ACCT 10001

Accounting Reports and Analysis

SUBJECT GUIDE

Semester 1, 2018

Prepared by Noel Boys

Department of Accounting
Faculty of Business and Economics
Contents
Subject Outline 1
Introduction 1
Subject Aim 1
Prescribed Text 1
Learning Outcomes 1
Academic Staff Contact Details 2
Subject Coordinator & Tutor-in-Charge 2
Email Policy 2
Learning Management System (LMS) 3
Lectures 3
Lecture Participation Requirements 3
Code of Conduct 3
Lecture Schedule 4
Lecture Materials 5
Echo360 Lecture Capture 5
Tutorials 5
Tutorial Attendance 5
Tutorial Preparation and Participation 6
Tutorial Topic Outline 6
Assessment 7
Summary 7
Tutorial Assessment 7
Assignments 8
Assignment Submission 9
Turnitin Submission 9
Penalties for Late Submission and Exceeding Word Limits 9
End-of-Semester Examination 9
Exam Policy 10
Special Consideration 10
Plagiarism and Collusion 10
Further Assistance 10
Online Tutor (OLT) 10
Student Consultations 11
Revision Materials 11
Study Skills 11
General Student Enquiries - Stop 1 11
Subject Outline
Introduction
Welcome to Accounting Reports and Analysis. This subject introduces students to the nature of
accounting and its role in both financial markets and within organisations.
Accounting Reports and Analysis looks at how accounting information is used by external
stakeholders for making economic decisions. It considers the judgments, estimates and policy
choices made by preparers of financial statements and the effect these have on the accounting
information provided. Accounting Reports and Analysis also considers how accounting
information is used to assist internal decision making by managers.
This subject is designed for students of all disciplines and assumes no prior accounting study or
knowledge.

Subject Aim
The overall aim of this subject is to prepare students to be informed users of accounting
information.

Prescribed Text
The prescribed text for this subject is:
Birt, J., Chalmers, K ., M a l o n e y , S., Brooks, A., & Oliver, J. (2017).
Accounting: Business Reporting for Decision Making (6th Edition), John Wiley and Sons
Australia.
All students enrolled in this subject will have free access to the e-text via the LMS for the entire
semester. Note that your access will terminate at the end of the semester. It is intended
the text be used to complement your learning and understanding of the concepts that will be
discussed in lectures and tutorials.
Each topic will nominate prescribed readings from the text and it is an expectation that these be
undertaken prior to classes. Lectures and tutorials will then expand upon, and apply these
concepts. In some instances, the referred material may not be specifically covered in class yet
may be examinable. The text will also be the source of prescribed questions linked to the
tutorial program and revision questions to be used at your discretion.
The current edition is only available as a digital e-text. If you wish to have access to the text
offline and/or continued access after you have completed this subject, you may purchase a
copy from the University Co-Op Bookshop or directly from the publisher (be aware that prices
can vary). Refer to the following link if you wish to exercise this purchase option (emphasis on
option – purchase of the e-text is not an expectation):
http://www.wileydirect.com.au/buy/accounting-business-reporting-decision-making-6th-edition/
Students who choose to use previous printed editions of the text do so on the understanding
that they assume responsibility to ensure compatibility with the current edition.

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Learning Outcomes
To view the learning goals, generic skills and graduate attributes for your degree, please locate
the University Handbook entry for your degree at: http://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/
To view the subject objectives and the generic skills you will develop through successful
completion of this subject, please refer to the University Handbook at the following link:
https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/2018/subjects/acct10001

Academic Staff Contact Details

Subject Coordinator / Lecturer
Mr Noel Boys

Tutors-in-Charge
Ms Joana Linggo Liong
Ms Maggie Singorahardjo

Email Policy
Emails regarding this subject should be directed to: ara-enquiries@unimelb.edu.au
Please note that we are only able to respond to student emails coming from a University email
address. Please do not use personal email addresses such as Yahoo, Hotmail or even
business email addresses. Emails from non-University email addresses may be intercepted by
the University’s spam filter and not reach its intended recipient. All correspondence relating to
this subject will only be sent to your University email address.
Note that you must first activate your University email address before you can send or receive
emails at that address. You can activate your email account at this link:
https://accounts.unimelb.edu.au/manage/login.jsp
As staff often teach across more than one subject, students are requested to include the
heading “ARA” followed by their student number in the subject pane of any emails sent to
tutors or lecturers.

