ACCT209 - Corporate Accounting

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

ACCT207 Financial Accounting

Teaching organisation

150 hours over a twelve-week semester or equivalent study period

Unit rationale, description and aim

Accurate and thorough financial reporting skills are imperative for any accountant. This unit builds on studies of financial reporting in earlier units by extending the content to include more complex financial and corporate accounting issues. This unit will equip students with necessary knowledge and skills to be employed in accounting roles which require financial reporting skills. Students will further develop financial reporting skills and prepare financial statements for companies, and groups of companies, that comply with all legal and accounting requirements. Students apply accounting and reporting techniques to non-routine circumstances and new events considering, ethical, practical and global contexts. Students will also learn to use advancing digital and research technologies to determine and highlight where weaknesses exist in financial reporting. The roles of individuals involved in the financial reporting are examined from the perspective of ensuring the common good. 

This unit aims to provide students with an understanding of, and practice in, applying accounting methods that are used to prepare and organise a company’s (or group of companies) financial statements that comply with all legal and accounting requirements.

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.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Explain the ethical principles underlying accounting professional values and code of conduct to identify threats to compliance (GA3, GA5)

LO2 - Evaluate current national and international developments in financial reporting and information for corporate entities (GA5, GA6).

LO3 - Apply International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and other relevant standards to prepare worksheet entries of complex inter-entity transactions including tax effect for corporate entities (GA5, GA10)

LO4 - Prepare entries and consolidated reports for complex inter-entity transactions in accordance with IFRS and other national reporting standards (GA4, GA5) 

LO5 - Generate reports by applying accounting and reporting techniques to non-routine circumstances and new events considering local and global contexts (GA5, GA6)

Graduate attributes

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics will include:

• Ethical code of conduct and compliance
• financial reporting of company performance
• measurement of cost versus value
• synthesising and analysing regulatory frameworks
• accounting for foreign currency transactions and translation of the accounts of foreign subsidiaries
• accounting for income tax
• accounting for leases
• Accounting standards and policies and their application including changes in accounting estimates and errors
• related party disclosure and segment reporting
• accounting for group structures and business combinations
• accounting for intra-group transactions
• accounting for non-controlling interests

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

The teaching and learning strategy is built on a “student-focused approach". ACU’s 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, the constructing of 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 in turn assist with ‘real-world’ preparedness. The unit also uses a scaffolding technique that builds a student’s skills and prepares them for the next phase of the learning process.

The unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops, 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. It is up to individual students to ensure that the out of class study is adequate for the optimal learning outcomes and successes.

Mode of delivery: This unit is offered in different modes. These are: “Attendance” mode, “Blended” mode and “Online” mode. This unit is offered in three 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 will 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, 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.

Blended Mode

In a blended mode, students will require intermittent face-to-face attendance 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 students to prepare and revise. 

Online Mode

In an Online mode, 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. 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 which 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 overall score of at least 50%. Using constructive alignment, the assessment tasks are designed for students to demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome. The overview of the assessment table is provided below under different delivery modes.

Overview of assessments

Attendance and Blended Mode:;

Online and ACU Online mode:

Representative texts and references

Loftus, J, Leo, KJ, Daniliuc, S, Boys, N, Luke, B, Ang, HN, & Byrnes, K 2020, Financial reporting 3rd edn, John Wiley & Sons, OLD.

EY 2020, IFRS Core Tools Good Group (International) Limited Alternative format illustrative consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020, <https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_gl/topics/ifrs/ey-ctools-good-group-alt-2020.pdf>.

Financial Reporting Council 2020, Financial Reporting Council annual report 2019-20, <www.frc.gov.au>.

Telstra Corporation Limited 2019, Bigger Picture 2019 Sustainability Report: Global Reporting Initiative and United Nations Global Compact Index, <https://exchange.telstra.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2019-Global-Reporting-Initiative-and-United-Nations-Global-Compact-Index.pdf>.