Overall, this research determined that the portrayal of accountants in American movies did several things. These include the over-glamorization of the profession, enhancement of professional traits, and belittlement of the professions hallmark characteristic, integrity. Additionally, the portrayal of accountants goes so far as to make the stereotypical accountant in the movies inconsistent with reality.
First, American movies glamorize the profession. For example, in the daily completion of financial tasks, accountants typically will perform the entry and posting of journal entries (Plumlee, Rixom, & Rosman, 2015). In none of the films reviewed did the actors perform these tasks. An example of this is the character portrayed by Danny Glover
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Being a profession that is entrusted with other peoples or organizations money, the accounting profession understands professionals must be honest and ethical. Survey respondents felt that American filmmakers manipulate the professions strength into a weakness for typical accountants. In the movie Hitch, Alex “Hitch” Hitchens, played by Kevin James, is described as the “bumbling client” with hopes to win the heart of “glamorous” Allegra Cole. Additionally, this research found that the highest stereotype portrayed negatively is that accountants are “physically awkward.” In the fast moving profession of accounting that relies on cognitive skills and training, there are no body types that would be better suited for the …show more content…
One limitation includes the fact that individual actor characteristics could be more dominant that professional stereotypes. For example: Ben Affleck is known for his good looks and lifestyle while Johnny Depp may be typecast as a “pirate” and playing “antisocial” roles. Another limitation is the structure of the research weighted each movie equally regardless of box office revenues or impact. A third limitation was the use of perceptions by the survey respondents. An additional limitation is the difficultly in determining impact. For example, this research did not consider sales from revenue sources different from box office. Some of this missed revenues from streaming and video sales. Added to this is researchers did not adjust sales for
The Auditor, an instructional novella written by James K. Loebbecke, tells the story of Jack Butler, a man from the San Francisco Bay area, who goes to college, majors in accounting, and goes to work for a large accounting firm referred to as “The Firm.” The story is loosely based upon the real world experiences of the author, and is written to give students a look into the world of public accounting that goes beyond a textbook. The Auditor not only gives students a chance to follow Jack Butler’s journey up the company ladder at The Firm, but also reiterates the relative importance of conventional lessons learned in school.
Auditor, an instructional novella written by James K. Loebbecke, tells the story of Jack Butler, a man from the San Francisco Bay area, who goes to college, majors in accounting, and goes to work for a large accounting firm referred to as “The Firm.” The story is loosely based upon the real world experiences of the author, and is written to give students a look into the world of public accounting that goes beyond a textbook. The Auditor not only gives students a chance to follow Jack Butler’s journey up the company ladder at The Firm, but also reiterates the relative importance of conventional lessons learned in school.
“ In order to prevent fraudulent financial reports and statements, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants(AICPA) has created ethical standards” (Ethical standards in a financial statement, 2011). These standards aim to make financial professionals accountable for their accounting practices. This includes the integrity of financial reporting and ensuring financial reporting is done fairly and factually. Financial accountants and professionals should maintain professional integrity, objectivity, and independence to reduce the risk of resulting legal action, loss of profits, and a poor reputation if improper financial reporting is done (Ethical standards in a financial statement, 2011).
Proper conduct and ethical behavior are important, because auditors are party to confidential information and it is important this trust not be abused. This essay discusses the purpose of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and delves into the definitions of the six principles of the Code. It explores to whom this Code applies and what should be considered its key principle. The next
It is known that one of the industries that reflect a multitude of human stereotypes is in the cinema. Although this may be true, to some people it is not completely obvious; especially if the stereotyped individual in the film is different from the person watching. The 2009 remake of the movie Fame has numerous moments that represent mediated stereotypes between different races. Using examples from Ramirez-Berg in his piece, “Stereotypes in Film”, the stereotypes I recognized were much more clear. Additionally, cinematic devices such as scripting, costuming, and sound effects played a role when discussing oppressed populations (Ramirez Berg).
The Model of Trust Enhancement was established to enhance and maintain the public’s trust in the accounting profession. Over the last two decades, the ethics of the accounting profession has been questioned and public trust destabilized, in particular for auditors, due to the Enron debacle. The fact that an auditing firm would assist their clients with publishing an inadequate set of financial statements shows their willingness to violate laws and regulations (Sims & Brinkmann, 2003). According to the textbook, “Because trust is essential, even the appearance of an accountant’s honesty and integrity is important. The auditor, therefore, must not only be trustworthy, but he or she must also appear trustworthy” (Duska, Duska & Ragatz, 2011, p. 116). The majority of statements filed inadequately have a substantial impact on the credibility of the accounting profession as a whole. Sullivan (n.d.10) states that a CPA must possess a high level of trust, by applying professional judgment and enhancing the three trustworthy characteristics (ability, benevolence, and integrity) when resolving accounting ethics dilemmas (slide 3).
