The case of the thorn in the plan
Ethics
Charles Selcer, CPA, MBA | December 2021/January 2022 Footnote
Editor's note: Updated November 29, 2021
P.J. Flock is president of Row the Goat, Inc. His company rents out goats to homeowners who have yards suffering from buckthorn infestation. The goats just eat that up — literally. His controller left him in September. P.J.’s bank requires an annual audited financial statement. To replace his controller, he hired an audit manager from his outside CPA firm: Fielen Eleet, CPA. Fielen owned some nonvoting stock in the CPA firm that will be paid out to him over five years based upon the profits of the firm.
Q: Is the CPA firm’s independence impaired?
A. Yes. At 1.279.020.02a, it is a requirement that the payments to Fielen must be fixed.
Ethics Corner
21WA-3722: Business Ethics: Cases from the Real World (Webinar)
Dec. 21 | 8–11:40 a.m. | 4 Ethics
21WS-1083: Surgent’s Ethics for Tax Professionals (Webinar)
Dec. 23 | Noon–2 p.m. | 2 Ethics
21WX-2648: Creating an Ethical Work Environment (Webinar)
Jan. 11 | 10 a.m.–noon | 2 Ethics
Visit www.mncpa.org/catalog to find more ethics CPE programs.
