Year
2024Credit points
10Campus offering
Prerequisites
NilIncompatible
ACCT600 Accounting for Decision Making
Teaching organisation
150 hours over a twelve-week semester or equivalent study period
Unit rationale, description and aim
It has been proven that a lack of knowledge and ethical accounting and financial analysis skills is catastrophic to the business world. This unit provides a broad-based introduction to accounting and finance to enable students to acquire an understanding of the main concepts and their practical application in management decision making without in-depth technical detail. This unit will provide students with a non-specialist grounding in accounting and financial management so that they can appreciate and communicate the financial dimensions of decisions within the business.
Moreover, the unit is grounded in the role of ethics and corporate social responsibility within the context of financial management in the promotion of the common good. The unit will enable students to recognise the impact of economic transactions on a business’ financial and operating capability. The aim of this unit is to enable students to develop essential accounting and financial planning and forecasting skills required for organisation management.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
| Learning Outcome Number | Learning Outcome Description | Relevant Graduate Capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| LO1 | Examine the role and purpose of accounting as well as how accounting can be viewed in a social good context. | GC1, GC11 |
| LO2 | Apply budgeting and forecasting tools for management and financial planning purposes. | GC2, GC8 |
| LO3 | Apply effective verbal, visual and nonverbal communication skills for different target audiences, both individually and in teams | GC4, GC12 |
| LO4 | Evaluate and defend a business’ strategic decision-making using financial analysis and cost volume profit analysis tools. | GC7, GC10 |
| LO5 | Analyse and critique the corporate social responsibility of businesses | GC2, GC6 |
Content
- Managing and reporting financial position and performance
- Financial planning for business purposes
- Managing and reporting cash flows
- Ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability accounting
- Decision making and the nature and role of accounting
- Measuring and reporting accounting information
- Cost-volume-profit analysis, relevant costs, and cost-benefit analysis
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
ACU’s learning and teaching policy focuses on learning outcomes for students. Our teaching aims to engage students as active participants in the learning process while acknowledging that all learning must involve a complex interplay of active and receptive processes, constructing meaning for oneself, and learning from others. ACU promotes and facilitates learning that is autonomous and self-motivated, is characterised by the individual taking satisfaction in the mastering of content and skills and is critical, looking beneath the surface level of information for the meaning and significance of what is being studied.
The schedule of the workshop is designed in such a way that students can achieve intended learning outcomes sequentially. Teaching and learning activities will apply the experiential learning model, which encourages students to apply higher-order thinking. The unit ensures that learning activities involve real-world scenarios that assist with ‘real-world’ preparedness. The unit also uses a scaffolding technique that builds a student’s skills and prepares them for the next learning process phase.
Mode of delivery: This unit is offered in different modes to cater to the learning needs and preferences of a range of participants and maximise effective participation for isolated and/or marginalised groups.
Attendance Mode
In a weekly attendance mode, students require face-to-face attendance in specific physical location/s. Students will have face-to-face interactions with lecturer(s) to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops, and most students report that they spend an average of one hour preparing before the workshop and one or more hours after the workshop practicing and revising what was covered. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for students to prepare and revise.
Intensive Mode
In an intensive mode, students require face-to-face attendance in weekends or any block of time determined by the school. Students will have face-to-face interactions with lecturer(s) to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for you to prepare and revise.
Online Mode
This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of the essential knowledge associated with corporate finance. Students can explore the essential knowledge underpinning corporate finance and develop knowledge in a series of online interactive lessons and modules. Students are given the opportunity to attend facilitated synchronous online seminar classes with other students and participate in the construction and synthesis of knowledge, while developing their knowledge of corporate finance. Students are required to participate in a series of online interactive workshops which include activities, knowledge checks, discussion and interactive sessions. This approach allows flexibility for students and facilitates learning and participation for students with a preference for virtual learning.
ACU Online
This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of knowledge essential to the discipline. Students are provided with choice and variety in how they learn. Students are encouraged to contribute to asynchronous weekly discussions. Active learning opportunities provide students with opportunities to practice and apply their learning in situations similar to their future professions. Activities encourage students to bring their own examples to demonstrate understanding, application and engage constructively with their peers. Students receive regular and timely feedback on their learning, which includes information on their progress.
Assessment strategy and rationale
Assessments are used primarily to foster learning. ACU adopts a constructivist approach to learning that seeks alignment between the fundamental purpose of each unit, the learning outcomes, teaching and learning strategy, assessment and the learning environment. In order to pass this unit, students must demonstrate competence in all learning outcomes and achieve an aggregate mark of at least 50%. Using constructive alignment, the assessment tasks are designed for students to demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome.
Each of these assessment pieces has been designed to empower students, lead to greater equity and deepen students’ skillsets by virtue of their design. They are assessments that are constructed to integrate the unit’s instruction and curriculum.
