The problem that Linbarger company faces is that they do not have enough cash in the account as agreed upon to with the insurance company. If this happen, they will breach the loan agreement with the insurance company and they could take Linbarger to court and potentially close them down. It seems that financial vice president is trying to share the blame of what could possibly transpire if policy is not followed. As I have seen in big businesses, the other company is going to more than likely believe the vice president over you. If your current assets exceed current liabilities then the likelihood for paying the liabilities is favorable. But when this is reversed, short term creditors may not be paid and ultimately the company could be force into bankruptcy. Simply put, lying on the books helps no one. Trying to cover up what was overestimated in the long run could destroy the company. Breaching the contract is a lot more acceptable ethic wise than lying to cover up your mistakes that could have been prevented. The vice president should call the insurance company immediately and explain the entire situation, not asking you to take actions that you know are wrong. There is no replacement for ethical behavior.
If you do not follow what Lisa has instructed you to do, then yes, the place of business could be shut down and jobs could be lost. There is also a possibility that someone is able to place full blame on you, and only you would be terminated. One thing I do not feel is important for work is to lose your integrity. Another job can be found, if and when something does come negatively from this decision, then you are the one who chose the final decision and may not be able to recover. If you do not follow Lisa’s instructions, then things could still work out for your company and you alone could be let go due to insubordination. Is it really worth your personal integrity though? You have to think of the future also, not just the current situation within this company.
All in all, everyone inside the company could be negatively impacted if this instruction is followed. You may get the full judgement as it has been placed as your responsibility for the ledger. The vice president should not have waited until this late to address the situation. The insurance company could have been notified of this much sooner than the day before closing and that could have resulted in more trust because of the upfront honesty. Bank transfers could take a day but can show an immediate form of a payment. If a receipt of the payment dates to be on July 30th, this would still show that the payment had been made in time or at least within the time frame that the insurance company could accept. Another action that could be pursued is emailing all of this information to the insurance company so they are aware before the books are to be closed. If it is not too late, a call to Oconto Distributors to possibly get an online money transfer instead of using the check could also rectify the books being short. Then the check could be canceled when received. You could also close the books on your scheduled time frame and follow procedure and deal with the consequences.