Financial_Reporting

FINANCIAL REPORTING AND ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT l It is advisable familiar with the “Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statement” (Framework, AASB July 2004) l Word limit is 3,000 words all inclusive REQUIREMENTS This task involves the analysis of a proposition from any areas of business that is considered to provide challenges to the way in which accounting information is presented to financial report users. The proposition that you analyse should be associated with at least one of the following: - Asset recognition - Liability recognition - Revenue recognition - Expense recognition You are to write a report that satisfies the following requirements : - - Your report should demonstrate your understanding of the theoretical aspects of the related course content, which respect to the proposition that you analyse - Your report should demonstrate your ability to identify challenges to Accounting Standards, which respect to the proposition that you analyse - Your report should demonstrate your awareness of reasoned solutions to the issues being addressed - Your report should demonstrate your awareness of limitations to the issues being addressed - Your report should refer to relevant Accounting Standards where appropriate, specifically the “Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statement” (Framework, AASB, July 2004) SOURCES OF INFORMATION WEBSITES : These include the Accounting Standard Board (UK), American Accounting Association, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Australian Accounting Standard Board, Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Australian Securities Exchange, CPA Australia, Deloitte’s IAS Plus, Financial Standards Board (US), etc. Please note that although you may refer to Wikipedia for own personal use, citations from this source are not accepted for the purposes of this assignment. SUGGESTED REPORT STRUCUTRE 1. Title Page 2. Executive Summary 3. Introduction and Purpose of Assignment 4. Theoretical Aspects and Challenges to Accounting Standards 5. Reasoned Solutions and Limitations 6. Summary and Conclusion 7. Reference ASSESSEMENT CRITERIA 1. Title Page – not worth any marks 2. Executive Summary Provide a summary of the issues discussed in your assignment. This section of the report should be approximately 150 words and is worth 0.5 marks out of 30 marks 3. Introduction and Purpose of Assignment Provide background information to your proposition and a brief overview of what you intend to discuss in your assignment. This section of the report should be approximately 350 words and is worth 1 mark out of 30 marks 4. Theoretical Aspects and Challenges to Accounting Standards Discuss the theoretical underpinnings that you are able to identify in relation to your proposition, as well as the challenges to Accounting Standards. It is not expected that you take sides, instead, it is expected that you present balanced arguments. You must refer to relevant Accounting Standards where appropriate, specifically the “Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements” (Framework, AASB July 2004). This section of the report should be approximately 1000 words and is worth 10 marks out of 30 marks 5. Reasoned Solutions and Limitation Discuss reasoned solutions and limitations to the challenge that you presented in section four of your assignment. If a particular challenge has more than one solution, it is not expected that your favour one solution over another; instead, it is expected that you presented balanced arguments. With regards to the solutions you choose to discuss, it is important that you demonstrate your awareness of their limitations. You must refer to relevant Accounting Standards where appropriate, specifically the “Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements” (Framework, AASB July 2004). This section of the report should be approximately 1000 words and is worth 10 marks out of 30 marks 6. Summary and Conclusions Conclude your assignment by providing a summary of the theoretical underpinnings, challenge, solutions and limitations that you have discussed in relation to your proposition. This section of the report should be approximately 250 words and is worth 0.5% marks out of 30 marks 7. Reference Include complete citations of all sources of information that you referred to in the body of your assignment. You should decide upon your referencing style and what format to use. It is recommended that you use the “Harvard” referencing style. This section of the report should be approximately 250 words (equivalent to about ten complete citations) and is worth 4 marks out of 30 marks