Bean counters or Certified Professional Accounts, seem to be getting themselves in alot of trouble these days after Enron, the US Financial Crisis and quite recently Goldman Sachs. In a day and age where increased corporate accountability is needed by a complex society, CPAs have to take a stronger ethical approach when it comes to their profession. I know that sometimes it is difficult to tell right from wrong specially if your occupation is at risk. Some CPAs though, take a bolder risk in confronting this problem and just bend to the wills of their corporate overlords. One cannot really blame them, but with the devastating effects of corporate malfeasance and mismanagement, the role of truth in all the obscurity becomes overwhelmingly compelling.
It's a choice among three things: the career, the company and the country. Apparently, the CPAs who work for the major banking institutions have neglected the last option to the demise of everybody else. Manipulating Financial Statements and SEC reports seem to be the core requirement of a CPA nowadays. It's either bend the rules, or we'll find someone who will bend them. The effects are confounding as well as devastating. Nobody predicted the financial problems that corporate greed has wracked on an entire nation. A well positioned CPA can prevent this from happening by ensuring that the company presents itself in a transparent manner to the society it serves. Fortunately, the financial crisis is now over and the word that is being bandied about now is recovery. With Obama's strong political will, it's important for many an aspiring CPA to realize the value and effect of their profession to the nation at large.