Students are expected to use common business protocols when emailing academic
staff.
While academic staff endeavour to address queries received via email, it is more appropriate
to resolve substantive questions during class time or normal consultation hours. With this in
mind, we expect students to attend all lectures and tutorials and to familiarise themselves with
the consultation hours offered by the lecturers and tutors in this subject. Further, questions
regarding clarification of content should, in the first instance, be posted to the Online Tutor
(refer to page 10).

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Learning Management System (LMS)
The University's Learning Management System (LMS) is used to disseminate information and
learning materials relating to this subject. The LMS can be accessed at:
http://www.lms.unimelb.edu.au/
To access the LMS you will need your University of Melbourne e-mail account user name and
password. It is every student’s responsibility to regularly check the LMS and their University
email accounts for course information, announcements and updates.

Students should note that resources on the LMS Subject Page for Accounting Reports
and Analysis will not be available from the date of the end-of-semester examination.
Access to the e-text (only) will remain available until the date of the Special Examination.
Access to the text after that date will require purchase from the publisher.

Lectures
Lecture Participation Requirements
Lectures in this subject will be delivered on the assumption that students have undertaken all
prescribed prior reading. Some lectures may be interactive through the use of questions,
discussions and/or in-lecture case studies and exercises that provide opportunities to apply the
concepts presented.

Code of Conduct
When in lectures students are expected to adhere to the following:
Be attentive to the lecturer – attendance is not the same as attentiveness. While attendance
is recommended, it is not compulsory. If you think that you are not going to be attentive then
perhaps you should not attend. Your inattentiveness can be unproductive to you and
disruptive to others.
Do not talk – lecture theatres are designed with very effective acoustics. Even if you sit in the
back row and whisper your conversation is likely to be detected as noise by the lecturer and
others.
Arrive on time and stay for the full lecture – lectures commence 5 minutes after the
published start time. If you find yourself arriving late or needing to leave early then sit at the
end of an aisle towards an exit.
Turn off mobile phones and other recording devices – it is a common courtesy to have
mobile phones turned off to prevent disruption to others as well as avoiding the temptation to
send and receive text messages. Students are reminded that it is illegal to make any
unauthorised recordings of any part of a lecture without the express permission of the lecturer.
The University’s lecture capture system will be used in this subject.
 

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Lecture Schedule

e-Text references
Week Week
Topic (LO = learning
No. beginning
objective)
Regulatory Framework / Conceptual Ch 1 LO 1 to 9
1 February 26
Framework Ch 3 LO 1 to 8, 11 & 12
Transaction Analysis & Financial Ch 4 LO 1 to 5
2 March 5
Statements Ch 5 LO 9, Ch 6 LO 8

3 March 12 The Balance Sheet – Assets Ch 5 LO 1 to 4, 7 to 9

Ch 5 LO 5 to 10
4 March 19 The Balance Sheet – Liabilities & Equity
Ch 13 LO 5 to 8
The Statement of Comprehensive Income
5 March 26 Ch 6 all
& Statement of Changes in Equity

March 30 – April 8: Easter non-teaching period

6 April 9 The Cash Flow Statement Ch 7 LO 1, 2 & 4

7 April 16 Financial Statement Analysis Ch 8 all

Case studies to be
8 April 23 Financial Statement Analysis
provided

9 April 30 Budgeting Ch 9 all

10 May 7 Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis Ch 10 all

Contemporary Issue in Accounting

11 May 14 To be advised via LMS
(Guest lecturer)

Course Review / Exam and Swotvac

12 May 21
details

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Lecture Materials

Lecture materials will be available from the LMS prior to each lecture (located in the navigation
menu of the subject page). These materials may take the form of lecture slides, exercises, case
studies, readings from research, professional or general press, accounting reports etc.
Additional material used during lectures may be made available. Please note due to copyright
law and the interactive nature of some lectures, not all materials may be available beyond the
lecture. Completed lecture slides, where applicable, will be available from the LMS after the
lecture.

