In a case like this, it would be very important to make sure you investigate the
recurring pattern of mistakes being made and have a discussion with the coworker
making the same mistake. It would be unethical to accept dinner as an offer from the
coworker to fix the mistake because it would be inviting the coworker to continue
making the mistake and this person would feel like they can count you to continue
fixing further mistakes being made. In a case like this, I would report this coworker
to management in a friendly way so they can coach this coworker on the mistakes
being made. Anytime I make an entry, I would validate that I have accurate
information, and also that I have all of the required information to perform my job
correctly. If the employee made the same mistake multiple times, I would ask clarifying
and probing questions to get tot he root because. It is a training issue, is it an
incompetence issue, or is it in fact suspicious in nature? Either way, it should be
reported to management so that they are aware of the requests to make updates, and
that the employee is experiencing a problem with accurate reporting. The impacts to
the cash accounts is that it is being updated incorrectly and will not reflect accurate
amounts, there will be an imbalance on the account. I would not accept dinner, as it
is my job to make sure that there is accurate accounting. Whether the employee is
sincere in there offer due to their mistake, or it is a bribe, it is not ethically appropriate
to accept favors for doing your job. This particular situation is concerning for multiple
reasons. The fact that it is the same mistake three times is abnormal. We all know
mistakes are part of life, and nobody is perfect. The same mistake needing correction
three times could be a sign of someone taking advantage of the situation. I would first
research to see someone made them aware of the mistake the first and the second
time. If made aware of the mistake and correctly record the receipt and continues to
make the same mistake, that may be suspicious. I would also investigate the amounts
and see if it is possible to gain from these mistakes. The receipt is issuing a credit to
the cash account, which suggests that the funds are going safely back into the
company's assets. It is always best to gather as many details as possible and review
them before making the correction. As for the dinner offer, I would respectfully decline
the invitation. It may be a genuinely kind offer, but I wouldn't want to send a message
that I may be open to gifts or bribes. I typically try to keep business separate from
my personal life. I would ask a lot of questions as to why my co worker has made
the same mistake three times in one month. This is extremely concerning. As a
bookkeeper it is my job to make sure all of the accounts are correct. Fixing an issue
is do able, but a lot has to go into it. So much more than if it would have just been
done correctly the first time. I would definitely involve management in this situation
because of the repetition of the same mistake in such short time. I could get into a
lot of trouble myself if I do not. The manager should then ask questions as well and
maybe think about re training some one. Three times in one month is awfully
suspicious. Accepting dinner as a thank you is a huge red flag. I would let my
manager know of that as well. This could mean that they are trying to bribe me,
which usually means something bad is going on. No dinner is worth losing my career
over, and if this was a friend of mine I would still do the same because a true friend
would not put you in this situation. I would for sure ask a lot of probing questions,
on how and why is it he keeps messing up. I will also do my investigation to make
sure the correction that I am doing is really legit. I know I don't want to be apart of
nothing illegal so I will really have to make sure it is nothing outrages is going on.
I will also have to inform someone about this as well because from the sounds of it
I really believe something is going on to be messing up three times within this month.
By him also trying to take me out to dinner for fixing the mistake is kind of
concerning as well. It is my job to do, so for him to go out his way to offer me
dinner does make it seem a sketchy as well. I will try my best to investigate and
make the right decisions on the actions that I take. I will have to past on the dinner
though. c As the full-time bookkeeper your first and primary responsibility its accurate
recording of all transactions. And keeping thorough and detailed records. If the co-
worker has made the same mistake multiple times, I would potentially find this
suspicious. The first time I would likely make the change and not ask too many
questions. But when the mistake happened again, I would investigate the transaction a
little more closely to determine if it is a suspicious charge. I would also likely involve
my manager. At the third time I would definitely pull in my manager for a discussion.
