that says, “Don’t ask
questions you don’t want answers to.” Thinking clearly about the biases you have built into
your company’s culture is not easy, but it can help keep those problems from coming up over
time.
Blowing the Whistle
One final ethical dilemma accountants may face is the thorny question of when to blow the
whistle on a company or a division that is unethically manipulating or misstating its numbers. If
the accountant’s information is damaging enough, it could cause a company to fail or lose much
of its stock value overnight. That can hurt thousands of investors, or put the accountant’s own
friends and co-workers out of work and into financial jeopardy. There is a very real risk of
backlash and intimidation, and a reputation as a troublemaker can be a career-breaker.
While it is one thing to raise questions inside the company, bringing in regulators or criminal
investigators raises the ante in a big way. However, for those who take the moral high road, the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) offers a Whistleblower Program to assist those
wanting to come forward about financial indiscretions. The program offers confidentiality and
in some cases financial reward for successful enforcement action.
Article Two Title: Accounting Ethics and Integrity Standards
No business is exempt from ethical behavior and practices. However, those dealing with money
and sensitive personal and company information must adhere to strict ethics and integrity
standards. This is imperative to gain and retain the trust of clients, co-workers and business
partners. Integrity is generally considered one component in the ethical standards of
accounting practices.
Professional Skill and Competence
Accounting is a detail-oriented career that requires knowledge and skills to do the job correctly.
Mistakes lead to problems with investors, business partners, finance lenders and the Internal
Revenue Service. It is imperative that anyone working at any level in accounting understands
what is required of the job and how to execute it properly.
Confidentiality of Information
Accountants see the good, the bad and the ugly of a company or a person’s financial situation.
Clients have a right to know that this information is kept in the strictest of confidentiality and is
only shared with other professionals if consultation is required to address a specific problem.
Failure to keep information confidential could result in bad publicity and possible defamation of
a company or person. It could also open the door to fraud, identity theft, and other illegal
activities if the information is shared with the wrong parties.
Honesty and Integrity Standards
Integrity covers a lot of different ethical standards that include honesty and professional
conduct in all circumstances. An accountant should always present the facts objectively and
refrain from slanting information in a misleading way. An accountant who doesn’t demonstrate
a high level of integrity isn’t trustworthy and loses the confidence of clients.
Independence and Objectivity
Most accountants are partnered or licensed to advise clients on investing and financial services.
It is important that accountants maintain a fiduciary responsibility, seeking an objective
solution, and providing advice based on that objectivity. It has been a rampant problem in the
financial services industry that products were recommended to clients simply because they
provided the highest compensation to the adviser. Accountants must be objective with
independent viewpoints, especially since they are dealing with the financial details of the
company.
Professionalism and Demeanor
Professionalism is a standard that goes beyond the office. Whether at a networking event or a
party, maintaining a professional demeanor is good business. Accountants should be lawabiding citizens who don’t have bad habits, such as gambling, that could put them in a risky
position to compromise client information. No one trusts an accountant who gets drunk at a
party and starts spouting off information that probably is bound by confidentiality standards.
Article Three: What Are the Causes of Ethical Lapses in Accounting?
Corporate scandals cause the public to question why some people run their businesses honestly
and others turn into criminals. Despite the blatant appearance of some scandals, the causes of
unethical accounting practices are complex and interlocking. Some people may attempt to rob
their customers blind with no qualms, while others are drawn into illegal practices gradually
through ignorance or good intentions.
Greed
At the root of a complex matter is a very simple fact: Some people enjoy having lots of money
and will break the law to get it. Accounting, whether it is on an individual basis or within the
context of a multinational corporation, offers the opportunity to “cook the books” and take a
little or a lot more for yourself without actually pointing a gun or breaking into someone’s
house. The white-collar nature of accounting crimes make them very tempting because nobody
seems to be getting hurt. The presence of large amounts of money activates the greed centers
in some people’s brains.
Opportunity
The saying that “opportunity makes the thief” is applicable to crooked accountants. People who
would never seek out a crime to commit under normal conditions may succumb to temptation
when an opportunity is offered. Accounting sometimes involves dealing with very large
amounts of money, some of which can be easily hidden, siphoned off or removed with little
chance of detection. When presented with this level of temptation, some people succumb,
particularly if they perceive themselves to be in a situation of financial need.
Disconnection
Perceptions of reality are determined by daily surroundings. When working within the confines
of a large company, a person can become wrapped up within the corporate culture of that
company and lose sight of how the rest of the world is functioning. A sense of hubris and
entitlement can develop in the presence of $100 lunches and $1 million houses. When part of
this culture involves accounting irregularities for the benefit of the business or the individual,
this can come to seem normal to someone who loses touch with how things work outside the
company.
Ignorance
While ignorance is no excuse for committing unethical or illegal actions, it may play a role in
accounting crimes. Everyone knows that you can’t walk into a bank with a gun and steal the
money without breaking the law, but accounting regulations aren’t nearly this simple. Tax law,
regulations about insider trading and similar arcane rule books are easily misunderstood, and
inexperienced accountants or businesspeople may engage in unethical behavior without even
being aware of it. Of course, when someone is caught and charged, he may make this claim of
ignorance when it isn’t actually true.
Article Four: Legal Issues Affecting a Bookkeeping Business
Regulatory changes that affect independent bookkeepers can result in reduced competitiveness
in your business or at least in changes that affect the way you perform audits for your clients.
While you need to pay attention to laws that affect the way you do business, you also must stay
on top of accounting rules that target your small-business clients. They rely on you to keep their
books and watch their backs.
Reporting Standards
For decades, bookkeepers and accountants have relied on the GAAP, or generally accepted
accounting practices, to guide their reporting and documentation. New standards that will be
acceptable in a global marketplace are expected to be enacted as early as 2015, according to
the Securities and Exchange Commission and the American Institute of CPAs. Bookkeepers will
be required by law to adopt the new procedures when creating financial statements for
businesses. As the owner of a small bookkeeping business, you will have to train yourself and
your employees on the new standards by the time they are adopted to provide your clients
with the proper reports.
Illegal Transactions
As a small-business owner, you may be asked by one of your clients to create false financial
documents or develop accounts in which you hide profits. As the bookkeeper of record, you can
be prosecuted for making false claims. To hide his own participation in the fraud, your client
could testify that you made the entries on your own or that you have been stealing from the
company. While you may not have to have a certified public accountant license to practice
bookkeeping, you are still bound by the rules of ethics governing accountants that call for
honest and reliable bookkeeping practices in all your affairs. Even if the client threatens to fire
you, do not get involved in fraud of any kind.
Payroll
Paying your clients’ employees is another area that may cause ethical problems. Once a person
is hired by a company, reports for regular hours and follows company rules and direction, he is
a direct employee of the firm. The company is then subject to payroll taxes and withholding
certifications. As a bookkeeper, it’s your responsibility to track employee hours and often
create the reports for payroll, even if you don’t cut the checks directly. Workers who are
subcontractors may receive an Internal Revenue Service Form 1099 and receive full
compensation with no withholdings. The line often is blurred by employers who try to avoid
payroll taxes and unemployment insurance by calling their staff members “contractors,”
another fraudulent activity that you, as the company bookkeeper, should play no part in.
Damages
In addition to facing criminal charges, you may be liable for damages to victims of fraudulent
bookkeeping activities. The victims of bookkeeping fraud often are investors who may sue the
company and you for false reports. Investors might claim they would not have invested in a
company if they had seen correct financial statements. In addition to concealment or
misrepresentation of finances, you can also be charged with conspiracy, racketeering, conflict
of interest and embezzlement if you intentionally alter the facts of a financial transaction.