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Faculty of Business
BUACC5901Accounting and Finance
Assignment, Semester 2, 2014
1. General information and due date
This assignment constitutes 35 per cent of the assessment in this unit. The due date will be advised by your lecturer. The assignment is to be submitted via Moodle.
2. Purpose
BUACC5901 is concerned primarily with the use of accounting information. The purpose of the assignment is to provide students with the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills acquired in Accounting and Finance to a practical task involving the use of ‘real-world’ accounting information. This is intended to consolidate students’ accounting knowledge and skills. Students are required to complete the assignment in groups of two or three. The objective of such group work is to foster the development of co-operative work skills.
3. Requirements
The basic requirement is to undertake a general financial analysis comparing Qantas Airlines (ASX Code: QAN) financial position and performance in the Financial Years Ended 30 June 2012 and 2013 compared to that of Virgin Australia (ASX Code: VAH) over the same period.
(Note: students are to use the ‘Consolidated’ data in conducting their analysis.) The analysis should consider the ratio categories of : profitability, asset efficiency, liquidity, capital structure, and market performance.
Note that for those 2012 ratios which involve Balance Sheet figures students will require the 2012 annual statements (in addition to the 2013 report) to provide the 2012 beginning-of- year balance sheet figures.
The assignment will contain two main elements:
Schedule(s) of relevant ratios and other useful calculations
A detailed calculation of relevant ratios and other useful calculations should be included as one or more appendices prepared using Excel or a similar spreadsheet. Students are advised to show the formulae used in determining particular ratios and other figures. Data items (for example ‘Sales Revenue’ or ‘Total Assets’) should be entered in a single cell in a specially designated ‘data area’ in the spreadsheet, with any calculation referencing the relevant data cell.
A written report
The written report should:
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• Explain briefly what is revealed by the ratios and other calculations in the context of the company’s profitability, asset efficiency, liquidity, capital structure, and market performance. In particular, any important changes over the period 2012 to 2013 should be identified, discussed and, where possible, explained.
• Provide an overall assessment of whether the company’s performance over the 2013 financial year have been better than 2012, and which of the companies has improved its performance to a greater extent over this period. The judgement should be made from the perspective of existing equity investors (shareholders).
4. Other guidelines
• The written report should not exceed 3,000 words +/- 10%. Assignments with a word count outside of these parameters will be penalised.
• The assignment is to comply with the University’s General Guide for the Presentation of Academic Work. Students are required to use the APA style of referencing.
• Students are encouraged to research additional public information about the company from sources other than the annual report (for example, from the internet, newspapers, and business magazines). However, it is not envisaged that students will be engaged in extensive research of this nature and it is expected that the annual report will be the primary resource relied upon in completing the assignment.
Students are requested not to make direct contact with either company (for example by telephone, fax, letter or email) in an attempt to gather further information.
• Do not reproduce company promotional material from the annual report or company website and represent it as critical analysis. It is not and it will not attract any marks!
• Students are expected to obtain relevant share price data for the company so that investment ratios (such as a price earnings ratio) can be calculated. (It is recommended that students obtain the company’s share price as at the 2013 and 2012 balance dates for the purpose of calculating relevant ratios on these dates. Share price data is available from a variety of sources including the internet.
• Students may find it useful to consult accounting references, in addition to the prescribed text, which deal with the analysis and interpretation of company financial reports.
5. Assessment criteria
In assessing submitted assignments consideration will be given to:
• Overall neatness, completeness and quality of presentation. Graduate level students are expected to achieve a satisfactory standard with respect to this criterion as a matter of course, and for this reason no credit will be granted for achieving it. However, assignments that fail to achieve the minimum standard in connection with this criterion may be penalised. The expected standard concerning this criterion is compliance with the University’s General Guide for the Presentation of Academic Work (revised edition 2011).
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• Demonstrated skill in identifying and calculating relevant ratios and other indicators of profitability, asset efficiency, liquidity, capital structure, and market performance. This criterion relates specifically to the requirement to prepare a schedule (or schedules) of relevant ratios and other calculations and carries a weighting of 10 marks out of the 35 available marks for the whole assignment.
• Demonstrated understanding of financial reports and ratios and other indicators of profitability, asset efficiency, liquidity, capital structure, and market performance. This criterion relates specifically to the requirement to submit a written report and carries a weighting of 25 marks out of the 35 available for the whole assignment.
• A copy of the detailed feedback sheet, showing how the marks are allocated, is attached on the following page.
A single copy of the assignment should be submitted, for which each student in the group will usually receive the same mark. This is based on the expectation that each student in a group will contribute equally to the preparation of the assignment. Where this expectation has not been satisfied separate marks may be allocated.
Lodgement
Group assignments need to be lodged on Moodle – check with your lecturer for submission dates.
A lodgement box will be set up in Moodle for this purpose later in the semester.
The front page of your lodged assignment must include a word count (exclude appendices, headers, footers and contents page in any word count).
Once marked, assignments will be available in Moodle with feedback and marks.
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BUACC5901 Accounting and Finance Assignment assessment report, TP2 2014
Student Group:
_______________________________________________________________
(35 marks)
Marks available Marks awarded
Comments
Introduction / Exec Summary
3 marks 3.0
Findings / Conclusion
5 categories = about 10 ratios
1.0 marks each for interpretation and analysis
Valid conclusion 1.5 marks
10.0
1.5
Thinking process + clarity of thought
3.5 marks
3.5
Appendix / Ratio Calculations
5 categories = about 10 ratios
1 mark each for calculations
10.0
Grammar and spelling
4 marks 4.0
Overall quality of assignment
3 marks 4.0
Total Marks
_____ / 35