Recognizing Significance

Instead of reading story that just shows the importance of my field, I decided to read about a story that shows the consequence of being dishonest in the field. I believe that because the consequence of wrong action is big, the occupation's importance is also big. The story that I read is about the collapse of Arthur Anderson, once a huge audit firm.

Arthur Anderson is a prestigious Chicago auditing firm that was once a part of Big 5 auditing firms with current Big 4 (Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PWC, and KPMG). However, due to faking the financial statement of its client, Enron Corp, Arthur Andersen was convicted of obstruction of justice. Enron Corporation is "an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas." Even though it was only once, a huge and famous firm lost its reputation and met its demise not long after the scandal.

When I read about this event, I realized how being honest is important as an accountant. One mistake in accounting can cause a huge company to shut down. I believe that since accountant's roles are important, the responsibility of being an accountant is very high.

"The Fall of Andersen." Chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune, 1 Sept. 2002. Web. 03 Nov. 2012. <http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0209010315sep01,0,538751.story>.

 "Enron." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Oct. 2012. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron>.