The team could treat is as a training issue to allow for information gathering rather
than putting the co-worker in defense mode. The mistakes with the cash account are
causing it to be credited incorrectly. These adjustments require additional work and
explanation. In my opinion I would not accept dinner for fixing the mistake the for
the third time. I feel like dinner isn’t unreasonable for helping a co-worker resolve a
problem but given that is the third time it feels suspicious to me. I would begin an
investigation to ensure that the funds being utilized from this account are for legitimate
purposes after the second incidence of this occurring. This is clearly a problem if it is
a reoccurring issue, and if the coworker is seemingly bribing you for your assistance
in the issue. It would be critical, not only for the safety and protection of the company,
but your job security and potentially legal security, to ensure that you are not complicit
in any fraudulent activity in regards to your book keeping.After the first occasion of
this issue, I would have taken the time to ask questions such as "where was this
money going and what is it used for?". I would explain to them the importance of
keeping accurate and transparent books, and why these transactions are raising red
flags. Perhaps they are doing these things out of ignorance, or, once again, if the intent
behind these transactions is malicious, it could cause them to think twice about it
knowing that you are not going to help them cover their tracks. I would not accept
dinner from said coworker in exchange for these corrections, as it could make me an
accomplice to their crime, if and when they were caught doing something illegal.
First I would investigate if these are just careless mistakes, lack of training, or
something fraudulent. c One of the red flags is that this is happening more than once.
I know that after the first request to make the correction, I would have explained the
correct accounting procedure to my co-worker. I would have also told them that I have
to include the reason for the correction so I need know why the cash receipt was
entered twice. The second time, I would reiterate what I told them the last time they
asked me to make the correction. The third time, I would have to report it to my
supervisor because I wouldn’t want it to appear that I was participating in any type
of fraud, if that is what is happening. By entering the cash receipt twice, the co-
worker may be taking the cash from the company.
I would not accept a dinner offer from my co-worker for fixing the mistake because
I think it would be considered a bribe. c If it was later determined that the co-worker
was stealing from the company, I wouldn’t want it to appear that I was part of the
fraud.
I would recommend that an investigation is conducted to rule out any inappropriate
activities. A couple of factors to consider is, how long has this employee been with
the company? What is their level of education and training? Do they have a hardship
going on that is affecting their work performance? What documents are present to
support the entries, and have the documents been altered.I would not accept a dinner
offer or any other offer of value as a payment for my assistance in this scenario or
any other scenario when it comes to helping an employee with correcting mistakes at
work, because it crosses the line of unethical behaviors. This situation is one that
should not happen by the same person three times in one month. I find that I would
investigate the actual amount of cash that should be recorded. Every time a change
happens it come back to me as the bookkeeper. It is my responsibility to make sure
that the entries are correct. When a correction is made my name would be next to it.
I could see someone coming behind me asking questions. In order to be able to answer
said questions I would need to know from my co-worker why are these mistakes
happening so often. Honestly at this point I bring this to the attention of our managers.
At this point the reason I would take this to a manager is because of the offer of
dinner for fixing the mistake. If it is my job to as bookkeeper to make sure all account
are correct why would I need dinner or lunch as a thank you? I find that this is just
a bribe to keep me quite. I would never accept a bribe cause that dinner will not take
care of me and my family. This situation could happen anywhere and to anyone like
a new hire or someone not properly trained or worst case scenario someone who is
trying to steal money from the company. If this was a one off instance I would do
basic research and probably let it go, but multiple times a month is concerning. I
would definitely advise a manager about the situations and do research to figure out
what these transactions are. In my job if you misquote a customer and you’re new it’s
not a big deal, managers correct the mistakes and make it right but if you are either
new or tenured and this is happening consistently where customers come in with bills
with misquotes or were lied to for the sake of the sale there will be write ups involved
if it continues long enough. In this scenario I would treat it like that, one mistake is
