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...

HOLMES INSTITUTE

FACULTY OF
HIGHER EDUCATION


HI6025 Accounting Theory and Cu
ent Issues Group Assignment T1 2020
Assessment Details and Submission Guidelines

Trimester T1 2020
Unit Code HI6025
Unit Title Accounting Theory and Cu
ent 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 cu
ent 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 ( XXXXXXXXXX) 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: XXXXXXXXXX
Page 2 of 6
HI6025 Accounting Theory and Cu
ent Issues Group Assignment T1 2020
Assignment Specifications
Purpose:
This assignment aims at developing student’s ability to critically examine the financial reporting
egulations 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
esearch on relevant academic literature and demonstrate understanding and critical evaluation of
the Australian financial reporting environment and its cu
ent regulatory framework, and
ecommend 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 cu
ent 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 occu
ed 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)
) 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
egulators), 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 Cu
ent Issues Group Assignment T1 2020
To ensure that all students participate equitably in the group assignment and that students are
esponsible 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 cu
ent 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
egulated? 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 occu
ed
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%
) 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
egulators, to prevent accounting frauds from happening in the future.
5%
Overall Presentation of Assignment 2%
TOTAL Marks XXXXXXXXXX%
Page 4 of 6
HI6025 Accounting Theory and Cu
ent Issues Group Assignment T1 2020
Marking Ru
ic
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.
XXXXXXXXXXmark)
Unable to
present a
proper
introduction or
confusing.
1. Identify and discuss the
cu
ent regulatory
framework or regulations
encompassing the
preparation of financial
statements by reporting
entities in Australia. (5
marks)
XXXXXXXXXXmarks)
Identify 4 or
more cu
ent
egulatory
framework or
egulations
encompassing
the preparation
of financial
statements by
eporting
entities in
Australia, with
excellent
discussion of
them.

XXXXXXXXXXmarks)
Identify 4 or
more cu
ent
egulatory
framework or
egulations
encompassing
the preparation
of financial
statements by
eporting
entities in
Australia, with
very good
discussion of
them.
(3.1 – 3.5 marks)
Identify 2-3
cu
ent
egulatory
framework or
egulations
encompassing
the preparation
of financial
statements by
eporting
entities in
Australia, with
good discussion
of them.
XXXXXXXXXXmarks)
Identify 2-3
cu
ent
egulatory
framework or
egulations
encompassing
the
preparation of
financial
statements by
eporting
entities in
Australia, with
e
ors and/or
omissions in
the discussion.
(0 - 2 marks)
Identify 1 or less
number of the
cu
ent
egulatory
framework or
egulations
encompassing
the preparation
of financial
statements by
eporting
entities in
Australia.
2. In your opinion, is the
Australian financial
eporting environment
over regulated? Justify
your answer. [Hint: Cite
elevant literature
source(s) to back up your
answer]. (5 marks)
XXXXXXXXXXmarks)
Clear, concise,
compelling
explanation on
whether the
Australian
financial
eporting
environment is
over regulated,
with excellent
elevant
literature to
ack up
explanation.
XXXXXXXXXXmarks)
Very good
explanation on
whether the
Australian
financial
eporting
environment is
over regulated,
with very good
elevant
literature to
ack up
explanation.
(3.1 – 3.5 marks)
Good
explanation on
whether the
Australian
financial
eporting
environment is
over regulated,
with adequate
elevant
literature to
ack up
explanation.
XXXXXXXXXXmarks)
Adequate
explanation on
whether the
Australian
financial
eporting
environment
is over
egulated,
with
inadequate
elevant
literature to
ack up
explanation.
(0 - 2 marks)
Unable to
present proper
explanation on
whether the
Australian
financial
eporting
environment is
over regulated,
with inadequate
elevant
literature to
ack up
explanation. or
confusing.


Page 5 of 6
HI6025 Accounting Theory and Cu
ent Issues Group Assignment T1 2020
3. Identify one (1) real-life
‘financial reporting
accounting fraud’ that
occu
ed 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 -