HOLMES INSTITUTE FACULTY OF HIGHER EDUCATION HI6025 Accounting Theory and Current Issues Group Assignment T1 2020 Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines Trimester T1 2020 Unit Code HI6025 Unit...

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HOLMES INSTITUTE FACULTY OF HIGHER EDUCATION HI6025 Accounting Theory and Current Issues Group Assignment T1 2020 Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines Trimester T1 2020 Unit Code HI6025 Unit Title Accounting Theory and Current Issues Assessment Type Group Assignment Assessment Title Australian financial reporting regulations: A Critical Review Purpose of the assessment (with ULO Mapping) Students are required to critically examine the financial reporting regulations for Australian reporting entities, and the relevance of Positive Accounting Theory (PAT) in predicting accounting practice. They will have to identify a real-life accounting fraud case and evaluate it based on their violations of financial reporting regulations. Students will have to do research on relevant academic literature and demonstrate understanding and critical evaluation of the Australian financial reporting environment and its current regulatory framework, and recommend future directions to the Australian financial reporting regulators (ULO 1, 2, 4, 6, 7). Weight 40 % of the total assessments Total Marks 40 Word limit 3,000 words; ± 500 words Due Date Group Formation: Registration of groups: before 5:00 pm Friday, Week 8. Please form the group by self-enrolling in Black Board. There should be minimum 3 and maximum 5 members in a group. Email the Unit Coordinator ([email protected]) for any issues with self- enrolling into groups. Assignment submission: Final Submission of Group Assignment: 11:59 pm Friday, Week 10. Late submission incurs penalties of five (5) % of the assessment value per calendar day unless an extension and/or special consideration has been granted by the lecturer prior to the assessment deadline. Submission Guidelines  All work must be submitted on Blackboard by the due date along with a completed Assignment Cover Page (available in Black Board).  The assignment must be in MS Word format, no spacing, 12-pt Arial font and 2 cm margins on all four sides of your page with appropriate section headings and page numbers.  Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report, and listed appropriately at the end in a reference list using Harvard referencing style. mailto:[email protected] Page 2 of 6 HI6025 Accounting Theory and Current Issues Group Assignment T1 2020 Assignment Specifications Purpose: This assignment aims at developing student’s ability to critically examine the financial reporting regulations for Australian reporting entities, and the relevance of Positive Accounting Theory (PAT) in predicting accounting practice. They will have to identify a real-life accounting fraud case and evaluate it based on their violations of financial reporting regulations. Students will have to do research on relevant academic literature and demonstrate understanding and critical evaluation of the Australian financial reporting environment and its current regulatory framework, and recommend future directions to the Australian financial reporting regulators. Students are required to review the relevant academic literature, incl. relevant organisation websites and write in-text citations when answering this assignment. Required Tasks: In the body of the assignment, students will have to critically discuss the following issues: 1. Identify and discuss the current regulatory framework or regulations encompassing the preparation of financial statements by reporting entities in Australia. (5 marks) 2. In your opinion, is the Australian financial reporting environment over regulated? Justify your answer. [Hint: Cite relevant literature source(s) to back up your answer]. (5 marks) 3. Identify one (1) real-life ‘financial reporting accounting fraud’ that occurred post 1990 (i.e. in the last 30 years), in any country, and answer the following questions: a) Summarise the key facts about your chosen ‘financial reporting accounting fraud’ (5 marks) b) Explain which of Positive Accounting Theory’s (PAT’s) hypotheses predicted the practice(s) of the parties involved in your chosen accounting fraud. (5 marks) c) Discuss what specific accounting regulations were violated? (5 marks) d) What valuable lessons can the accounting community (incl. reporting entities and regulators), learn from the outcomes of your chosen accounting fraud? (5 marks) e) Provide two (2) recommendations to the Australian financial reporting regulators, to prevent accounting frauds from happening in the future. (5 marks) Assignment Structure should be as the following: Abstract (one paragraph) Table of Content Introduction Body of the assignment with detailed answer on each of the required tasks Conclusion List of References Page 3 of 6 HI6025 Accounting Theory and Current Issues Group Assignment T1 2020 To ensure that all students participate equitably in the group assignment and that students are responsible for the academic integrity of all components of the assignment. You need to complete the following table which identifies which student/students are responsible for the various sections of the assignment Assignment Section Student/Students This table needs to be completed and submitted with the assignment as it is a compulsory component required before any grading is undertaken. Marking Criteria – Written Report Marking Criteria Weighting Abstract 1% Introduction 2% 1. Identify and discuss the current regulatory framework or regulations encompassing the preparation of financial statements by reporting entities in Australia. 