bound to happen but once it increases and continues then something needs to be
addressed. For something like this I think I would go over all the variables before
thinking the worst. So for the co-worker for a mistake to happen like this three times
in the same month, I would think they are a new employee or they are new to the
position. If neither of these were the case then I would have to start looking at the
three transactions in depth. I would make sure that it was just a mistake and not a
way to pocket some cash. But I would start with there manager and let them know
what is happening and if I did find so kind of fraud I would bring it up to my
manager and or HR. On the accounts you are taking from the cash account to balance
out the sales account. If you did not fix it you would come out short on the cash
account because of the double entry. I would not accept the dinner offer because if it
is fraud and a way to take money from the company then you could be an accomplice
cause if looks like you are covering up for that co-worker. As the full-time bookkeeper,
it's my job to make corrections to the general ledger accounts, not to pass judgement
towards the co-workers in the company. Please don't mistake this on any part as to
where I don't see what is going on with the records that I keep and what a co-worker
is trying to ask me to do. Will I make the corrections that is asked of me? Yes I
will, but I will first, decline the dinner offer and let the co-worker know that I am
also annotating the whole scenario to cover myself. Think about it, this is the 3rd time
this month already so apparently the first two didn't raise any flags. I will absolutely
cover my end and state that this is a part of what a bookkeeper does and that that
the co-worker is the one that has the issue with doing their job properly. The Cash
account is recorded as a credit and a debit to the Sales account, respectfully. This is
common in the workplace, but if it happens to continue from the same person then
the CFO will have to reach out to that co-worker. I am not certain of the course of
action to take here, but this definitely sounds shady. Id investigate the transaction, and
entry in question. I would also investigate the source of the transaction. Should i find
something out of place I would report it. Should I not find anything, I would report
the request to in house management, this goes for the correction as well. I would also
make a entry that I was correcting a mistake, and that goes for if it turns out to be
legit. You can not be too safe when it comes to a business and money. Not only is
it the life blood of the business but the country as a whole in the basis of our
economy. Nothing gets overlooked, especially by the government. You must be tactful,
and play it safe when it comes to record keeping and the money! That is my humble
opinion at least. Now is there more appropriate actions? Might be, but I have not got
to that point in my studies yet. Still, I always push for being thorough, and safe. n
the very beginning, the first question to ask yourself as a bookkeeper is why is the
co-worker requesting to bribe you using lunch, and yet it is your job to make the
correction as soon as they occur. Another thing is why does the action appears
suspicious due to the bribe? I think the best thing to do in such a situation is to
inform your supervisor to protect your job. Do not make any adjustments to the
accounts without also confirming the receipt of the money and also from the customer.
You might not be in a position to know the intentions of your co-worker. In this case,
the cash receipt account would be credited and the sales account debited to correct the
error.
However, it is your responsibility as a bookkeeper to make such corrections of error
as they appear to the accounts and that is what you have been employed to do. A co-
worker coming to you with a request to offer a lunch and make correction makes the
adjustment suspicious since you should not receive bribe for carrying out your job.
Before making a decision about the correcting entry I would make sure that I am
correcting the right entry and not a entry that is not an error. You don't want to
remove an entry that is actually accounted for and is correct. With the Cash account
you are crediting it to reverse the funds due to the mistake that the coworker made. I
believe that money is being taken from the Cash account in error so that's why when
the error is being corrected you are crediting the Cash account and debiting the Sales
account. For me, I would not accept a dinner offer from my coworkers because it is
inappropriate. Seems sort of like a bribe thing to me where as though he/she expects
that you will continuously clean up their mistake if they reward you. I don't believe
that you should go out to dinner with your co worker simply because it can backfire
on you as well. I believe in the saying you don't mix business with pleasure no matter
what it is. I would try investigating the error before trying to fix it since it wasn’t
the first time it happened. I would asks a lot of questions and make notice for future
errors too. I would also try to find out why they are being changed to cash accounts.
