SURVEY OF ACCOUNTING-ACCESS
SURVEY OF ACCOUNTING-ACCESS
4th Edition
ISBN: 9780077631536
Author: Thomas Edmonds
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
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Chapter 14, Problem 5ATC

Ethical Dilemma Bad budget system or unethical behavior?

Clarence Cleaver is the budget director for the Harris County School District. Mr. Cleaver recently sent an urgent e-mail message to Sally Simmons, principal of West Harris County High. The message severely reprimanded Ms. Simmons for failing to spend the funds allocated to her to purchase computer equipment. Ms. Simmons responded that her school already has a sufficient supply of computers; indeed, the computer lab is never filled to capacity and usually is less than half filled. Ms. Simmons suggested that she would rather use the funds for teacher training. She argued that the reason the existing computers are not fully utilized is that the teachers lack sufficient computer literacy necessary to make assignments for their students.

Mr. Cleaver responded that it is not Ms. Simmons’s job to decide how the money is to be spent; that is the school board’s job. It is the principal’s job to spend the money as the board directed. He informed Ms. Simmons that if the money is not spent by the fiscal closing date, the school board would likely reduce next year’s budget allotment. To avoid a potential budget cut, Mr. Cleaver reallocated Ms. Simmons’s computer funds to Jules Carrington, principal of East Harris County High. Mr. Carrington knows how to buy computers regardless of whether they are needed. Mr. Cleaver’s final words were, “Don’t blame me if parents of West High students complain that East High has more equipment. If anybody comes to me, I’m telling them that you turned down the money.”

Required

  1. a. Do Mr. Cleaver’s actions violate the standards of ethical professional practice shown in Exhibit 10.19 of Chapter 10?
  2. b. Explain how participative budgeting could improve the allocation of resources for the Harris County School District.
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Students have asked these similar questions
Pam Kelly says she has no faith in budgets. Her company, Kelly Manufacturing Corporation, spent thousands of dollars to install a sophisticated budget system. One year later the company's expenses are still out of control. She believes budgets simply do not work. How would you respond to Ms. Kelly's beliefs?
Both the budget process and budgets themselves can impact management actions, both positively and negatively. For instance, a common practice among not-for-profit organizations and government agencies is for management to spend any amounts remaining in a budget at the end of the budget period, a practice often called "use it or lose it." The view is that if a department manager does not spend the budgeted amount, top management will reduce next year's budget by the amount not spent. To avoid losing budget dollars, department managers often spend all budgeted amounts regardless of the value added to products or services. All of us pay for the costs associated with this budget system. Required Please respond by offering a solution to a not-for-profit that utilizes the "use it or lose it" budgeting problem.
The budget process and budgets themselves can impact management actions, both positively and negatively. For instance, a common practice among not-for-profit organizations and government agencies is for management to spend any amounts remaining in a budget at the end of the budget period, a practice often called “use it or lose it.” The view is that if a department manager does not spend the budgeted amount, top management will reduce next year’s budget by the amount not spent. To avoid losing budget dollars, department managers often spend all budgeted amounts regardless of the value added to products or services. All of us pay for the costs associated with this budget system. Required Write a half-page report to a local not-for-profit organization or government agency offering a solution to the “use it or lose it” budgeting problem.
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