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ACCT3563 Issues in Financial Reporting Analysis Part A S12013 1 PDF
ACCT3563 Issues in Financial Reporting Analysis Part A S12013 1 PDF
Accounting
ACCT3563
Issues in Financial Reporting and
Analysis
Course Outline
Semester 1, 2013
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[ACCT3563 – Issues in Financial Reporting & Analysis]
PART A: COURSE-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
2 COURSE DETAILS
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Tutorials are held Monday to Friday and run from week 2 through to week 13
inclusive. Tutorial times and locations can be found on MyUNSW.
The Course begins with a refresher on the Conceptual Framework. It then introduces
Positive Accounting Theory and several ethical theories, the latter focussed on the
aspects of Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics applicable to business. This groundwork
will be relevant throughout the Course. A series of contentious issues in financial
reporting then follows. These are the recognition and valuation of intangible assets
including carbon emission permits; provisions; employment entitlements and share
based payments, extractive industries and agricultural assets; leases; and financial
instruments. Financial instruments are a complex and controversial issue. They are
covered over several weeks and students are introduced to compound financial
instruments, foreign exchange transactions, derivatives and hedging. The Course
concludes with coverage of accounting issues arising in recent corporate crises.
Several corporate failures since the year 2000 provide striking examples of accounting
problems, particularly faulty recognition and measurement of assets, revenues and
liabilities. Studying these problems allows students to reflect on: (a) the accounting
methods that should have been used; (b) the economic incentives which led to the
abuses; and (c) the ethical issues involved. It also encourages students to integrate
their knowledge across topics in the Course.
ACCT 3563 extends what you learnt in ACCT 2542 Corporate Financial Reporting &
Analysis. While ACCT 2542 dealt with accounting for corporate groups (via
consolidation accounting and equity accounting), ACCT 3563 takes consolidation
accounting and equity accounting as assumed knowledge and then adds currently
controversial financial reporting issues. In order to enrol in ACCT 3563, you must have
passed ACCT 2542.
The initial aim of the course is to equip you with the requirements and techniques found
in various Australian accounting standards. The more important aim of the course is to
develop your capabilities to analyse and assess financial reporting problems and
financial reporting issues using theoretical frameworks. This is achieved by addressing
questions about: (i) the recognition and measurement of assets, liabilities, revenues or
expenses, (ii) whether accounting information is useful to investors, (iii) the role of
accounting information in contracting; (iv) the incentives managers face to report
truthfully versus their incentives to distort financial reports, (v) the political and
economic forces that shape regulatory and corporate responses to accounting issues,
and (vi) ethical issues related to accounting policy choices.
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This Course forms part of a major, double major or disciplinary minor in Accounting
within the Bachelor of Commerce or Bachelor of Economics degrees.
ACCT3563 constitutes part of the core curriculum studies required by CPA Australia
and by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.
The Course Learning Outcomes are what you should be able to DO by the end of this
course if you participate fully in learning activities and successfully complete the
assessment items.
The Learning Outcomes in this course also help you to achieve some of the overall
Program Learning Goals and Outcomes for all undergraduate coursework students in
the ASB. Program Learning Goals are what we want you to BE or HAVE by the time
you successfully complete your degree (e.g. ‘be an effective team player’). You
demonstrate this by achieving specific Program Learning Outcomes - what you are
able to DO by the end of your degree (e.g. ‘participate collaboratively and responsibly
in teams’).
1. Knowledge: Our graduates will have in-depth disciplinary knowledge applicable in local and
global contexts.
You should be able to select and apply disciplinary knowledge to business situations in a local and global
environment.
2. Critical thinking and problem solving: Our graduates will be critical thinkers and effective
problem solvers.
You should be able to identify and research issues in business situations, analyse the issues, and propose
appropriate and well-justified solutions.
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You should be able to:
a. Prepare written documents that are clear and concise, using appropriate style and presentation
for the intended audience, purpose and context, and
b. Prepare and deliver oral presentations that are clear, focused, well-structured, and delivered in a
professional manner.
5. Ethical, social and environmental responsibility: Our graduates will have a sound awareness of
the ethical, social, cultural and environmental implications of business practice.
You should be able to:
a. Identify and assess ethical, environmental and/or sustainability considerations in business
decision-making and practice, and
b. Identify social and cultural implications of business situations.
For more information on the Undergraduate Coursework Program Learning Goals and
Outcomes, see Part B of the course outline.
The following table shows how your Course Learning Outcomes relate to the overall
Program Learning Goals and Outcomes, and indicates where these are assessed (they
may also be developed in tutorials and other activities):
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5a. Ethical, Identify and assess environmental and Ethics component
environmental sustainability considerations in problems may be included in
and and how to accounting for these. To use the following:
sustainability a framework to identify and solve ethical • Team Exercise
responsibility issues in an accounting setting. • Individual Report
You are in third year at UNSW so by now you should have developed your own
personal study techniques. However, experience in teaching this subject over many
years strongly suggests that some students do not adopt the most effective or the most
efficient study habits.