I would have to involve the manager too. So that everyone are on the same page
about these accounts. I wouldn’t accept the dinner offer because I don’t see why they
would offer it to do my job. That would make me feel like it’s something bigger I
am fixing but I don’t know it. That would be a red flag for me. But I could be over
thinking the situation. But No I wouldn’t just fix a problem blindly so it could bite
me on my butt later. I would differently get my supervisor involved and make sure
everything is being done correctly. First of all, this is a situation I would never want
to be in. :) I would look into those previous transactions and verify that cash account
transactions are accounted for. I would then verify that counterpart (sales account) is
documented and input correctly, as well. This type of behavior would be extremely
suspicious to me. However, I would of addressed this once the second error occurred
for preventive measures. So I would also take some accountability for this third
occurrence. I would also involve both my supervisor and theirs. Mine would be for
protection when correcting all these errors. I would also speak with my supervisor
requesting I be allowed to address possible training concerns for my coworker. As far
as dinner is concerned, I would respectfully decline the offer. The dinner offer seems
to be a bit sketchy considering the current events. This type of behavior to me goes
against my moral and ethical beliefs. This scenario is one that would arouse my
suspicion. First of all, the same type of bookkeeping error three times in one month,
is edging more towards an intentional pattern, rather than careless mistakes. I would
first verify the cash receipt transactions and obtain proof that they were legitimate
business transactions made by my co-worker. This scenario is a red flag because in
each instance, the company could have received two cash payments, and by reversing
one of the payments, it looks like there was only one cash payment in the accounting
ledger. That would be a way for my co-worker to pocket the cash from one of the
payments. Of course, this sort of misconduct has serious consequences, so I would
only reach this conclusion based on rock solid evidence.
Whether I accept dinner from my co-worker would be based on the context of the
invitation. If it was his/her subtle way of thanking me for looking the other way, then
absolutely not. Being the recipient of a bribe is definitely not something I want to get
caught up in at work. If the invitation was completely separate from the accounting
correction request, I would consider it, since other factors might prompt a dinner
invitation. For example, maybe we have had dinner together in the past and a dinner
invitation would not be out of the blue. Basically, I would go with my intuition,
behavior of my co-worker, and if the topic of dinner came up organically in our
conversation. If the other employee is entering the same receipts multiple times, that
doesn't seem like something that would simply be an oversight. You don't normally
get extra copies of cash receipts, so the duplicates really seem to be an intentional act
of deceit. That person would have to literally ask whomever they are having a cash
transaction for duplicate receipts or copy them themselves.
If I were in this situation I would start taking a look at this person's recorded receipts
over the course of their employment, trying to verify that this isn't a pattern past just
this month. I would also ask the coworker to provide me with any supporting
information, like a thank you text or email from the person they shared a meal with
if it was a dining expense.
I would also report the multiple instances of the same mistake to their supervisor, as
well as the offer of a free meal, and I would not submit any corrections without
approval to do so from someone who gets paid enough to own that decision. Not that
updating the ledger is an issue here, the action is simple enough... Add the transaction
total back to the cash account to increase the balance back to where it supposedly
should be, and move the expense over to the credit account to decrease it in value
therefore correcting the books... however I would not be comfortable or willing to toe
the line of anything that could get me charged with theft or embezzlement. In this
scenario, there is money being removed from the Cash Account and money is being
added to the Sales Account. Before making the corrections to the entry, I would
investigate why there are so many mistakes happening with this co-worker. I would
want to bring it to my and her supervisor to ensure that she had the adequate training
for the entries. This would ensure that any corrections are done with the approval of
a superior, to avoid any sort of "funny business". As far as the dinner offer, I could
not and would not accept anything of the sort. It would appear as though we are doing
favors for each other. I would also make it clear to the co-worker how offering
something like that would be unethical and that she should not be doing those sort of
things. I would like to say that I would immediately report that to my supervisor as
well, but I do not think I would. I would warn my co-worker, and if it happened
again, to me or anyone else, I would then report it. Before rectifying the double entry,
I should first determine whether the issue is related to a performance issue created by
a coworker who is not careful while entering cash receipts or whether it is a purposeful
oversight. Hence, if it's a mistake done by my associate unwillingly, I should inform
the supervisor for an appropriate decision to be made. In contrast, if the oversight was
intentional, it is definitely forgery, as my associate is attempting to match up the
embezzlement by documenting the incorrect amount that should get reported.
In this case, the cash amount is overestimated as of a set date, posing audit risks
because cash practically available may differ from cash documented. Daily, physical
verification of cash and comparison of account balance with financial statements should
get performed to uncover any potential for incorrect reporting or deception, which
should get corrected quickly.
I will decline the dinner offer because it would be beyond its standards of conduct
and ethical guidelines. Accepting an offer to cover up a mistake made during the
specified course of accounting is not appropriate.