Overview of assessments
Attendance mode
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes | Graduate Capabilities |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment Task 1: Memo This assessment task consists of a 1000-word written memo that discusses how you distinguish how varying economic transactions affects the performance and position of a firm and its stakeholders. This assessment task requires students to write a discussion where they distinguish how knowledge of varying economic transactions (including budgeting and forecasting) affect the performance and position of a firm and its stakeholders. Submission Type: Individual Assessment Method: Memo Artefact: Written memo | 30% | LO1, LO2 | GC1, GC2, GC8, GC11 |
Assessment Task 2: Board Report This assessment task consists of a 2000-word written group report. This assessment task requires students to work collaboratively as part of a management team in a business simulation to prepare a board report that defends the strategic decisions made by the team against the goals set by the board. Students will also defend results using cost volume profit analysis tools that will provide support for their defence of how varying economic transactions affect the performance and position of a firm and its stakeholders. Submission Type: Group Assessment Method: Board Report Artefact: Written report | 30% | LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5 | GC2, GC4, GC6, GC7, GC8, GC10, GC12 |
Assessment Task 3: Video Recording (press briefing) This assessment task consists of a 5-minute press briefing video recording. This assessment task requires students to assess how corporate social responsibility is prioritised in business decision-making based on the experience of participating in a business simulation and using tools learned in the unit and presenting the assessment in a video. Submission Type: Individual Assessment Method: Video Recording (Press Briefing) Artefact: Video recording | 40% | LO3, LO4, LO5 | GC2, GC4, GC6, GC7, GC10, GC12 |
Intensive mode
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
Assessment Task 1: Memo This assessment task consists of a 1000-word written memo that discusses how you distinguish how varying economic transactions affects the performance and position of a firm and its stakeholders. This assessment task requires students to write a discussion where they distinguish how knowledge of varying economic transactions (including budgeting and forecasting) affect the performance and position of a firm and its stakeholders. Submission Type: Individual Assessment Method: Memo Artefact: Written memo | 30% | LO1, LO2 |
Assessment Task 2: Board Report This assessment task consists of a 2000-word written group report. This assessment task requires students to work collaboratively as part of a management team in a business simulation to prepare a board report that defends the strategic decisions made by the team against the goals set by the board. Students will also defend results using cost volume profit analysis tools that will provide support for their defence of how varying economic transactions affect the performance and position of a firm and its stakeholders. Submission Type: Group Assessment Method: Board Report Artefact: Written report | 30% | LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5 |
Assessment Task 3: Video Recording (press briefing) This assessment task consists of a 5-minute press briefing video recording. This assessment task requires students to assess how corporate social responsibility is prioritised in business decision-making based on the experience of participating in a business simulation and using tools learned in the unit and presenting the assessment in a video. Submission Type: Individual Assessment Method: Video Recording (Press Briefing) Artefact: Video recording | 40% | LO3, LO4, LO5 |
Online
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
Assessment Task 1: Memo This assessment task consists of a 1000-word written memo that discusses how you distinguish how varying economic transactions affects the performance and position of a firm and its stakeholders. This assessment task requires students to write a discussion where they distinguish how knowledge of varying economic transactions (including budgeting and forecasting) affect the performance and position of a firm and its stakeholders. Submission Type: Individual Assessment Method: Memo Artefact: Written memo | 30% | LO1, LO2 |
Assessment Task 2: Board Report This assessment task consists of a 2000-word written group report. This assessment task requires students to work collaboratively as part of a management team in a business simulation to prepare a board report that defends the strategic decisions made by the team against the goals set by the board. Students will also defend results using cost volume profit analysis tools that will provide support for their defence of how varying economic transactions affect the performance and position of a firm and its stakeholders. Submission Type: Individual/Group Assessment Method: Board Report Artefact: Written report | 30% | LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5 |
Assessment Task 3: Video Recording (press briefing) This assessment task consists of a 5-minute press briefing video recording. This assessment task requires students to assess how corporate social responsibility is prioritised in business decision-making based on the experience of participating in a business simulation and using tools learned in the unit and presenting the assessment in a video. Submission Type: Individual Assessment Method: Video Recording (Press Briefing) Artefact: Video recording | 40% | LO3, LO4, LO5 |
Representative texts and references
Attrill P and McLaney E. 2019 Accounting and Finance for Non-Specialists, 11th edn, Pearson Australia: Melbourne, Australia.
Birt J., Chalmers K., Maloney S., Brooks A, Oliver, J. and Bond, D. 2019 Accounting: Business Reporting for Decision Making 7th edn, Milton, Qld. John Wiley and Sons Australia.
Cunningham B.M., Nikolai L.A., Bazley J.D., Kavanagh M., Slaughter G. and Simmons S. 2020 Accounting: Information for business decisions, 4th edn Cengage Learning Australia: Melbourne, Australia