The following advice is offered to all students. To maximise your learning and marks do
the following:
a) Attend all lectures and take notes. An abridged version of lecture notes and
handouts will be posted on the Course website. They will not contain everything
the lecturer says - you need to attend lectures to fill these gaps. In preparing for
exams, note which aspects of each topic the lectures cover and/or the lecturer
emphasises. Some students do not follow this very simple advice and thus put
themselves at a great disadvantage. Research shows that class attendance
and results in a course are strongly positively correlated.
b) Attend all tutorial classes. Make sure you understand the answers to all the
questions set for tutorials. Most answers will be posted on the course website
before the relevant tutorial, and students must download these and bring them
to their tutorial. Since classes are only 60 minutes long, your tutor may not have
time to cover all questions every week. However, for examination purposes we
expect you to know the answers to all set tutorial questions whether covered in
class or not.
c) Read the textbook readings. Some students complain that with two textbooks
there is too much set reading. However, the advantage of having two books is
that two different ways of explaining the same issues are available on many
topics. This should assist students’ learning.
d) Read the remainder of the set reading. Do not neglect the reading posted on
Blackboard because exam questions are often based on them. Also in some
weeks, the readings on Blackboard are the only set reading. Closer to the exam
dates, work through practice quiz and final examination questions, which will be
posted on the Course website.
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e) Study consistently throughout session and do not leave it until the last minute to
study for the exams. Many topics in the course are intellectually demanding and
cannot be crammed successfully in the last few days before the exams.
When enrolling for this subject, students are required to enrol in a lecture group and a
tutorial class using the MyUNSW. Tutorial changes can only be made through
MyUNSW.
Lectures: The lectures will introduce students to new material and synthesise material
relevant to each topic. Most weeks the lecture notes will be available on Blackboard
prior to each lecture. You will find your learning enhanced if you download and read the
lecture notes prior to each lecture and bring them to the lecture.
Tutorials: The tutorials cover both practical and theoretical questions. Tutorials are
designed to reinforce material covered in lectures, to provide guidance on structured
problem solving in the field of financial accounting, and to stimulate discussion. Tutorial
solutions will be uploaded on Blackboard before the relevant classes. Bring these
solutions to class. You will get most out of your tutorial if you prepare the set questions
in advance of the class. In response to students’ feedback in previous semesters, we
have included in the Tutorial Program past exam questions. However, solutions to
these past exam questions are provided in tutorials only, no written solutions will be
uploaded on Blackboard. Each week, priority will be given by your tutor to discussing
these questions. As the time available in each tutorial is limited, your tutor may not be
able to cover all set questions each week. However, you are expected to know all
tutorial material for examination purposes, whether covered in class or not.
All students should read the assigned weekly readings and attempt the tutorial
questions prior to attending their tutorial class. The importance of adequate preparation
prior to each tutorial including the completion of all tutorial questions cannot be
overemphasised, as the effectiveness and usefulness of the tutorial depends to a large
extent on students’ active participation during the tutorial.
4 ASSESSMENT
A “pass conceded” (PC) grade is only granted by the Faculty’s Assessment Committee,
and not by the Head of School or by the Course Coordinator of this course. See the
University website for rules about PC grades at
https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/academiclife/assessment/concession_algorithm.html
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4.2 Assessment Details
Each student will submit an individual research assignment (must be word processed,
not hand written) on Monday 8th April by 5.00pm, in Week 5. Details about the
assignment and guidelines for assessment of the assignment will be provided on
Blackboard. Each student is required to submit a copy of their individual report
electronically to Turnit-in software through Blackboard and submit a copy in Blackboard
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through the “Assignment” tab. Feedback and marking of the Individual Report will be
done by the online marking and feedback system called ReView. This system allows
timely feedback for students based on assessment criteria. Details on access to the
ReView system will be available on Blackboard. Self-assessment of performance for
the Individual Report can also be conducted using ReView.
In week 1 students be allocated into teams of four people and these teams will remain
fixed for the semester. Teams will be required to complete the team exercise together
in out-of-class. Details about the team exercise and guidelines for assessment of the
exercise will be provided on Blackboard.
Team exercise will relate to lecture materials and readings. The team is required to
submit the team exercise electronically to Turnit-in software through Blackboard and
submit a copy in Blackboard through the “Assignment” tab. Feedback and marking of
the Team Exercise will also be done by the online marking and feedback system called
ReView. Self-assessment of performance for the Team Exercise can also be
conducted using ReView.