5% 2. In your opinion, is the Australian financial reporting environment over regulated? Justify your answer. [Hint: Cite relevant literature source(s) to back up your answer]. 5% 3. Identify one (1) real-life ‘financial reporting accounting fraud’ that occurred post 1990 (i.e. in the last 30 years), in any country, and answer the following questions: a) Summarise the key facts about your chosen ‘financial reporting accounting fraud’ 5% b) Explain which of Positive Accounting Theory’s (PAT’s) hypotheses predicted the practice(s) of the parties involved in your chosen accounting fraud. 5% c) Discuss what specific accounting regulations were violated? 5% d) What lessons have been learnt from your chosen accounting fraud? 5% e) Provide two (2) recommendations to the Australian financial reporting regulators, to prevent accounting frauds from happening in the future. 5% Overall Presentation of Assignment 2% TOTAL Marks (40) 40% Page 4 of 6 HI6025 Accounting Theory and Current Issues Group Assignment T1 2020 Marking Rubric Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Abstract (1 mark) (1 mark) Clear, concise, compelling abstract. (0.8 mark) A very good abstract (0.6 mark) A good abstract. (0.5 mark) A poorly worded or incomplete abstract. (0 mark) No abstract included. Introduction (2 marks) (2 marks) Presented an excellent introduction. (1.6 marks) Presented a very good introduction. (1.2 mark) Presented a good introduction. (1 mark) Adequate introduction presented. (0 - 0.5 mark) Unable to present a proper introduction or confusing. 1. Identify and discuss the current regulatory framework or regulations encompassing the preparation of financial statements by reporting entities in Australia. (5 marks) (4.1 - 5 marks) Identify 4 or more current regulatory framework or regulations encompassing the preparation of financial statements by reporting entities in Australia, with excellent discussion of them. (3.6 - 4 marks) Identify 4 or more current regulatory framework or regulations encompassing the preparation of financial statements by reporting entities in Australia, with very good discussion of them. (3.1 – 3.5 marks) Identify 2-3 current regulatory framework or regulations encompassing the preparation of financial statements by reporting entities in Australia, with good discussion of them. (2.1 - 3 marks) Identify 2-3 current regulatory framework or regulations encompassing the preparation of financial statements by reporting entities in Australia, with errors and/or omissions in the discussion. (0 - 2 marks) Identify 1 or less number of the current regulatory framework or regulations encompassing the preparation of financial statements by reporting entities in Australia. 2. In your opinion, is the Australian financial reporting environment over regulated? Justify your answer. [Hint: Cite relevant literature source(s) to back up your answer]. (5 marks) (4.1 - 5 marks) Clear, concise, compelling explanation on whether the Australian financial reporting environment is over regulated, with excellent relevant literature to back up explanation. (3.6 - 4 marks) Very good explanation on whether the Australian financial reporting environment is over regulated, with very good relevant literature to back up explanation. (3.1 – 3.5 marks) Good explanation on whether the Australian financial reporting environment is over regulated, with adequate relevant literature to back up explanation. (2.1 - 3 marks) Adequate explanation on whether the Australian financial reporting environment is over regulated, with inadequate relevant literature to back up explanation. (0 - 2 marks) Unable to present proper explanation on whether the Australian financial reporting environment is over regulated, with inadequate relevant literature to back up explanation. or confusing. Page 5 of 6 HI6025 Accounting Theory and Current Issues Group Assignment T1 2020 3. Identify one (1) real-life ‘financial reporting accounting fraud’ that occurred post 1990 (i.e. in the last 30 years), in any country, and answer the following questions: a) Summarise the key facts about your chosen ‘financial reporting accounting fraud’ (5 marks) (4.1 -
Answered Same DayMay 31, 2021HI6025

Answer To: HOLMES INSTITUTE FACULTY OF HIGHER EDUCATION HI6025 Accounting Theory and Current Issues Group...

Harshit answered on Jun 03 2021
143 Votes
ACCOUNTING THEORY AND CURRENT ISSUES
    Serial Number
    Contents
    Page Number
    1.
    Abstract
    1
    2.
    Introduction
    2
    3.
    Regulatory Framework
    3-4
    4.
    Financial Reporting Environment
    5-6
    5.
    Real-Life Financial Reporting Accounting Fraud
    7-11
    6.
