Financial Accounting & Reporting

Unit Learning Outcomes Addressed: c. Apply IFRSs including the framework in the preparation of general purpose financial statements.
e. Design and develop an entity’s accounting system to maintain financial information and facilitate the preparation of general purpose financial statements..
Weight 15%
Total Marks 100
Word limit 1200-1500
Release Date Week Three
Due Date Week 6
Submission Guidelines • This assignment should be completed individually.
• All work must be submitted on Moodle by the due date along with a completed Assignment Cover Page.
• The assignment must be in MS Word format, 1.5 spacing, 11-pt Calibri (Body) font and 2 cm margins on all four sides of your page with appropriate section headings.
• Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report, and listed appropriately at the end in a reference list using APA 6th edition for the School of Business.
Extension If an extension of time to submit work is required, an Application for Special Consideration and supporting documentation must be submitted directly to the School's Administration Officer via your MIT AMS login
[https://online.mit.edu.au/ams/default.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fams%2f]. You must submit this application no later than three working days after the due date of the specific piece of assessment or the examination for which you are seeking Special Consideration. Further information is available at:
http://www.mit.edu.au/about-mit/institute-publications/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/specialconsiderationdeferment

Academic Misconduct
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Assessment Cover Sheet
Student ID Number/s: Student Last name/s: Student First name/s:

Course: School:
Unit code: Unit title:
Due date: Date submitted: Campus:
Lecturer’s Name: Tutor:

Student Declaration
I/We declare and certify that:

1. the work contained in this assessment is my/our own work/group work, except where acknowledgement of sources is made;
2. this assessment has not been submitted previously for academic credit in this or any other course;
3. I/we have read MIT’s Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct Policy and Procedure, and I/we understand the consequences of engaging in plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating;
4. a copy of the original assignment is retained by me/us and that I/we may be required to submit the original assignment to the Lecturer and/or Unit Co-ordinator upon request;

I/we have not plagiarised the work of others or participated in unauthorised collaboration or contract cheating when preparing this assessment.
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Assessment Task Description

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with AASB standards is one of the most important government regulations imposed on many companies in Australia. According to Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) report published in 2016 more than 28000 Australian companies are required to prepare financial reports. However, Leo et al, (2018) report that all companies are not required to prepare financial statements that comply with accounting standards. Furthermore, there has been concern for a number of years that the increasing complexity of accounting standards, in particular the level of disclosure quality required, may not be appropriate for all companies.

Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting (2019 revision) states that all reporting entities are required to prepare general purpose financial statements in accordance with AASB standards.

In particular, empirical research argues that there is ‘no level playing field’ when it comes to financial reporting and that significant judgement is involved when entities self-assess whether they are required to prepare general purpose financial statements (GPFS) or may instead prepare special purpose financial statements (SPFS) (AASB 2018).

Required:
You are required to identify major changes to financial reporting practice and financial reporting regulation that resulted following the adoption of International Reporting Standards and Accounting Conceptual Framework.
In your report:

1. Explain the key sources of regulation for financial reporting in Australia.
2. Critically examine some possible arguments for and against disclosure regulation.
3. Describe how the IASB influence financial reporting in Australia.
4. Discuss the nature of reporting entity, and to which entities do accounting standards apply?
5. Explain the objectives of general purpose financial reporting according to conceptual framework.
6. Describe the purpose of conceptual framework for financial reporting.
7. Briefly explain major changes to financial reporting practice and regulation that resulted following the adoption of International Reporting Standards and Accounting Conceptual Framework.

Leo, K., Knapp, J., McGowan, S. and Sweeting, J. (2018). Company Accounting (11th ed.). John Wiley Milton Queensland.
AASB Research Report (2018). Financial Reporting Requirements Applicable to For-Profit Private Sector Companies, Australian Accounting Standards Board.
Conceptual Framework (2019). Australian Accounting Standards Board.

This assignment must be written/structured in the form of a ‘business report’. That is, it must have a/an;
(a) Executive summary (between 100 to 125 words),
(b) Introduction that;
Succinctly summarizes this assignment’s topic and its key issues, controversies, etc. (no more than 150 words), and
(c) Body that addresses all the requirements – see above 1-7 (no more than 1000 words),
(d) Conclusion that sums up the mains issues of this assignment (no more than 150 words), and
(e) Reference list containing all cited works.
(f) Proper English Grammar, appearance, format, etc.
At least 2 recognized journal article should be cited.

 Explain the key sources of regulation for financial reporting in Australia.
 Critically examine some possible arguments for and against disclosure regulation.
 Describe how the IASB influence financial reporting in Australia.
 Discuss the nature of reporting entity, and to which entities do accounting standards apply?
 Explain the objectives of general purpose financial reporting according to conceptual framework.
 Describe the purpose of conceptual framework for financial reporting.
 Briefly explain major changes to financial reporting practice and regulation that resulted following the adoption of International Reporting Standards and Accounting Conceptual Framework.