Accountants are relied upon to be trustworthy and maintain high ethical standards. It is because of the nature of the profession that puts them in a position of trust with people who rely on their professional judgment and guidance in making decisions. These decisions are extremely important in accounting and more so that companies that have high ethical standard or main good ethical culture spend enormous time to train the staffs about the conduct that is expected of them.
Other stereotypes women were perceived with are being inherently emotional and susceptible to falling in love with their targets. The movie “Allied” is an example of this, which tells a story about a woman who plays a French Resistance fighter who falls in love with a Canadian intelligence officer, during a mission in Casablanca. Throughout the film, they work together to assassinate the German ambassador, and eventually grow strong feelings for one another. The two get married and have a daughter named Anna. The husband learns from the Special Operations Executive (SOE) that they suspect his wife to be a German spy and orders him to spy on her to test if their suspicions are true.
Stereotypes in Hollywood is one of the most compelling types of correspondence in this day and age is the media. Stereotype can be positive or negative, the problem is that it can be generalize. The question here is; as stereotype in films, T.V. shows, and social media taken it too far? Stereotypes reduce the wide range of differences in people to simple assumptions about particular groups of people into ‘realities”. In this essay, we are going to talk about how we got stereotypes, why they even exist, and why we got stuck with them, and if there’s a way to fix them.
A stereotype, in the social sense, is defined as a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing (Oxford Dictionary). The four main stereotypes that can be grasped from the majority of teen films are the popular girl, the jock, the nerd and then the bully. These stereotypes have been adapted and changed to suit the storyline of the film “the token black guy, the nasty cheerleader, the beautiful weirdo, the desperate virgin” (Driscoll). Often or not these are perceived negatively causing sometimes a negotiated reading from the audience. “Another teen points out that Hollywood movies can be superficial and deal in stereotypes, which is a mistake because our generation is very
Ethics in any industry is important, but for Accounting professionals and those in need of their services, it is a particularly stressed element. Information provided by accountants is used to make major decisions, including investing, downsizing, expanding, etc, so accountants are expected to be competent, reliable, and have a high degree of professional integrity. Because of these high expectations, the professional accountancy industry, like many other professions, has adopted professional codes of ethics (Woelfel, 1986). These ethical codes go above and beyond the requirements for state or federal laws and regulations. There are several professional organizations within the
What draws me into the field of accountancy? Why do I want to launch a career as a certified public accountant (CPA)? What is there about numbers, spreadsheets, profit and loss statements, audits, inventory and fiduciary responsibility that appeal me? In this paper I will describe in detail the reasons why I am attracted to this field. Also, what are the duties and responsibilities of a CPA? How available are job openings for a person with the education and experience to work as a CPA? How well to companies compensate those hired as CPAs? These questions and issues will be thoroughly reviewed in this paper.
With professions having this tremendous knowledge regarding a company’s financial standing and not being able to disclose the information to the public it can create major investment errors. With these restrictions in place by the AICPA the accountants and auditors “… in a position of having to choose between earning a livelihood or making a proper ethical choice” (Synder, 2011).
II. Main Point #2. Contrary to popular belief, Accountants, and the tasks that they perform, are an important part of most people’s everyday life.
Accounting is the language of business. It is a profession that is being guided by principles, concepts, conventions, laws, etc. All these fundamental building blocks serve as common and general compasses to all practitioners of the profession. In some cases, they are nation-wide tailored, while in other cases, they are universally tailored. Accounting as a living, practical, dynamic and realistic profession covers so many areas of social, economic (business), and governmental activities. Surely, any endeavour that involves monetary and material activities create a room for the services of Accounting. Many of the human endeavours for which the accounting profession plays significant (some times inevitable) roles include; Banking, Insurance, Manufacturing, Farming Contracting, Oil and Gas, Mining, Transportation (Air, Land and Sea), Educational Institutions, Churches, Ministries, ICT, Hire Purchase, Local Government Authorities, Estate Businesses, Export and Import Businesses, Bill of Exchange Transactions, Royalties Transactions, Consignment Transactions, Stock Market Transactions, Sports, Entertainment, Hospitals and Hospitality Industry, etc.