ACCT19061 Corporate Accounting
Assessment item 2 Assignment
Due date: 11.00pm Friday 14 December 2012 (Week 6)
Weighting: 30%
Estimated (max.) time required: 540-660 minutes (9-11hrs)
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Objectives
This assessment item relates to the course learning outcome 4: Analyse various aspects of disclosure and performance from a companys annual report.
Assessment task
There are two (2) questions to this assignment.
Question 1: 15 Marks
Step 1
In the file Find Your Company you will find the listed company you have been given for this course. This file will be made available on Fri 9 November 2012(Week 2). Complete this assignment for the company you have been given. Please be careful to use the listed company you have been given. Your assignment will not be marked if you use a different company to the one you have been given; and you will be asked to resubmit your assignment using the right company.
Go to the website of your company, by clicking on the URL next to your company in the list of companies in the file Your Company. Then go to the Investor Relations section of the website. This section may be called, Investors, Shareholder Information or similar name.
In this section, go to your firms annual reports and save to your computer your firms latest annual report. For example, these may be dated 30 June 2012 or 31 March 2012. Do not use your firms interim financial statements or their concise financial statements.
Within your firms latest annual report, find its balance sheet.
From your firms balance sheet, list each item of equity and write your understanding of each item. Make sure you read carefully any footnotes for each item of equity and also look at your firms Statement of Changes in Equity. Also discuss any changes in each item of equity for your firm over the past year.
Step 2
Participate in the discussion forum Assignment Forum My Firms Equity on Moodle. Please feel free to discuss with others in the course any issues or questions you have in understanding each item of equity in your firms balance sheet. Include in your assignment a description of some of your discussions with others in the course on this discussion forum, and also other discussions you may have with others face-to-face, by email and in other ways. You may also have discussions with work colleagues, friends and family. How helpful did you find these discussions? Were you able to help
each other understand the aspects of each others equity in your firms balance sheets? Why or why not? What remaining questions do you have about your firms equity? What insights have you gained?
Submit the following for Question 1:
1. Your firms latest annual report (either as a pdf or as a link to the specific page on your firms website that has your firms latest annual report).
A list of each item of equity of your firm (name and amounts for the past two years) and your description (in your own words) of what each item is.
A description of your discussions with others in the course (and also perhaps with work colleagues, friends and family) … did these discussions help you understand each item of your firms equity: if so, why; if not, why not? … were you able to help others understand each item in their firms equity: if so, why; if not, why not? … what other comments do you have about how you felt about these discussions and your learning so far in the course?
Estimated (max.) time required to complete Question 1 is 270-330 minutes (4½-5½ hours).
Question 2: 15 Marks
What is your firms tax expense in its latest financial statements? Is this figure the same as the company tax rate times your firms accounting income? Company tax rates are Australia (30%), New Zealand (2012: 28%; 2011: 30%) and UK (2011 & 2012: 26%; 2010: 28%).
Explain why this is, or is not, the case for your firm.
Include in your answer the result of discussions with others in the course. How did your firms tax expense compare with the tax expense of firms of other students in the course? Also, ensure you read the relevant footnotes of your firms financial statements carefully and include information from these footnotes in your answer. It is fine if you do not understand every aspect of your firms treatment of its tax it can be a very complicated area, particularly for some firms.
What do you find interesting, confusing, surprising or difficult to understand about the treatment of tax in your firms financial statements? What new insights, if any, have you gained about how companies account for income tax as a result of examining your firms tax expense in its accounts?
Estimated (max.) time required to complete Question 2 is 270-330 minutes (4½-5½ hours).
How to do well in your assignment
In your answers to Questions 1 and 2 please adopt a personal style, using the words I and me. It is not necessary to adopt a formal, academic style of writing for this assignment. I am interested in you communicating clearly your understanding and developing questions about the material in the assignment.
This assessment is an individual assignment and is to be submitted online.
When preparing your assignment, please refer to the assessment criteria listed below as well as to any further advice I may post on the course website. You should check the Moodle website at least weekly. There will be a lot going on in the Moodle website each week including in the discussion forums.
Md Khokan Bepari
Course coordinator
Assessment criteria
Marks
Question 1
Submitted correct annual report for your company
1
Insightful description of each item of your firms equity indicating a
7
degree of understanding of what each item is
Describe how your discussions with other students in the course (and
5
also possibly with staff, work colleagues, friends and family) helped
your understanding of each item of your firms equity, and supported
your emerging insights and questions about how companies account for
equity
Well communicated and clear presentation
2
Total
15
Question 2
Clear description of your firms income tax expense
1
Insightful explanation of whether, and if so why, your firms income tax
7
expense differs from the corporate tax rate times accounting income
Describe how your discussions with other students in the course (and
5
also possibly with staff, work colleagues, friends and family) helped
your understanding of your companys income tax, and supported your
emerging insights and questions about how companies account for
income tax
Well communicated and clear presentation
2
Total
15
Grand Total
30