Bill DeBurger, In charge Accounting

Bill DeBurger was an in- charge accountant of the firm where he used to work. He had 18 months of experience; and he had been working for more than 900 hours in the audit of Marcelle Stores. The audit team was formed by Bill, two staff accountants, and five internal auditors. After two months of intense work, Bill had the responsibility to write the inventory memo. When Bill began to think about what he will express in the inventory memo, he realized that he was not sure about the accuracy of the information related with the inventory accounts of Marcelle Stores. He decided that he was not going to sign the results of the inventory account; and he communicated his decision to Sam Hakes. Hakes was very irritated about Bill’s decision and he ordered Bill to return to his office and “write a nice, neat, very precise and to-the point inventory memo” (Knapp, 2011, p.312). After that, Bill went to his office and he started to write the memo. Considering the circumstance of the case, I believe Bill will follow Sam’s instructions; and he will communicate an unqualified opinion about the inventory accounts of Marcelle Stores. Bill was really serious about not signing the inventory memo, but when Sam refuted his idea Bill did not defend his point of view; so, I think Bill will do what Sam ordered him because he was scared. In contrast, I would express a different conclusion if I have the responsibility to write the inventory memo. I think the evidence that the auditors collected was not materially accurate; and these uncertainties do not allow me to issue an audit report expressing an unqualified opinion. Also, Bill tried to do what was correct in that situation, but he was not strong enough to keep defending his decision. I would follow the same approach that Bill used it, but I would not have surrendered so easily. I would