Echo360 Lecture Capture

Recordings of lectures delivered in this subject will be available by the end of each week.
Students can access recorded lectures by clicking on the Lecture Recordings menu item on the
LMS.
Transcripts of lectures will also be available from the Subject Materials folder early in the week
following lectures. These are specifically aimed at providing additional assistance to students
from non-English speaking backgrounds reviewing the lecture content.

Please note that Lecture Capture recordings and transcripts are not a substitute for
attendance; rather they are specifically designed for revision purposes. On rare
occasions the Lecture Capture system can fail to record the lecture due to technical
problems. In such cases, the lecture recording and transcript will not be available.

Lecturers may stop recording at certain times due to copyright issues or while class discussions
occur. It should also be noted that in some lectures the use of dual screens displaying different
information may result in some materials not being recorded.

Tutorials

Tutorial Attendance
It is an expectation that students attend their designated tutorial each week. It is the student’s
responsibility to ensure that the tutor has recorded their attendance. Students must also
ensure they know the name of their tutor. As well as being a courtesy to the tutor, this is
particularly important when it comes to completing details on Assignment Coversheets. It is
not the role of the subject coordinator to inform a student of their tutor’s name.
Students who encounter timetabling or registration issues can request help via the Class
Registration Enquiry Management (CREM) system. A link is available at
http://students.unimelb.edu.au/admin/class-registration/troubleshooting
In the event a student is unable to attend their regular tutorial, they should consult the timetable (see
the link available under the Subject Information folder of the LMS) to find the time and venue of an
alternative class. Prior to the start of class, students should introduce themselves and seek
permission from the tutor to attend as a casual visitor, and obtain a signed slip confirming their

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attendance. The student must then hand this slip to their regular tutor at the next tutorial.

Tutorial Preparation and Participation

Tutors will assume students have completed all prescribed readings, that they have attended
the previous week’s lecture, and that they have attempted that week’s online test (see under
Assessment for details regarding these tests). Rather than review prepared answers to
prescribed questions, tutorials will introduce new exercises and / or discussion topics.
Accordingly, tutors expect students will attend tutorials ready to engage in formal class
activities, make a meaningful attempt to complete tutorial exercises, and make meaningful
contributions to any formal discussions.
Tutorial preparation and participation forms part of each student’s grade in this subject (see
Assessment below).

Tutorial Topic Outline

Each week’s tutorial topic matches that presented in the previous week’s lecture. The
lectures will introduce new material while tutorials will provide opportunities to apply concepts.

Tute Week
Topic
No. beginning
0 February 26 Introductory tutorial
1 March 5 Regulatory Framework / Conceptual Framework
2 March 12 Transaction Analysis & Financial Statements

3 March 19 The Balance Sheet – Assets

4 March 26 The Balance Sheet – Liabilities & Equity

March 30 – April 8: Easter non-teaching period

The Statement of Comprehensive Income / Statement of

5 April 9
Changes in Equity
6 April 16 The Cash Flow Statement

7 April 23 Financial Statement Analysis

8 April 30 Assignment Two Workshop

9 May 7 Budgeting

10 May 14 Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis

11 May 21 Accounting: Context and Concepts

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 Assessment
Summary

Individual or
Task Due date Weighting
Group
Tutorial Assessment Individual Continuous throughout semester 10%

Assignment One Individual 4pm Monday, March 26 10%

Part A: 4pm Friday, May 11

Assignment Two Group 10%
Part B: 4pm Friday, May 18

End-of-semester exam Individual TBA – Exam Period (June 4 to 22) 70%

NOTE: There is a hurdle requirement on the examination to pass this subject.

