Major Assignment – MBS539 Accounting for Managers

Purpose
The major assignment creates a contextual link between theory and practice by requiring you to
apply concepts from the unit to investigate and analyse the financial performance and financial
position of a real corporate entity. The assignment will also develop the skills sought by employers:
(i) the ability to convey information concisely, (ii) teamwork (internal students) and (iii) analytical
skills.

Assignment Instruction:

A. Internal students - form a team of 2-3 max.

External Students - Individually or a team of 2-3 max.
Use the LMS Internal Students Discussion Forum to form a group.

B. Select a publicly listed company.

You must select a company to analyse. You may choose any publicly listed company (i.e. a
company listed on a stock exchange). Due to the different terminology and reporting periods
used in other countries, you are encouraged to select an Australian company to analyse. Hint:
go to the ASX website or Google search the list of companies by industry list in ASX.

It is recommended that you take the latest report as in this current 2020 Pandemic condition,
you may find companies/ industries develop unexpected direction, and therefore, interesting
comparative financial statements.

C. Financial Statement Analysis Report

You are required to submit a report showing the analysis of company performance to be used to
comment on its viability for investors’ decision-making. Use the consolidated figures of the
comparative financial statement.

1. The Business (15%)

Use the company’s annual report and other relevant research, i.e. from the news or website
and other online media sources, to discuss the business and the state of the industry to
which the company belongs (look for GICS Code), outline the Chairman’s outlook for the
future (contained within the Chairman’s Report) and provide your own opinion of the
company’s prospects (approx. 250 words);

2. Income Statement and Balance Sheet (20%)

Perform horizontal and vertical analysis on both the comparative income statement and
balance sheet, place this in a table as an appendix to your report (using Excel is
recommended). Based on your horizontal and vertical analysis, select one account from the
income statement and one from the balance sheet that is of interest to you (e.g. it has
increased or fallen sharply compared to previous years, or, it is very significant compared
other income statement or balance sheet accounts). Explain why you have selected these
accounts and discuss why they are significant (e.g. what may have caused them to increase
or decrease compared to previous years) (approx. 300- 400 words);
 3. Using Ratios for Financial Statement Analysis (40%)
Calculate or take from the database (see Library Database Guide on LMS), analyse and
briefly comment on the following ratios based on your company comparative financial
statements. Use a similar table format as provided below.
Choose two ratios that best represent your company in the category of:

- Profitability
- Liquidity
- Operating Capability
- Financial Flexibility
Hint:
- Choose ratios that suit your company’s industry sector; for example, if your company is a bank, then
inventory turnover ratio may not be a suitable indicator for analysis.
- Refer to the three-step process (see Topic 7 Module 2 slides) in analysing your ratios. You may need to
use a previous financial year annual report for ratio/s that requires an average figure-denominator.
- Use the components of a ratio (nominator and denominator) to help your analysis.

4. Summary (25%)
Using the ratios, prepare a written summary of your financial analysis (i.e. what are the
company’s financial strengths and areas of concern). This section should include a summary
of your review regarding the company’s current year Profitability, Operating Capability; and
Financial Flexibility. This summary section needs to be concise yet informative. (approx. 500
words)

Additional Information:
List any references you use in your report. You can use any formally known referencing style _ APA/
Chicago/ MLA. http://our.murdoch.edu.au/Student-life/Study-successfully/Study-Skills/Referencing/

Assignment Submission

Use 11 font size with 1.5 spacing, tables or graphs that are necessary to show your work or support
your arguments can be put as appendices.

Due Monday in the week of Session 11. Submit via the LMS Assignment Submission tab; do not
forget to click the “Submit” button. One submission for each team. Include a cover sheet containing
the name and student number of each team member. Each group need to register the group and
members on LMS (see LMS group self-selection tab).

To see your mark, return to the Assignment submission tab to find your grade and read feedback
from your lecturer/tutor.

All assignments will be sent to the text-matching system Urkund, which will produce a report
assessing your assignment for original writing.

Team/Peer Evaluation. Team/Peer Evaluation Form is posted on LMS – (ONLY) to be used when
there is a dispute in the team regarding members’ contributions. It is of course much preferable that
any group problems can be solved earlier. There will be no due date extension given based on group
issue. If an evaluation form is to be submitted, then the member/s initiating the evaluation need to
let the rest of the members know that a group evaluation is submitted. Each member of the team
will then need to submit the form to the tutor. The mark of each member will then be adjusted
based on the evaluation. Attachment: Template - Financial Statement Analysis; Assignment Marking Rubric
Template- Financial Statement Analysis

Year Name of
Ratio Business Brief analysis comment (guide: 50 -100 words each ratio)
Profitability

Y -1

(Ratio 1 & formula) Y- 2

Y -1

(Ratio 2 & formula) Y- 2

Liquidity

Y -1

Y- 2
(Ratio 1 & formula)

Y -1

Y- 2
(Ratio 2 & formula)
Operating Capability

Y -1

Y- 2
(Ratio 1 & formula)

Y -1

Y- 2
(Ratio 2 & formula)
Financial Flexibility

Y -1

Y- 2
(Ratio 1 & formula)

Y -1

Y- 2
(Ratio 2 & formula)
 MBS539 Accounting for Managers
Major Assignment – Report – 20%
Marking Rubric

Comments:

1. The Business (15%) Score Sub-total Total Score

- Description
- News
- Opinion/discussion
2. I/S and B/S (20%)
- H&V analysis
- Accounts
- Discussion
3. Ratios (40%)
- Table
- Comparison
- Use of benchmark
- Discussion
4. Summary report (25%)
- Table
- Profitability
- Liquidity
- Operating Capability
- Financial Flexibility
- Informative discussion (15)
5. Bonus (+)

/penalty (-) (if applicable)

………./100
Mark ……./20
Note: Up to 5% bonus for professional report or penalty for non-adherence to instructions (if
applicable).