Assessment Information
Subject Code: ACCM4200
Subject Name: Financial Accounting and Reporting 1
Assessment Title:
Individual Assignment
(Technical 15%) and (Communication skills10%)
Weight
25%
Due date Monday of Week 10 by 7:55 pm
Assessment Description
Learning Outcome 4: Develop information gathering (research) and communication strategies to enable the provision of professional advice to a client.
Objective: The objective of this assignment is to learn to effectively research a technical aspect of accounting and communicate professional advice to a client, via a business letter.
Background to the case study:
Assume that you are a graduate accountant working for McKenzie and Associates a public accounting firm situated at 668 George Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000. The manager of your firm, Ms. Maria McKenzie has asked you to draft a letter in response to an email received from a client – Mr. Con Pewter, the Managing Director of Pewter Ltd, raising a number of issues regarding his company – see the copy of the email on the next page.
The maximum length of the letter is 1,250 words (excluding any calculations).
• Part A: Technical component 15% - This mark covers the technical content of your advice and the explanation on each of the issues, the calculations and the sources used.
• Part B: Communication Skills – Letter Writing 10% - This mark covers the generic skills of business letter writing; layout, clear meaning, structure and organisation, appropriate tone and grammar, spelling and punctuation etc.
The assignment is designed to test the following skills:
1. Your knowledge and your ability to research the issues and then apply the information appropriately using judgement to correctly identify the relevant standards and legislation that relate to the issues raised by the client.
2. Your written communication skills – business letter writing
Please note: Any work which has been copied or shared between students will result in a Fail grade for both students concerned. Therefore, please make sure that the answer to this individual assignment is your own work and not copied or bought from any source. In completing this assignment make sure you follow the guidelines for assignments especially those relating to the presentation of written work, late assignment policy and academic integrity.
Please check the marking rubric for each part to ensure that you have followed all the guidelines for presenting your work.
Re: Accounting Issues: Year Ending 30 June 2017
From: Con Pewter (conpewter@pewterlimited.com.au)
Sent: 5 July 2017
To: Maria McKenzie (maria.mckenzie@mckenzieandassociates.com.au)
Dear Maria
Thank you for your phone call this morning, as agreed I am emailing you regarding the accounting issues we briefly discussed. By the way to assist the accounting team in our decision-making process could you please make sure you reference any relevant sources relating to your advice, for example, AASBs, Corporations Act, and relevant websites.
1. At our recent board meeting, several directors raised concerns about spending too many man hours (and dollars I must say) on accounting for future tax consequences. Their biggest argument was that as long as the tax man is happy and we are not cheating on our tax returns, then we are simply wasting money in accounting for temporary differences and deferred tax assets (DTAs) and deferred tax liabilities (DTLs) (which I must admit is a mystery to me). Do you have any problems if we do not account for the DTAs and DTLs and just account for the current tax liability?
2. Our company has recently entered into a long-term and a radical agreement with several of our retailers in Australia. Under the new agreement, at the start of every quarter, we will ship a variety of our products (suitable for that state and that time of the year) to our retailers. All retailers have agreed to set aside a section in their stores to exclusively display our products including the display windows at the front of the store. In return we have agreed to pay a fee to each store on a monthly basis for allowing us the access to this window space and space on the shop floor to advertise and sell our products. The average fee is around $600 per square metre, per store per month. At the end of the quarter, the store will return all the unsold products to us and we will send out a new shipment to prepare for the next quarter. The stores will also transfer the revenue from total sales to us after deducting the display fee noted above. The board unanimously agreed to recognise the sales revenue at the start of the quarter (when the goods
are shipped). At the end of the quarter when the excess inventory is returned to us by the stores, we can always make the necessary adjustments i.e. reverse both the sales revenue and cost of sales as well the amount owed by the stores and the incoming inventory. After all, the net effect would be the actual sales of the period. The board also agreed that the fee we pay to the stores should not be recorded separately because that is the cost of doing business. So we will only record the net amount received as sales revenue. This should simplify matters, shouldn’t it?
Please respond by letter (not email) as I would like to present this to the Board. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Regards
Con Pewter
Managing Director, Pewter Ltd
Level 6, 510 King William Street,
Adelaide SA 5000
Hint: Remember that your firm plans to charge the client for your advice; as a check ask yourself if you would pay for the advice you have drafted!
It is important to note that this task has been designed to measure subject learning outcome 4.
LO4: Develop information gathering and communication strategies to enable the provision of professional advice to a client.
