Reference no: EM132621807

Question - Read the scenario below - Paula, has recently started her career in an audit firm, and has been working on her second audit assignment in the accounts receivable area for the past one and a half weeks.

She has been spending more time than expected to audit the accounts receivables, often working till late into the night, in part because the client has not been very cooperative in assisting with her requests for information.

This morning, her audit senior, Simon, approached her, looking rather concerned. Simon has been the "in-charge" for the audit for the past two years, and is due for promotion to audit manager this year. He told Paula: "We have only budgeted 40 hours for the accounts receivable area. It's important that our reported time do not exceed the budget for this job as it will reflect badly on our efficiency. Please try to finish up the remaining work in the accounts receivable area as quickly as possible, and move on to the other sections. Not all steps in the audit program need to be carried out to the letter, you know, since there were no major audit issues with this client in the previous audit." He paused for a second, before adding, somewhat cynically: "Hey, welcome to the real world!" Paula has heard that last year's audit team has "eaten time" to meet last year's audit budget and this year's budget was even lower than last year's reported time.

Required - What would you do if you were Paula? (Apply the ethical conflict resolution framework discussed in the video on Professional Ethics: ACRA /ISCA Code (S100.19-100.24).