Tutorial Assessment
Your 10% tutorial mark will be determined by aggregating the following components:

Preparation and participation (6%)

Tutors will assess each student’s preparation for and participation in tutorials. This will require
tutors to make a judgment about each student taking into account:

 Tutorial attendance – while attendance does not necessarily ensure participation, non-
attendance ensures non-participation

 Tutorial participation – during tutorials students should conduct themselves in such a

way as to demonstrate engagement with classroom activities, including any group work
and formal discussions, while showing support and respect for their classmates

 Tutorial preparation – weekly online tests will be available via the LMS throughout the
semester, each covering the designated tutorial topics. The purpose of these tests is to
help students gain a fundamental understanding of each topic, which will then assist them
to participate meaningfully in tutorials. Scores from these tests WILL NOT contribute to
the overall tutorial assessment. Accordingly, students may attempt these tests as many
times as they wish but are expected to have made at least ONE attempt PRIOR to their
tutorial. Students with no record of completion before their tutorial will be deemed to
have not adequately prepared for that week’s tutorial. Solutions will be available upon
completion of the test. As a study and feedback mechanism it is in the best interests of
all students that the tests be attempted unassisted.

Assessable Online Tests (4%)

Students will be required to complete 4 online tests which will be administered using the LMS
online assessment system. Scores from these tests WILL contribute towards 4% of your
tutorial assessment. The conditions for each test are as follows:
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  Each test will be available over a 48-hour period on the dates nominated below

 Once started, the test must be completed within a prescribed time limit (which will be
nominated for each test). Note that you must also allow enough time to complete
the test before the designated deadline.

 Only one attempt per question is permitted.

 No solutions will be provided during the test. Your score and answers may be reviewed
against the solution after the test closes.

The schedule for these tests is as follows:

Test
Test Opens Test Closes Topic coverage
No.
1 4pm Friday, March 16 4pm Sunday, March 18 Tutorials 1 & 2

2 4pm Friday, March 30 4pm Sunday, April 1 Tutorials 3 & 4

3 4pm Friday, April 20 4pm Sunday, April 22 Tutorials 5 & 6

4 4pm Friday, May 18 4pm Sunday, May 20 Tutorials 9 & 10

The non-assessable tests completed as part of your weekly tutorial preparation will provide an
indication of the style and standard of questions that will appear in the assessable test. There
is no assessable test covering tutorials 7, 8 or 11.

Assignments

Assignment One
This assignment requires students to work individually. From a unique set of transaction data,
students will be required to complete a transaction worksheet and prepare an appropriately
formatted and classified income statement and balance sheet. The assignment will be
available for download from the LMS and is to be completed using spreadsheet software.
Further details regarding Assignment One will be provided on the LMS.

Assignment Two
This assignment requires students to work in groups of three or four.
Part A: Each group will be presented with unique financial statement data from which they will
calculate and submit nominated ratios. Each group will then complete an online quiz
comprising 12 questions.
Part B: Groups will be presented with financial statement data, ratios and other relevant
information relating to a business. After undertaking a detailed analysis, each group will be

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required to prepare and submit a memo-style report (maximum 1,200 words – one submission
per group) that recommends a course of action to a nominated stakeholder.
Further details regarding Assignment Two will be provided on the LMS later in the Semester.
Writing and Style Guides prepared by Academic Skills will become available via the LMS to
assist students with completing Part B.

Assignment Submission
All assignments will be submitted electronically, specific details of which will be provided with
each assignment. Electronic submission allows you to submit the assignments online from
home or from any of the student labs on campus. Assignment Submission links will be created
via the navigation menu of the LMS subject page.
In each case, you should ensure that you have proof-read your assignment before uploading.
As part of this, you should also ensure that the assignment’s format and pagination remains
intact, especially in cases of conversion into a PDF document.
Please note that in the case of group assignments, each group is required to submit only ONE
copy of the assignment. You should ensure you keep a copy of any assignment submission
for future reference. In the case of group submissions, each group member should keep their
own copy of the assignment submitted on behalf of the group.

Turnitin Submission
Where an assignment is to be submitted electronically via Turnitin, a Turnitin Submission link
will be created via the navigation menu of the LMS subject page.
Turnitin allows you to submit your assignment and have it marked with feedback provided
online. A series of student guides on how to use Turnitin is available at the following link:
https://lms.unimelb.edu.au/teaching/guides/#studguide
Penalties for Late Submission and Exceeding Word Limits
In order to ensure equality for all students, assignments must be submitted by specified
deadlines. Late submissions will attract a marking penalty unless approval for late submission
has been granted. Assignments that exceed word limits may also attract a marking penalty in
line with University policy.
For Assignment Two Part A no late assignments will be accepted.
For Assignment One and Assignment Two Part B, late submissions will attract a penalty of up to
10% per day. Any assignment submitted later than 5 working days after the due date will
receive a mark of zero.

