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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 -