Does a managment accountant have a responsibility to act ethically in providing information to stakeholders?
While many may think this is an easy question, I think it is very difficult. First, ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about morality. How one person interprets what is morally correct may differ from what somebody else will consider. Second, if somebody does something “they” think is morally correct does it mean they should hinder or hurt stakeholders? You have to judge if what you believe is unethical is real a morally wrong business practice or just something you don’t agree with. Being bossy and being the boss are not the same thing. So, that brings us to the legal question. A management accountant does have a legal obligation to make sure that wrongful activity is brought to light. A nondisclosure agreement can not be used to shield criminal activities. Lastly, posting this question looking for a yes or no answer is not fair because we need to understand the situation in order to determine if the people involved are actually acting in an unethical ma