End-of Semester Examination

The final assessment will be a three-hour closed-book examination held during the
examination period. Further details regarding its style and content will be provided in the final
lecture. Students should note there is a hurdle requirement on the examination to pass this
subject. Students who do not satisfy this hurdle requirement but would otherwise have passed
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the subject will receive a final result of ’49 NH’. The Assessment and Results Policy is
available at https://policy.unimelb.edu.au/MPF1326#section-4.13

Exam Policy
The Faculty requires that you are available for the entire examination period, the dates for
which are June 4 to 22. There are no Supplementary Exams offered in this subject.
Special Exams may be provided to students who are absent from an exam, or whose
performance during the exam is adversely affected, due to serious illness or other
circumstances (see Special Consideration below). The Special exam period runs from July 12
to 19.

Special Consideration
Any student significantly affected by illness or other serious circumstances during the
semester, including the examination period, may be eligible for Special Consideration. The
following website contains detailed information relating to the Special Consideration process
including how to make an application: http://students.unimelb.edu.au/admin/special Note that
Special Consideration queries or applications should NOT be directed to academic staff.

Plagiarism and Collusion

Presenting material from other sources without full acknowledgement (referred to as
plagiarism) is heavily penalised. Penalties for plagiarism can include a mark of zero for the
piece of assessment or a fail grade for the subject.
Plagiarism is the presentation by a student of an assignment identified as his or her own work
even though it has been copied in whole or in part from another student’s work, or from any
other source (e.g. published books, web-based materials or periodicals), without due
acknowledgement in the text.
Collusion is the presentation by a student of an assignment as his or her own work when it is,
in fact, the result (in whole or in part) of unauthorised collaboration with another person or
persons. Both the student presenting the assignment and the student(s) willingly supplying
unauthorised material are considered participants in the act of academic misconduct.
See http://academicintegrity.unimelb.edu.au/ for more information.

Further Assistance
Online Tutor (OLT)
The OLT allows you to direct questions via the LMS. It can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7
days a week. Every effort will be made to answer your question within two business days of
posting.
Your questions and the OLT’s responses can (usually) be accessed by all students in the
subject, allowing everyone to benefit from the question and answer. Importantly, your identity
will not be revealed to other students. Even if you do not have a question, you can view
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existing questions and answers.

Students should make every effort to seek their own answers before posting questions to the
OLT. Simple questions that can be answered by referring to lecture materials or prescribed
readings will typically receive a response to that effect. Students should review previous posts
to ensure their question has not already been asked and responded to. Series of questions
or questions of a complex nature requiring a detailed response should be directed to
your tutor or at a consultation session rather than posted to the OLT.
Questions posted after 4pm on the last business day prior to any test, examination or
assessment deadline are not guaranteed a response prior to that test, examination or
assessment deadline.
You can access the OLT via the link located in the navigation menu of the subject’s LMS page.

Student Consultations
Student consultations form an integral part of this subject. The way that lectures and tutorials
will be delivered will assume a significant amount of reading and self-study. The student
consultations are there to support students by giving an opportunity to seek one-to-one
assistance. It is up to students to take advantage of these.
Consultation sessions will commence on Monday, March 12 and continue until the last
business day prior to the final examination. Details of session times and venues will be
published on the LMS.

Revision Materials
The LMS will provide any revision materials. These may include additional questions, practice /
past exam questions, and answers to selected textbook questions.

Study Skills
The following links provide access to a range of study skills, help-sheets and resources:
http://library.unimelb.edu.au/libraries/bee
http://services.unimelb.edu.au/academicskills/all_resources
http://studentit.unimelb.edu.au/goodtoknow/pickitup

General Student Enquiries – Stop 1

Stop 1 is the University Student Centre responsible for all student enquiries including
enrolment, course planning, special consideration and academic skills. It is located at 757
Swanston Street. For more information refer to the following website:
http://students.unimelb.edu.au/stop1

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