Babyboomers, Inc.

The article demonstrates to students the sensitive issues that may arise in the in the area of client acceptance and client discontinuance in the field of public accounting, in relation to Babyboomers Inc. The company was not pleased with its auditor so it was contemplating on changing it. According to the author, this is an area that might make or break a professional's career. The author states that the case illustrates conflicting goals of public accounting. It also attempts to introduce to students implications of the research on accountability and reward systems for the domain of auditing. The case is appropriate for any intermediate accounting course that discusses the valuation of inventory. Traditional texts review the topic with a very objective orientation. However, since much of the process is subjective, students can learn to consider what characteristics and attributes of inventory they should look for when determining the appropriate valuation. The Babyboomers' case is a nice vehicle in a cost accounting class to illustrate the numerous behavioral issues that arise in conjunction with reward systems.