Written assignment topic: ‘Consolidation can hide imminent business collapse’.
Background
Preparing consolidated financial statements has become as commonplace an activity as preparing single entity financial statements, given that companies of all sizes are now performing their activities with more than a single entity. The reasons for businesses operating under a group structure are several, and could relate to business efficiency, tax advantages, and national and international laws. The reasons for business collapse are also several and it is one of those things that should be prevented where possible, as it can lead to loss of jobs, loss of assets and reputation.
This essay provides your groups with an open-ended question. The statement does not presuppose a conclusion. The classroom practice of financial accounting has largely trained you to look for an exact answer. However, at workplaces, you have to work with limited and missing information, requiring you to search for additional information. This search takes you to research.
The question is put in the form of a statement so that each group conducts research to discuss about the stated issue on consolidation. Your group can search for evidence to support the group’s evidence-based assumed position. This is to simulate a workplace scenario where you often have to take a position but based on evidence. This evidence is arrived at through researching for information.
This essay requires you to read and analyze at least six articles of which four should be peer-reviewed journal articles. Publishing a peer-reviewed journal article requires a lot of in-depth analysis of the existing knowledge while presenting new knowledge using scientifically rigorous techniques. These articles are approved by anonymous peers subjecting them to strict scrutiny. Understanding them take more time as they contain a lot of information. Other articles could be newspaper and/or business articles. Your search for information is narrowed by the statement to be investigated.
Written assignment
• You should be aware of what constitutes plagiarism, paraphrasing without due credit given to author(s), ghost writing assistance, and avoid committing.
• The referencing style followed is American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style.
• The marks are awarded for different facets, and the extent of marks differs depending on the depth and breadth of investigation and reflection. Please refer to the marking guide for further guidance.
• There are three sections in the written assignment: the main report, additional report, and summary report.
(i) Main report – presents the evidence-based findings of the assignment question including accessories included (example, tables, figures, charts)
Maximum word count (excluding the list of references) = 1,500 words
(ii) Additional report – presents how the main report is prepared with how the core findings of articles were included in the main report.
Maximum word count = 1,000 words
• Content exceeding the maximum word count in each section is not marked.
• Also, each section exceeding the word count will have 5 marks deducted. This includes the assignment showing incorrect word count that is different from actual word count.
• Referencing style is APA (American Psychological Association) style.
Submission
• The submission is as a Microsoft Word Document.
• Prepapred using 12 point font, Times New Roman, and with double spacing, left justified, and pages are numbered, except for the cover page which is page one.
• Check the assignment using safe assign software. There are three attempts provided for such checking. There is no exact percentage that needs to be achieved, but the software will prompt for the referencing requirements.