The assignment assesses the following outcomes:
1. Your knowledge and your ability to research the issues outlined
2. Your ability to critically analyse and selectively apply the information appropriately to formulate solutions to the given scenarios
3. Your ability to use judgement correctly in selecting and designing an appropriate response with suitable AASB references.
4. Professional Competency Skills - Communication skills: business letter writing skills
Overall Marks – Assessment 2: Client Communications Assignment
Summary: Marks Awarded Marks Available
Part A Technical Content 15.00
Part B Communication Skills 10.00
ASSESSMENT 2 - ASSIGNMENT 25.00
The assessment rubrics below set out the specific criteria that will be used to assess this task and descriptions of different levels of achievement for those criteria. The different levels of achievement for each criterion have a range of marks attached.
To improve your performance, it is helpful to:
? review the indicators in the rubrics and make sure you understand these in terms of marker expectations
• review marker feedback on your assessments • review the relevant topics.
In reviewing the topics:
• look in detail at relevant examples
• review relevant learning activities
• review required readings and further resources.
Name: Student ID:
Assessment 2 Part A - Assignment Rubrics: 15% Technical Content
Components High Distinction
85 – 100%
(Marks 12.75 to 15.0) Distinction
75 - 84%
(Marks 11.25 to 12.74) Credit
65 – 74%
(Marks 10.0 to 11.24) Pass
50 – 64%
(Marks 7.5 to 9.9) Fails
0 – 49%
(Marks 0 to 7.4) Mark
Awarded
(Out of 15)
Letter
Segment
15%
Technical content Letter clearly identifies and addresses all the technical issues raised by the client, and provides clear, correct and decisive advice Letter clearly identifies and addresses most of the technical issues raised by the client and provides clear, correct and decisive advice Letter clearly identifies and addresses some of the technical issues raised by the client and provides reasonably clear, Letter identifies and addresses some of the technical issues raised by the client and provides fairly clear, but not always Letter does not identify or address the technical issues raised by the client It displays a lack of understanding of
displaying an displaying a good correct and decisive correct and/or some or most of the
outstanding understanding of most advice displaying a decisive advice. It technical issues
understanding of each of the technical issues reasonably good displays a reasonable raised making it
of the technical issues raised so that it is easy understanding of understanding of difficult for the client
raised, so that it is for the client (non- some of the technical some of the technical to understand.
easy for the client accountants) to issues raised, so that issues raised It does not give
(non-accountants) to understand. it is relatively easy for Reference has been correct clear and/or
understand Reference has been the client to made (with gaps) to decisive advice on
Reference has been correctly made to the understand. some of the AASBs, most of the issues
correctly made to the AASBs, GAAPs and Reference has been GAAPs and other raised and makes
AASBs, GAAPs and other legislation where made (with gaps) to legislation where little or no reference
other legislation where applicable and some of the AASBs, applicable and/or to the AASBs,
applicable and appropriate. GAAPs and other appropriate GAAPs and other
appropriate. legislation where legislation where
applicable applicable
Comments on Technical Component:
Total Technical Component /15
Assessment 2 Part B - Assignment Rubrics: 10% Communication Skills – Letter Writing Skills
Components High Distinction
85 – 100%
(Marks 4.5 to 5.0) Distinction
75 - 84%
(Marks 4.0 to 4.4) Credit
65 – 74%
(Marks 3.1 to 4.0) Pass
50 – 64%
(Marks 2.5 to 3.0) Fails
0 – 49%
(Marks 0 to 2.4) Mark
Awarded
(Out of 5)
Language and Assignment Assignment Assignment Assignment Assignment does
presentation demonstrates demonstrates high demonstrates good demonstrates not meet the
? Structure of flawless language levels of language level of language and acceptable level of standards of
sentences and and presentation and presentation presentation language and language and
paragraphs
? Vocabulary
? Spelling
? Presentation
? Referencing
? Tone
? Plagiarism
presentation
presentation
Components High Distinction
85 – 100%
(Marks 4.5 to 5.0) Distinction
75 - 84%
(Marks 4.0 to 4.4) Credit
65 – 74%
(Marks 3.1 to 4.0) Pass
50 – 64%
(Marks 2.5 to 3.0) Fails
0 – 49%
(Marks 0 to 2.4) Mark
Awarded
(Out of 5)
Letter Letter structure and Letter structure and Letter structure and Letter structure and Letter structure and
? Structure format effective and format effective and format effective and format contain errors format contain
? Format professional. professional with professional with which affect significant errors
minor exceptions. some exceptions. readability and and omissions
presentation.
which render it unprofessional.
Comments on communication skills:
Total Communication Skills Component /10