    Conclusion
    12
    7.
    Referencing
    13
ABSTRACT
The following assignment focuses on the regulations that are issued by various authorities from time to time by the different regulatory bodies in Australia regarding the financial reporting framework. Some of the regulations such as International Accounting Standards also govern the reporting of ASX listed companies.
The most important regulator of financial reporting for ASX listed companies in the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) which manages overall compliance and looks over the entire regulation of any ASX listed company. In recent times the cases of financial fraud have increased thereby the regulators have to make the compliance part accurate requiring more details to detect and prevent such fraud cases.
INTRODUCTION
All the stakeholders are not involved in the day to day activity of the companies and as they had invested in the company they had to know about the financial performance of the company. Therefore, to maintained the transparency in financial statement and to make sure that financial statements are showing he correct figures, the Regulators has issued certain Accounting Standards, Audit Standards, Accounting and Auditing Guidelines along with several reporting regulations under the Corporations Act which is overseen by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and other regulatory bodies such as Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
The financial reporting framework in Australia is based on the level of public interest in a particular company. The different levels of entity on this basis are as follows:
· Disclosing Entities
· Unlisted Public Company along with certain Proprietary companies
· Small Proprietary Companies.
The level of financial reporting to be disclosed by an entity is categorized in any of the above three lists. The larger the company, the level of Public interest will be higher in the company therefore the financial reporting to be disclosed by the company will also be more.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
The disclosing entities have the maximum level of public interest and as discussed above, the level of reporting is based n the level of public interest therefore the disclosing entities have maximum regulation than any other entities. The disclosing entities include the listed companies incorporated under the Corporations Act and the registered investment schemes. The various frameworks regulating the preparation of financial statement and reporting are discussed below:
CORPORATIONS ACT
The preparation, auditing, and filling of the Financial Report of the Companies are regulated by the section 2M.3 of the Corporations Act. All the companies, including Foreign companies, registered under the Corporations Act required to follow this section. These companies have to:
· Prepare the Annual financial statements and report including the Directors report
· Audit the above
· File the same with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
· Do the same for the half-yearly report and directors’ report.
Australian Accounting Standard Board issues Accounting Standard in Australia. The companies shall prepare the above statements using those Accounting Standards. The Corporations Act applies to all the companies including Small Proprietary Companies on which all the regulations of the corporations act are not applicable and therefore the regulatory compliance of financial reporting.
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION (ASIC)
ASIC is Australia's regulator of Australian companies, markets, financial services, and professionals who provide advice in investments, superannuation, insurance, deposit taking and credit. All the companies have to reserve their financial records, however, the following companies have to lodge their financial statements and financial reports (Prepared as per the Corporations Act and the relevant Accounting Standards) with the ASIC:
· Any company in which large sums of money is concerned
· The company wherein the money of the general public is invested
· The not for profit organizations and charitable trusts.
The small proprietary companies are not required to follow the above-mentioned compliance. These financial reports are available to the public for verification and viewing (Gilligan, G., Hedges, J., Ali, P., Bird, H., Godwin, A. and Ramsay, I., 2015).
AUSTRALIAN STOCK EXCHANGE (ASX)
The ASX is Australia's primary securities exchange operated by Australian Securities Exchange Ltd. The responsibility of ASX is to maintain transparency of the companies listed on ASX, as the money of the general public is involved in those companies. The entities whose securities are listed on ASX must have to comply with the periodic requirements of ASX Listing Rules in addition to the requirements of the Corporations Act (Athanasoff, J. and Bonomelli, M., 2010). The entities must give a copy to ASX of the documents lodged with ASIC, Annual report, and any other concise report given to shareholders and half-yearly financial reports. Furthermore, mining and oil and gas production and exploration entities have to follow some specific rules in addition to the above.
OTHER REGULATORS
There are many other regulators in the Australia Economy such as:
· Australian financial services license (AFSL)
· Australian credit license (ACL)
· Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) – APRA is the regulator of the Financial Services Industry includes banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and superannuation industries and it aims to provide financial stability to the institutions to minimize the risk of financial losses to depositors, policyholders, etc.
· Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)- This is responsible for maintaining financial stability in the country by operating the fiscal and monetary policy and along with that it also controls some part of the compliance of the banks of the country.
FINANCIAL REPORTING ENVIRONMENT IN AUSTRALIA
Many bodies and regulators look after the compliance of the financial reporting framework and reporting environment in...
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