The Accounting Manager Role

Meanwhile the changes continued apace at Bunco. Ongoing growth and further acquisitions$-$inprocess meant that Nicholas acquired significant new responsibilities. Part of that transition included Nicholas taking on a more strategic role in financial management and physically relocating to the company's executive headquarters in Toronto. This meant that he would no longer be around day to day to manage the accounting department at the northern packaging facility. It was also no longer adequate for the department to adopt a flat organizational structure, with staff accountants formally reporting to the director. An accounting manager position would need to be created.

As director, Nicholas was responsible for financial strategy, identifying opportunities for cost reduction and revenue growth, foreign exchange strategy, ameliorating controls, and managing transition teams for new acquisitions. In turn, the new accounting manager would be responsible for much of what Nicholas had previously done. This included advising senior executives, including the CEO, about monthly financial results and projected year$-$end performance, as well as overall responsibility for costing and management accounting. This position required ongoing communication with various parts of the company, including occasional travel to the head office. The most important part of the accounting manager role, however, involved managing the team at the northern facility. assigning tasks and providing daily guidance, advice, and social support to junior staff.

Under normal circumstances, Paul would have been the natural choice for promotion to this new accounting manager position. He wanted it; indeed, he felt it was owed to him in return for his long years of service. He was the most senior person in the department and, other than Nicholas, Paul had the highest level of formal accounting education. The other members of the department did not qualify for the role, as they were not CMAs. Paul had also created many of the spreadsheets and systems that were an integral component of the company's financial reporting system. The new role, however, would come with a significantly increased stress load, since it involved management responsibilities and a much higher political profile in the organization. Could Paul really handle the stress, given his disability? Also, if he did experience a flare$-$up$,$ how could he manage a team of people from home, when multiple questions came up each day? Reports to head office were already being sent late with alarming frequency, damaging the northern branch's reputation within the company. Would this situation become worse under Paul's direction?

Fourteen months earlier, Nicholas had carefully considered his options vis$--$vis filling the future account manager position. He tried to discuss his concerns with his HR department but discovered that promotions were legal and ethical grey areas when it came to disability accommodation. Under a subset of law regarding duty to accommodate, employers were not able to deny promotions based on inability to perform a job without first proving undue hardship, but what did that really mean? The concept was largely untested in the courtroom. An HR staff member suggested that Paul be asked to participate in a detailed medical assessment to prove that he could not complete the essential operational requirements of the job. This suggestion did not sit well with Nicholas. A medical assessment could be regarded as invasive, and the procedure would lead to Paul being expected to share a great deal of confidential medical information. Furthermore, as with any management job, it was hard to distinguish the essential aspects of the job from the secondary ones. Presenting and defending monthly financial reports, for example, was a key part of the job.

$7$

It was also very stressful, as the reports were examined and questioned in detail by powerful senior executives. Since stress was a trigger for flare$-$ups of Crohn's disease, could Paul handle the pressure? What about travel to head office? This was also stressful, and travel might well prove impossible for Paul. Was it fair to expect Paul to try given his medical condition? Nicholas's biggest concern, however, was that Paul would not always be physically available to the staff. Nicholas felt that the physical presence of a manager in the office was central to the orderly flow of information, completion of daily tasks, and maintenance of a supportive and collegial environment. He did not know if he could truly justify calling that physical presence "essential," but his gut told him it was.

Under pressure to decide whether to fill the new position internally or externally, Nicholas was not sure that he was making the right choice, but he decided to launch an external search for an account manager, instead of promoting Paul.

Discussion Questions