Discussions

1) Hundreds of hospitals, clinics, and health departments automatically report certain symptoms and diagnoses to the government each day. This practice of biosurveillance helps officials track the spread of flu, detect outbreaks, and watch for unusual symptoms that might signal a brand new disease or bioterrorism. Although information is reported each day, doctors rarely know what their colleagues nearby are diagnosing.

1. In what way does the public health department work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in providing information on local outbreaks and receiving information from the CDC on possible concerns for their geographic regions?

2. Discuss your thoughts about the role of disease registries in supporting population health and future public health initiatives.

2) Assume that you are the managerial accountant at InfoStore, a manufacturer of hard drives, CDs, and DVDs. Its reporting year-end is December 31. The chief financial officer is concerned about having enough cash to pay the expected income tax bill because of poor cash flow management. On November 15, the purchasing department purchased excess inventory of CD raw materials in anticipation of rapid growth of this product beginning in January of the next year. To decrease the company's tax liability, the chief financial officer tells you to record the purchase of this inventory as part of supplies and expense it in the current year as this would decrease the company's tax liability by increasing expenses.

Discuss the account to which the CDs should be recorded and identify the materials in terms of cost. How should you report to this request by the chief financial officer? Are there any ethical reporting aspects to consider?