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Solutions Manual, Chapter 9 47
Case 9-27 (30 minutes)
It is difficult to imagine how Tom Kemper could ethically agree to go along
with reporting the favorable $21,000 variance for industrial engineering on
the final report, even if the bill were not actually received by the end of the
year. It would be misleading to exclude part of the final cost of the
contract. Collaborating in this attempt to mislead corporate headquarters
Individuals will differ in how they think Kemper should handle this
situation. In our opinion, he should firmly state that he is willing to call
Laura, but even if the bill does not arrive, he is ethically bound to properly
accrue the expenses on the report—which will mean an unfavorable
It is important to note that the problem may be a consequence of
inappropriate use of performance reports by corporate headquarters. If the
performance report is being used as a way of “beating up” managers,