The final exam will cover the whole course. This assessment will test both technical
and analytical skills covering the main components of the course. The final exam will
be a mix of multiple choice questions, written questions that involve writing journal
entries and making calculations, and written questions that involve discussion or
analysis. A selection of past final examination paper questions will be posted on the
Course website closer to the exam date. The final exam is “closed book”. You MUST
bring pen, pencils, calculator and your student ID card to the final exam and you must
ensure that your calculator is University approved.
The final examination will be run in the examination period after the end of the
semester. It is your responsibility to find out the day, time and location of the final
examination from the UNSW website.
Quality Assurance
The ASB is actively monitoring student learning and quality of the student
experience in all its programs. A random selection of completed assessment tasks
may be used for quality assurance, such as to determine the extent to which
program learning goals are being achieved. The information is required for
accreditation purposes, and aggregated findings will be used to inform changes
aimed at improving the quality of ASB programs. All material used for such
processes will be treated as confidential and will not be related to course grades.
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5 COURSE RESOURCES
The Blackboard site for this course will contain the Course materials and Online
Quizzes. The site also contains a discussion board which is actively monitored and
questions answered by teaching staff.
Reference Books:
(Students should not purchase these as all are held on Open Reserve, Main Library)
The honours course will be taught by Associate Professor Richard Morris. A separate
course outline for the honours course will be distributed in the first honours seminar.
Honours students attend the ACCT 3563 lectures, a weekly one-hour tutorial and a
weekly one-hour honours seminar. Honours tutorials and seminars commence in week
2. To take ACCT3573, you must have received an invitation to enrol from Dr Helen
Kang, the School’s Honours Studies Director. Other students with a minimum average
mark of 75% in their Accounting subjects may approach Associate Prof. Richard Morris
or Dr Helen Kang for permission to enrol in ACCT 3573.
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Note: Before your class in week 2, Honours students should read the “Notes for
Introductory Class on Research Fundamentals” uploaded on Blackboard under the
Honours tab. We will discuss these notes in the honours seminar in week 2.
Each year feedback is sought from students and other stakeholders about the courses
offered in the School and continual improvements are made based on this feedback.
UNSW's Course and Teaching Evaluation and Improvement (CATEI) Process is one of
the ways in which student evaluative feedback is gathered. In this course, we will seek
your feedback through end of semester CATEI evaluations. Feedback from previous
students indicated good reception to trial of online quizzes in semester 1, 2012. As a
result of this feedback, online quizzes have been implemented in substitution for a mid-
semester test from semester 1, 2012 onwards. This semester we are changing tutorials
from the traditional mini-lecture format to a team discussion format.
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8 COURSE SCHEDULE
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week Lecture Topic Reading materials Lecturer
Week 1 Introduction to the course; Deegan Chapter 2; Chapter 3 A/Prof Richard
4 March Standard setting and sections 3.3 to 3.6 Morris
regulation; Accounting theory
Week 2 Ethics in accounting See Blackboard for readings A/Prof Richard
11 March Morris
Week 3 Income measurement and Deegan Chapter 16 and see Dr Isabel
18 March reporting Blackboard for readings Gordon
Week 5 Accounting for extractive and Deegan Chapter 9 section 9.2 Dr Isabel
8 April agricultural industries Deegan Chapter 21 Gordon
Accounting Standards: AASB 6
AASB 141
Week 6 Accounting for provisions Deegan Ch 10, sections 10.2, Dr Sarowar
15 April 10.4; Deegan chapter 13 Hossain
Accounting Standards: AASB 119;
AASB 137
Week 7 Share-based payments Deegan chapter 18 Dr Sarowar
22 April Accounting Standard: AASB 2 Hossain
Week 8 Accounting for leases Deegan chapter 11 Dr Sarowar
29 April Accounting Standard: AASB 117 Hossain
Week 9 Foreign currency translation Deegan, Chapter 36, Sections 36.1 Dr Isabel
6 May and introduction to hedging and 36.2 only Gordon
Accounting Standard: AASB 121
Week 10 Accounting for financial Deegan, Chapter 15 - Sections 15.1 Dr Sarowar
13 May instruments and foreign to 15.3 inclusive and Hossain
currency transactions “Compound Instruments” in section
15.4; Deegan, Chapter 35, Sections
35.1 – 35.5 inclusive
Accounting Standards: AASB 7,
AASB 121, AASB 132, AASB 139
Week 11 Accounting for hedging Deegan, Chapter 15, Derivative A/Prof Richard
20 May Financial Instruments pp. 476-489 Morris
only; Deegan, Chapter 35, Section
35.6; Accounting standard: AASB 139
Week 12 Accounting issues arising See Blackboard for readings A/Prof Richard
27 May from Corporate Failures & the Morris
Global Financial Crisis
Week 13 NO LECTURES (tutorials
3 June only)
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